ShoeSense

Am I OCD? Wait, don't answer that.

So, today, rushed by the imminent specter of the moving-out day (by "imminent" read "July"), but mostly because my modest closet in our rental seemed to be bursting at the seams with shoes, and clothes, but mostly shoes, I decided to take out my entire collection, sans running shoes, dog park shoes, garden shoes, and any sort of winter shoes and boots, and re-arrange it so that it will fit into my three canvas shoe-organizers. (The rest of the shoes are cramped on the floor of the closet, underneath the organizers.) The organizers themselves only have 10 spaces each for shoes, which means that all this time I had to fit these 47 pair, pictured above, into 30 slots. As a result, the poor organizers are bursting at the seams, as they are forced to do double duty to accommodate my ever-expanding collection.

After some contemplation and soul searching, I managed to eliminate 6 pairs on account of color redundancy, utility, heel size, etc. I have already found a good home for most of them (love girlfriends with the same shoe size!).

All I can say, I can't wait until we move into our new home where I will have a real walk-in closet with plenty (PLENTY!) of built-in shelves especially for shoes. I already counted them, looks like enough...for now...

If you care to know what you're looking at, though the picture, obviously, doesn't do them justice, here is the breakdown:

Front row, left to right: Marc Jacobs orange quilted flats, Taryn Rose 2" burgundy patent mules, Taryn Rose pink nappa and suede 2" wedge loafers, Blay blue cracked metallic T-strap flats, Arche burgundy nubuck skimmers, Gabor perforated pink suede Mary-Jane, Coach black patent loafers, Bandolino pink ballet flats, Icon multicolor skimmers

(As you may have guessed one pink pair had to go, and it was the Bandolinos.)

Second row up: Anne Klein 2" black career pumps, Taryn Rose 3" black and blue T-straps, Casadei tweed and patent kitten heels, Ferragamo brown croc patern patent flats, Clergerie 2.5" suede pumps, Clergerie 2 3/4" brown suede loafers, Delman lime suede and patent ballet flats, Miu Miu tobacco suede with floral vamp flats, Dries van Noten grey and blue distressed leather 3 3/4" Mary Janes, Kenneth Cole orange with black flower pattern leather flats.

(The Kenneth Cole took a beating last year during a trip abroad, as I waked in them basically every day, so they're about to get kicked out. Not yet, though, I'm still fond of them.)

Third row up: Clergerie green sandals, Clergerie gold slides, Casadei white+red patent 2 1/4" slides, Born "froth" thong, Aquatalia aqua slides, Franco Sarto green thongs, Donald Pliner animal print haircalf loafers, Espace red Mary Janes, Aerosoles 3.5" lime leather wedges.

(The wedges are precariously positioned here. In fact, they'll probably go. No, definitely.)

Fourth row up: Donald Pliner black mesh slides, Espace white and bronze strappy leather flat sandals, Espace red suede 2 1/2" wedge sandals, Kenneth Cole gold and bone thong, Kate Spade rainbow canvas Mary Jane, Born brown+cream Mary Janes, Cole Haan G-series velvet and metallic skimmer, Materia Prima red bandana slides with a 2 1/2" semi-wedge heel, Aerosoles black suede flat mules.

(The Aerosole mules will most definitely go: they're poorly constructed and the insole keeps bunching up at the toe. Most aggravating.)

Fifth, almost invisible row up: Bandolino navy 2 1/2" slingbacks, Etienne Aigner red 2 1/2" slides, Mila Paoli black kitten heel slides, Joseph Seibel red Mary Jane with blue floral accent, Aerosoles metallic mauve sneakers, Icon "Carcel Street" print velcro sneakers, Kowalsky distressed print leather sneakers, Sperry Top-Siders blue+white nubuck mule, Sperry Top-Siders lime green nubuck loafer.

(Of these, I'll part with at least the first three, if not four...the rest are practical shoes for busy or rainy days.)

Most of these shoes have a little story, are attached to some feelings, memories, images... Some, the newer ones, don't (like the Marc Jacobs pair, which I haven't had the pleasure to wear outside yet).

A little OCD exercise like this also had the merit of letting me see what I have, what is redundant and should be recycled, and what I'm missing--for example, I am shocked to discover I don't have a good pair of brown sandals. For shame. It also lets me get all excited at the prospect of filling this unacceptable hole in my shoe wardrobe!

posted by Cristina Hanganu-Bresch @ 5:17 PM