Curating My Footwear Collection: Shoe Bingo

 I'll start with the problem...

I had A LOT of shoes. But when I went to grab the perfect pair of shoes for my outfit, I could never find them. Why? Because I had a lot of the same type of shoe. My problem was redundancy in my shoe collection. I needed to minimalize my shoe wardrobe, while maximizing the shoes that I kept.

I suffer from a problem that I've learned is very common: buying the same item again and again. For me, it was black heels. Why? I used to wear them more often than I do now. And I looked soooo good in them. Even though I don't wear them as often now, I feel good in black heels. I feel sexy.

But did I really need a dozen pairs of the same black heels? Sure, the styles varied slightly. At the end of the day, though, one pair would have suited my needs.

If this were the only issue--having too many black heels--I wouldn't be writing this post. The "companion issue" to my too-many-heels problem was that I didn't have the proper footwear for the 350 days of the year when I wasn't wearing black heels.

Background: I started minimizing my wardrobe a while back. Technically, I wasn't 100% following the rules I'd seen online. I do a combination of wardrobe minimalism with color-season theory. I'm a "cool winter." The cool (non-warm) colors I prefer, that look best on me, are black, navy blue, dark brown, and dark green. I can go lighter with the blue, brown, and green, but those four are my go-tos.

Problem: Over the course of my first year doing this, I ran into a problem. Let's use blue as an example. Imagine it's summer. I've put on a cute navy casual dress. Theoretically, I could dress this outfit up with heels, or dress more casually in flat shoes. But my actual shoe selection included brown ankle boots, white sneakers with pink accents, green canvas slip-ons, and black heels. What happened? I ended up wearing the cute navy dress only on occasions when the black heels will kinda-sorta work (nice days in autumn, or spring evenings/nights).

If you're thinking DUH just buy shoes that match...I hear you. But I didn't just want to buy shoes that match that particular dress, and don't work with anything else. So I created a chart.

I catalogued all of the different types of footwear that I use. The first step was Shoe Bingo. The colors on my chart (top row) were those I'd wear with my color-season wardrobe--navy blue, dark green, darn brown, and black.

Step 1: I dragged out alllllll of my shoes.

Step 2: I divided my shoes by which Bingo box they fit into. Shoes that didn't fit, got their own pile.

Step 3: I selected my favorite pair from each Bingo pile. This pair had to be in really good condition, be comfortable, and fit my need for that color/style. This step was actually pretty easy for me; I grabbed my most worn pair from the pile, the pair that were my regular go-to.

Step 4: I placed that pair back on my shoe rack, and put an X in that Bingo square.

I repeated this process for each pile of shoes. This left me with a lot of "redundant" shoes, as well as the pile of what I'll call "novelty shoes."

Novelty shoes: These ranged from popular-movie-franchise canvas slip-ons, to sparkly heels. I had to ask myself, how often do I wear these? Do I have outfits that go with them? Personally, I didn't really wear the "movie" slip-ons. I ended up putting all of my novelty shoes in the "donate" bin. 👉 But if you've got a beloved pair of novelty slip-ons that you frequently put on with jeans/shorts/sweats to run to the store or whatever, don't be scared to keep them. Curating your shoe collection isn't about fitting my aesthetic--it's about fitting your aesthetic. Same thing, if you want to hold onto your sparkly shoes, even if you barely (if ever) wear them. My only advice is...

Step 5: I put aside the shoes that weren't an X on your shoe Bingo sheet. No, I didn't throw away or donate all of them.

* Okay...I'm not a real minimalist. I don't have the kind of money, where I can throw away perfectly good shoes, then buy a new pair in six months when the pair I kept is ruined. I donated only those shoes that I know I'll never wear again.

Step 5: What I'd never wear again, went into my donation bag. What I would wear again, I put into a clear plastic storage bin. This is my Shopping Bin. When a heel breaks and can't be repaired, etc., this is my first stop for a replacement.

* I store my shopping bin in a closet. You can store yours in a basement, attic, or garage, if you have one. The plastic bin will protect the shoes. The bin is more "long-term storage," not something I need regular access to, I just need to remind myself to "shop" from it, instead of going to a store, when I need to replace my Bingo shoes.

Step 6: I came up with a plan for my empty Bingo squares.

• Some squares get to stay empty. For example, I have brown and black short ankle boots. Green and/or blue ones would be great, but I don't really need them. I'd never go shopping looking for them. But...if I were at a thrift store and found a pair for $10 or less, of if I saw a free pair offered in my local Buy Nothing/freecycle group, then why not? I could safely pick up that free/cheap pair of navy blue ankle boots, knowing they'd be suitable to my wardrobe, and fill that Bingo square.
• I absolutely refuse to buy or pick up any shoes that don't fit a Bingo square. I might see a super cute pair of sparkly pink ballet flats offered for free, but what could I wear them with? Nothing. Let them go to someone who'll wear them, instead of letting them gather dust. Caveat: That was a little bit of a lie. If someone gifts me, for example, a pair of Smurfs canvas slip-ons, I'd probably keep them, and wear them to run errands. The Bingo chart is a tool to help me; it's not the Bible, ya know?
• This one is important! Work to fill the squares that actually need filling. I'm currently keeping my eyes peeled for a nice pair of flat black sandals. I already have a pair of black canvas slip-ons that work in summer, and go with most of my darker summer dresses. But going out in summer, black heels are a bit too much, and canvas slip-ons are a bit too casual. I'm searching for quality flat black sandals that are free/cheap. But at the same time, I don't need to fill my "navy blue tall flat boots" square. I can just black out that square if I want. Really, in winter or rainy weather, my black ankle boots and brown ankle boots are all I ever wear. And that's fine. If I were to re-do the chart, I'd probably leave off tall flat boots completely, since I never wear them.

In conclusion...

I hope someone out there finds this helpful! This post was written to help a few friends who asked about my shoe collection curation. I realize that this shoe Bingo chart only pertains to femme/women's styles. Sorry about that; I made it for me. But you can easily create your own--all you really need is to draw a table graph, then write down the styles of shoes that you wear (or clip out pictures from ads/magazines).

Fair use: You are welcome to use and reproduce this chart for non-commercial purposes. If you publish/copy/print it (non-commercially), give credit.