31 Day Footwear Challenge: Days 1 Thru 7

Back in late October the weather in So Cal had finally settled into Fall mode so my cooler weather footwear needed to be more accessible than those that are more appropriate for warm weather (and I repeat the process in early Spring).   I was chin deep into this semi-annual task of switching around the storage of my shoes when my oh-so-wise daughter popped into my closet and exclaimed “wow, you have a lot of shoes, Mom.  How come I don’t see you wearing all of them?”  Good question.  “How long could you go without wearing the same pair of shoes twice before wearing all of them once?”  Hmm, how long indeed?  Challenge accepted, sort of.

You see, if there is one thing I have a lot of it’s footwear … and sweaters … and necklaces, but now that’s three things and perhaps topics for other blog posts.  In all, I have over 80 pairs of assorted pumps, sandals, boots, slip-ons, you name it.  I’m good to go for most occasions but as I was reorganizing and pondering on my daughter’s question, I realized that even after I discount my special occasion footwear, I tend to wear only about 50% of my season appropriate shoes on a regular basis.   So as many of my fellow bloggers have done when they are sensing themselves in a style rut, I saw this as an opportunity to set myself up for a challenge to get more of my shoes into regular rotation in my daily wardrobe.

Preferring to wing it rather than pre-plan a wardrobe cycle based on my footwear inventory, I figured that I could easily go a month with wearing a different pair of shoes every day without any repeats (athletic shoes including those worn to yoga excluded).  At the time this idea came to me I decided that December would be a good month to run a challenge like this since the holidays would give me a few more casual days and there might be a party or two that would allow me to dust off some of my special occasion footwear.

31 days of photos would make for a very long post so I will be publishing weekly posts on my progress with this challenge.

Over the course of this challenge, you will notice that I am particularly fond of T-strap and Mary-Jane style shoes. I have flat feet and a narrowish heel so higher heeled pumps often don’t fit well. I also find that the straps make shoes more wearable and add to the style. I hadn’t worn this brown pair in quite a while so I’m off to a good start in getting more of my less often worn shoes back into rotation.

These beauties are a favorite of mine and I wear them a lot. They add a nice pop of blue to an outfit (pic doesn’t show the color well) and I wear them all year round.

I normally don’t wear open-toed shoes in cooler weather but it’s been a bit warm here in So Cal and they were a good match with cropped pants. These are one of a few pairs of pumps that I have that fit well even though they don’t have a strap or tie.

This outfit came together because of the snowflake pins that I decided to wear a blue jacket. What better to go with this ‘Friday Casual’ outfit than a pair of lace-up booties.

Busy, busy Saturday getting ready for the holidays calls for comfort so my new combat boots were called into action.

These comfy lovelies are the same as the black pair I took with me on my Arizona vacation.

Back at work on Monday and another T-strap pair is the ticket to style and comfort for the day.

I’m feeling good about this challenge as it’s forcing me to some different wardrobe choices as well. Come back next week to see Days 8 thru 14.