Average American woman buys 17 pairs of shoes a year

[pinkytoe]

I heard this statistic on the radio this morning and realized there must be something wrong with me:) Especially as the average cost for these shoe purchases is $61 a pair.
I am definitely "shoe poor" by these standards.

[Miss Cellane]

Seriously?

Who exactly is this "average" American woman?

I mean, I buy a new pair of sneaker-type shoes every year, because they get worn out. But mostly I buy new shoes to replace existing shoes that get worn out. So maybe one other pair of shoes every other year?

Which means that there's someone out there buying the 16 pairs of shoes I'm *not* buying. So 33 pairs per year? Where on earth would you store them all? I don't have room for the 8 pairs I have (sneakers, hiking boots, winter boots, 2 pairs of black business-attire appropriate shoes, 2 pairs of sandals, and a pair of black oxfords that are the most comfortable shoes I own). And I think that's a lot of shoes.

[Float On]

So I'm finally "average"!

I love shoes.:|(

[ApatheticNoMore]

Maybe Imelda Marcos is somewhere in there throwing off the average. As for $61 a pair, I doubt you are going to get anything but cheap Chinese junk for less than that NEW, but thrifted you could. My shoes had an insert that said: "shoes will last longer if alternated with another pair of shoes. Shoes take 24 hours to recover" or something. What propaganda I thought: "buy moar shoes!". But my mom says she had heard that, and well mom's can't be wrong on that type of thing can they? :) My shoe rack only has room for 9 pairs and it's not full (I may add a pair but much more and I wouldn't even be able to store them on the rack) On the rack I have a pair of tennis shoes for walking, old old old hiking boots that are still good, 3 flats (but two I seldom wear), 1 sandal, fuzzy slippers (and fuzzy slippers aren't even shoes).

[awakenedsoul]

I've had the same shoes for years. I have a pair of boots, a pair of clogs, two pair of tennis shoes, two pair of sandals, (one flat and one with a heel,) a pair of pumps, and two pair of Argentine tango shoes. (I quit tango, but I wear the shoes when I go out or for auditions.) I haven't bought a new pair of shoes in three years. I've had some of my shoes for 15 years! (I still have all my ballet, tap and jazz shoes, just in case...) I got most of them 12 years ago.

[TxZen]

I think I buy about 3...maybe.

[ctg492]

I have a few nice shoes/ boots that I keep a long time. I do not buy nice shoes often. But I guess when I think about I buy a lot of shoes. At least three running shoes a year. Winter boots to wear on my walks in snow, at least two pair and they are beat end of winter. Then my summer flip flops and sandals. Lands End llbean I buy a few as I walk and am outside all day. Yesterday I ordered okabashi.com I go through a few pairs of those too in the summer.
I am not a fashion person. So I imagine your numbers sound correct.

[JaneV2.0]

Yeah, I'm wondering who's throwing off the average. I adore accessories, and in my prime I doubt I bought 17 pairs a year, year after year. I have friends--enthusiastic shoppers--who had better step up, because they're not doing their part either.

[rosarugosa]

That sounds over the top! I don't think I ever bought that many pairs in a year in even my worst consumer days. I'm being deliberately restrained this year in my clothing purchases, and I've bought two pairs, one new and one used (used pair replaced a pair of walking shoes that were falling apart). I wasn't being particularly restrained last year, and I only bought 4 pairs.

[pinkytoe]

I think dd probably buys that many but not always pricey. I would buy shoes more often but seems like the past few years, they are man-made/faux leather - even for mid-range and I refuse to buy plastic shoes.

[catherine]

No, I'm not average. 17 pair of shoes a year? I love my Aerosole flats (and thanks for the reminder to check what's on sale this week), and aside from maybe a pair or two of those, and MAYBE a new pair of low heels for work, that's about it for me.

Every time I see HGTV and the closets with shelves with shoes lined up.. well, that's not me.

[KayLR]

I would guess we ladies here on the forum would make up the tails on the bell curve on this subject.

[Kestra]

I only own half that number in total. I wish I owned less.

But I do remember a co-worker saying she'd bought 10 pairs at once cause they were such a good deal, so that's the other side of the bell curve.

[thinkgreen]

I second okabashi.com I have several pairs of these sandals and they are great!

They are:

* made of rubber or plastic
* very comfy
* wear very well (2 year guarantee)
* go into the washing machine
* are certified by the American Chiropractic Association
* made in the US of A
* very reasonably priced
* 100% recyclable and contain recycled product

Ctg492 your post made look at the website and they have a 30% off sale. I don't need any this year but it's a good time to buy them if you do need them.

As far as buying 17 pairs of shoes a year. Nope, not me either. I don't think I own that many pair including boots.

[ToomuchStuff]

Source? Sample size and location? Mean, median and mode?

There is an old book I remember from long ago, called how to lie with statistics.

[Songbird]

I buy about one pair a year. I love shoes, but my lifestyle really only requires sandals, tennis shoes, and boots in the wintertime. And I love my birkenstocks. They last forever.

[Tradd]

I don't OWN 17 pairs of shoes.

[mschrisgo2]

Well, let's see... I own 16 pairs of "footwear" all together- that includes walking shoes (2), snow boots, winter wear-around boots, 2 pair slippers, 6 pair of summer sandals (and 5 of those will go in the trash at the end of summer- I've had them for years and they are thrashed), nice flats for work (2), a pair of flats that I should give away as they just aren't comfortable, and a pair of heels to wear if I ever decide to wear a summer dress to a wedding or some such event, and a pair of winter house shoes. In the last year I bought 4 of these, which felt really decadent, but I hadn't bought shoes for several years!

[jp1]

That works out to a pair of shoes every 3 weeks. Thank goodness I'm not a woman. Or average. The last pair of shoes I bought was about 6 months ago and I only bought them because I was on a biz trip and the evening I arrived I realized I'd forgot to pack dress shoes, so even though I had a perfectly good pair at home I had to buy another pair. (and they were only $29.99 at Target) Now I have two perfectly good pair of dress shoes so it'll be even longer until I need yet another pair. Other than that I have a 3 year old pair of sneakers, a much older pair of boots, and a pair of flip flops I bought in Hawaii 2 1/2 years ago. Oh, and an old old pair of dress shoes, laces removed, that I only wear to walk from our apartment down to the trash room in our building's garage so that my socks won't get dirty when I take out the trash.

SO, on the other hand, loves buying clothes and shoes. He's got 3 or 4 current pair of sneakers that he's bought within the last year or less. And ridiculous amounts of other clothes that are pretty new. I finally broke down and bought a new pair of shorts a few weeks ago because one of the two pair I've had for years got a rip in them and the first rip was quickly followed by several more.

In thinking more about this I have a good friend, female, who is probably average. We were at her house for a barbeque and were taking a self guided tour of her house. In the bedroom a mutual friend said "you've gotta see this." and proceeded to show us her closet. In it were shelves with dozens of clear plastic storage bins, each with a pair of shoes. All of the bins lined up perfectly with about an inch of space between them. At the time I was only impressed by the OCDedness of it all. But now, reading this thread, I'm also impressed by the quantity of shoes.

[mira]

I don't even own that many shoes!

I know a lot of women who will buy a new pair of shoes (and a dress) for every special occasion... I can't bring myself to do that. I'm not one to stroll around shops, either, being constantly tempted by what they've got on offer.

I'd love it if I could pare all my footwear down to the amount that my husband has - one pair of dress shoes, one pair of everyday shoes. Amazing.

[pinkytoe]

Source? Sample size and location? Mean, median and mode?
Very interesting question. Now that I poke around a bit, I can't find the survey origin. I just heard it on the radio so who knows.
At the least, it got me thinking about how many I have/buy as their "findings" seem scary unreal to me and perhaps they are.

[Spartana]

I don't think I own 17 pairs of shoes either. I do buy a lot of running shoes all at one time though as I go thru about 8 pairs a year (distance runner). I usually buy them all at once when they are on sale and just use one pair for a month or 2 before tossing it and using a new pair. Can't use them longer then that as they get too worn. Otherwise I don't think I have bought any new shoes in years except a nice pair of boots. But I can borrow all my sister's shoes and she has a ton - mostly bought from the Thrift store though for a buck or two.

[early morning]

Well, I worked with a shoe collector, but it was a guy. He had 400 pairs, many unworn, or worn only once. They always matched his outfits. Shoes and cars, those where his thing. Always the first with the new Jordans or whatever. You say "shoe closet" - he had a shoe ROOM. I've seen the pix. Really strange.

[pony mom]

I think I own about 20 right now, and a few of those are 'specialty' shoes, like dress pumps, hiking boots, snow boots. I bought two pairs last year, which are now my seasonal 'go to' shoes---Sperry topsiders for spring/summer and brown loafers for fall/winter. When they wear out, I'll replace them with something identical.

Look at the Duchess of Cambridge. She wears the same black and nude pumps over and over, all the time. Even if I had a real job that required dressing up, I think my taste in clothes is simple enough now that I could get away with basic neutral shoes.

BTW, I have no problem spending $60 on a pair of shoes that I'll get a lot of use from. Luckily my LL Bean hiking boots were only $6 from the thrift store, which makes its once/twice a year use a bargain.

[Spartana]

I just went and looked at mine out of curiosity. Beside the running shoe "collection" (currently about 4 pairs in reserve for the rest of the year) I have 1 pair of each: dress heels, nice boots, crappy boots, snow boots (Sorrels), sandals, tennis shoes (to actually play tennis in), volleyball court shoes, 2 pairs slip on tennis shoes (no laces, no backs) and several pair of flip-flops that I have never worn. I don't think I've actually worn anything in years except running shoes or slip on tennis shoes most days and occasionally my nice heels or boots if I'm going out.

[Miss Cellane]

I remembered this video from a while back--I was searching for closet organization tips when I moved to my current apartment. For the record, I have a 42" x16" closet, nothing like the one pictured here:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U4RAqsg7Pzo

At about the 5 minute mark, she gets to the shoe collection. From what I can see, she has 6 pairs of flip flops, about 30-35 pairs of shoes and 6 (?) pairs of boots. And this is after weeding out some pairs.

So maybe this is a more typical US woman's shoe collection? What struck me when I watched it is that she has more pairs of dressy shoes than I have shoes in total.

I'll admit I have never been able to watch this entire video all the way through. While I would love a larger closet than I have, and I am so very not a minimalist, this is just too much for me.

[thinkgreen]

Wow, Miss C that was somewhat shocking. I just clicked at the 5 minute mark & watched about 10 seconds of it. She had belts with the tags still on so I would think she's never worn them. The wall of shoes ... what can I say? Her boots with all the same boot forms in them. Mine have empty wine bottles in them. Obviously she would never join this forum. But she is very organized!

[Gardenarian]

Right now I own a ton of shoes (about 20 pairs!) but that's because of foot problems and my feet have changed size several time in the past several years.
I'm holding onto them until my foot is healed and then will sell all the ones that don't fit.
17 pairs per year - I'm assuming that's shoes bought new? - seems outrageous to me.

[Blackdog Lin]

Well, if the statistic is true, it just makes me sad - sad that other poor women are having to buy way way too many pairs of shoes, to make up for my being a slacker in the shoe-buying department. I truly am not keeping up my (low) end of the curve.

:)

[Florence]

Someone is buying an awful lot of shoes out there to balance my 1, maybe 2 pairs of shoes a year to make it come to an average of 17. Maybe it includes mothers buying shoes for their children???

[Gregg]

DW buys (guessing here) 5 or 6 in an average year. Fashions change. She is out with the old and in with the new so the closet doesn't fill up. I couldn't care less about fashion, but do try to dutifully notice... Seventeen would be excessive in our world.

[mm1970]

I heard this statistic on the radio this morning and realized there must be something wrong with me:) Especially as the average cost for these shoe purchases is $61 a pair.
I am definitely "shoe poor" by these standards.
Really? I have a tendency to buy a pair of shoes, realize they aren't working, then donate them. But not more than 1 pair a year.

I was thinking I need a new pair of workout shoes, and then realized my existing ones are only 3 months old. I decided to wait until 6 months to replace them (so only 2 pairs per year), but my knee and shins have been bothering me.

So maybe I shouldn't feel bad if it's 3 pairs a year. I wear them to work, and I walk 15-20 miles in them a week. They SHOULD last 4-6 months, right?

[kathryn]

Hmmm......I would say I buy 2, maybe 3 a year. I don't work in an office anymore though. Mostly I replace the gym shoes as they wear out. I own about 5 or 6 pairs: old gym shoes, new gym shoes, flops, rubber boots, hiking boots and snow boots that I don't wear unless go to the mountains in the winter