How many Pairs Of Shoes?

• Published on October 8, 2015
• estimated reading time: ~2 minute(s)

I’ve cut down my shoe collection to just two pairs that I use for everything.Some people might need three, or four or if you live in a warm area, you might get through with just one. How many shoes do you need?

First Pair

For spring, summer and autumn, I use a pair of extra durable minimalist barefoot shoes. They allow my feet to move freely and naturally. They are my go-to shoes for everything, ranging from hiking to running, working, relaxing, shopping, camping and playing with the kids. And they do a great job for all of this. Seriously. If it’s chilly, I’ll just add a pair of black socks.

During winter they double as indoor-slippers, which is nice when you got a cold floor at home or have to go to the cellar.

Second Pair

For winter, I’ve got some warm, water- and windproof boots. I use them for working and hiking—even in the snow. They do also look fairly elegant, but are not suited for running; they’re a little to bulky for that (actually, I did not find a good winter-running solution yet—I thought of some waterproof sock and sandal combination). These shoes are more or less a relict from before I realized the true value of my feet. I can not recommend them.

If I’d had to buy a new pair, I’d definitely go for a minimalist winter shoe: zero drop sole, few side support and very flexible. Wind- and waterproofness always comes in handy. A warm lining is nice but less important, since the required amount of insulation can always be adjusted with socks. One shoe that looks promising is the Vivobarefoot Tracker Shoe.

Further Shoes

A lot people’s feet may be exposed to some danger during work, such as when welding, chain-sawing, scaffolding, and many other activities. In such circumstances it would be foolish to wear sandals.

Other people might be required to wear matching shoes to their dress-code during work, such as dress shoes to match with a suit.

Personally, I work in an office without any special clothing regulations or requirements. But even if, I guess that most likely I’d only need one extra pair of shoes. One for work.

Final Words

The idea of this article is not to have people throw away all their shoes, but to raise awareness that they probably own way more shoes than they actually need. Do you really need five pairs of sneakers in different colors? Do you need sneakers at all?

Owning less shoes saves a lot of money, storage space and time for selecting, buying, deciding on which pair to wear every day and finally disposing them. Actually this applies to almost anything in life, not only shoes.

But remember, the best tool of all, are your own bare feet.