How many??

Yesterday, someone I follow on Twitter asked the ladies in her timeline how many pairs of shoes they owned, in an effort to establish what was a "normal" number.

Sure, I thought. I'll play that game. I mean, I threw out several pairs of shoes in The Great Decluttering of 2011, and several more prior to moving into our new flat. I trimmed my shoe collection down to the barest minimum, only keeping what was absolutely necessary (bearing in mind the fickleness of Scottish weather and the very real possibility that one might need a pair of sparkly stilleto boots at a moment's notice). I was ruthless, I tell you. Ruthless. 

The average response on Twitter was around 10-12 pairs of shoes, including flip flops and snow shoes but not, presumably, ski boots. Those really aren't shoes. That said, I did once see a man wearing a pair of ski boots boarding an Easyjet flight. Some people will do anything to stay within that baggage allowance. 

Anyway, I guessed I probably had a few more pairs than the average person, but nothing too extravagant, given the extent of my decluttering campaigns. Say, 15 pairs; 18, max. But to make sure I was giving as accurate a response as possible, I decided I'd better count them. Didn't want to corrupt the data, you see.

So I counted them.

There were 43.

FORTY THREE PAIRS OF SHOES. 

To put that in context, I could wear a different pair of shoes every day from now until Christmas and never wear the same pair twice, if I didn't think I'd lose a toe wearing flip flops in Scotland in December.

I don't know what's more insane: that I actually own 43 pairs of shoes, or that in my head I thought I had less than half that amount.

People, I need reassurance. Tell me: what's your number? How many pairs of shoes do you own? And before you get too smug thinking you only have like three pairs - just count 'em. You might be surprised.

{Shoe illustration by Anna See on etsy}