LADIES: Why Women Have Many Shoe But Don't Wear All Of Them

Shoes, dear shoes. Oh, how do I love thee? Let me count the ways. If my shoes were people and I were to address them, I would need to hire the O2 Arena because I have a throng of shoes — a veritable host of them....



A sandbar of sandals. A boot-iful array of boots. A trailer full of trainers. There are high heels, wedges, kitten heels, sling backs, flatties and stilettos. 

They are from Gina, Chanel, Sergio Rossi, Marks & Spencer, Warehouse, Dune, Clarks and, my personal favourite, Mauro Slomp. 

Well-heeled: Penny Smith with just some of her 300 pairs of shoes

It is ridiculous. There is no reason for me to buy another item to fit on my feet — ever. I could wear a different pair of shoes every day for a year and still have some left over for guest appearances. That is the depth of my obsession.
The problem is that whereas I am the ultimate recycler of clothes (gaily given to my nieces, my sister and the local Oxfam shop), I can’t bear to part with my footwear . . . and I have hundreds of pairs. 
So imagine my feelings yesterday when I read that a new study has found the average woman owns 20 pairs of shoes and more than half of them — worth around £400 in total — are never worn, sitting in the wardrobe waiting for the right occasion, which never comes.