Shoe Shame

I'm the first to admit when I have a problem.

I have a problem. There, I admitted it.

And it's shoes. 

I have too many. Some might say it's a blessing when you can open your closet and have actually think about which pair you're going to don that day. It is, but it becomes a problem when you're finding shoes in your closet that you don't remember buying, have never worn or forgotten that you have.

That happened to me two weeks ago. I was putting together an outfit for The Links' Greater NY Chapter's 60th Annual Easter Luncheon and Fashion Show and found a pair of never-worn, don't-remember-when-I-bought-them shoes! I opened the box and the Paolo Brooklyn Silver Patent pair looked familiar, but don't ask me when I bought them.

And then, there's the pair of Betsy Johnson Reese shoes that I pined after for months because I didn't want to pay the $150 pricetag, finally ordered then, got them, loved them, but have never worn them. They've been in my closet for at least six months, but probably longer!

Yes, I have a problem.

And another problem with having too many pairs of shoes is how to store them. I like to keep the boxes, so the shoes won't be just thrown in the closet. But what happens when you start throwing the boxes in the closet? Chaos!

I had had enough of opening my closet door and seeing the horrible mess of shoes at the bottom. Some of the boxes were vertical, some horizontal, some of the recently-worn shoes hadn't made it back into the boxes. So, this morning, I pulled out everything, set aside the pairs for Goodwill that I know I will never wear again, and organized the keepers.

My closet looks much better now - as you can see from the before and after pics. Next, I must tackle my clothes!