Psychology of the Shoe

This is just about a 1/3 of my shoe collection

This afternoon I was sitting in a meeting across from a coworker and I noticed that his shoes were falling apart. And I mean that quite literally. They were coming apart at the seams and were held together with duct tape.  After the meeting I made a comment about his shoes to this coworker and he said that he was trying to find the perfect shoe to replace them.  And by perfect shoe, he meant pretty much the exact same shoe.  He also mentioned that he had about 5 pairs of shoes at home in the same state for the same reason.   I respect the sentiment. When I find a great shoe and it falls apart I want the exact same shoe to replace it. However, I don't duct tape my old shoes until I find those new shoes.

It got me thinking about men and women.  Men make fun of women because they have huge shoe collections that seem to grow exponentially.  Women make fun of men because they will duct tape their shoes together rather than just go and buy a new pair.  This is just the sexes dealing with the same desire in different ways.  We are all searching for the perfect shoe. 

In the women's quest for the perfect shoe we have to get a huge variety of shoes to find that perfect shoe.  And in our quest we buy more and more.  And with women there are actually several perfect shoes we are seeking because we need them for different occasions and outfits.  (The same thing can be said about bags.)  For men they are also searching for the perfect shoes. Except rather than buy a bunch of shoes that meet part of the perfect shoe criteria trying to satisfy that need, like women do, they hold onto their previous perfect shoe until either they find the replacement or it is literally falling off of their foot. 

What the deeper meaning of this is, I have no idea.

Note:  I counted and I currently have 34 pairs of shoes, 2 pairs of slippers, and three pairs of dance shoes in my place.  And 2 pairs of shoes and 1 pair of slippers that permanently reside in my office.  Don't judge me.  I did just get rid of a few pairs.