I will preface this by saying that the author probably owns that many sneakers because he considers them fashion and chooses the ones that fit the rest of their clothes better.

Having said that, I ended up owning way more shoes than I wanted simply by being active: I started owning trekking shoes (1) and a pair of regular sneakers for casual sport only (2) until I started going to a gym that required exclusively indoor shoes (3). I later added running to my routine, so I bought a set of good, expensive running shoes to keep my knees in good shape (4). In addition to that, my new job requires dress shoes, so I now own two pairs of those (5, 6) in case I get mud in one of them and I don't feel like cleaning them right after work (which is a thing that happens). Add flip-flops (7) and comfy indoor shoes at home (8), and here we are.

This is a mostly unrelated comment, but the concept of "Indoor shoes" is just so foreign to my part of the world (unless you are referring to something like a slipper). It still absolutely flabbergasts me that large parts of American society wears shoes inside the house. *Canadian Speaking

We NEVER wear shoes inside our homes in Macedonia, but going to the gym I was required to bring "indoor shoes/sneakers". Ie. ones that I will use exclusively there or indoor environments. Helps keep the gym cleaner.

I guess what I'm saying is, it's not an American thing, it's a gym thing.

What kind of shoes are you allowed to wear in a gym in Canada?

I think it's an language thing. Shoes I would wear for indoor activities like the gym I'd generally refer to as "gym shoes". Any other form of indoor shoes I'd just refer to as shoes. Indoor shoes to me immediately brings up inside the house, especially because that's how OP used "Indoor shoes" in context

Obviously people wear shoes indoors outside of the home. (The norm for a gym would presumably be a pair of sneakers.)

In the US, my experience is that people will sometimes/often take off shoes when they come into a home especially if they're going to track in snow, mud, etc. But it's certainly nothing like a universal rule and probably isn't even the norm.

Concept of indoor sport shoes is universal, because it is stupid to wear outdoor shoes for sporting indoors.

For me besides the variety of fashion, I also found that if I wear the same shoes every day they can get pretty smelly and degrade faster. If I switch between a few pairs then so long as they were fundamentally good quality their individual lifetimes will still be at least the same, but I wear them for a longer period and they consistently don’t smell bad or get super weather damaged.

He doesn't own 6 pairs of white sneakers. He has owned 6 pairs of white sneakers over the life of the study, 3 pairs of which he has since "divested" Ie scrapped, and 3 pairs that he currently owns in various stages of their lifecycle.

No need to look down on people who have multiples or similar items. Some people enjoy dressing well or appreciate detailed coordination.

< No need to look down on people who have multiples or similar items. Some people enjoy dressing well or appreciate detailed coordination.

Well it is wasteful in terms of money, materials, and environmental impact. And many people that didn’t grow up with the resources to do this will resent or envy your display of excess. And to some it may come off as trying too hard to be liked and fashion conforming - as in truly wealthy people don’t need to impress you with fashion.

It might not be, if you have 4 shoes they will last longer then one pair, maybe not 4 times, but still.

Tired of this rhetoric. People will consume, no need to shame them.

Personal preference on what you want to wear that day and what the rest of your clothes looks like?

I have at least 8 pairs of sneakers now in the shoe closet in the hallway + 4 or 5 "good Sunday shoes" and 2 pairs of cold weather / walking shoes.

Sneakers don't really age and your size doesn't change, they only get old when worn. So there is no reason not to buy several color combinations you like and wear whichever you think looks nice today. I would call I think half of mine "white" but in more detail they have different stripes and styles.

Dress shoes the same, they last forever and I have them in more or less formal looking as well as colors that match different suits/belts combinations.

Sneakers do age in my case. The sole plastic turns brittle over time. I’ve noticed that orange rubber seems to degrade the quickest. Not sure if that is due to the color or what. Doesn’t help I love on the equator of course.

Shoes are very unique, for me the shoes tend to become worn quickly because I have pronation. They start to slant inwards very quickly, and the inner cushion cracks because of same reason. Also if you do any outdoor sports like running, hiking or orienteering, you need a more shoes. I wouldn't be able to do with two pair of shoes.

What I find odd in this article is the amount of T-Shirts that gets worn off. Maybe because I tend to wear "technical" T-Shirts they don't .

Look at getting orthopedic inserts to “fix” your pronation both your legs and your shoes will be grateful.

No one needs six pairs of the same type of shoe IMO. But I’ve noticed if you wear only one pair they are more prone to developing odor than if you rotate them with a second pair, so there’s maybe a practical reason for more than one. Not to mention our culture sometimes(unfortunately!) looks down on people that don’t vary their outfit, maybe because lack of variety is a signal that it can’t be afforded, so it’s a marker of status.

I have a fair number of pairs of shoes but they're mostly specialty boots for outdoor activities and that sort of thing. To your point, I definitely don't have a bunch of more or less interchangeable casual shoes lying around. (I did used to have quite a few dress shoes but I got rid of most of them at one point given I rarely wore them any longer.)

Shoes last longer if they are not worn everyday.

Leather needs to dry and air thoroughly, for that it needs a whole day (overnight is not good enough). For a while, I was a bespoke shoemaker, so I know this first-hand from material experience and from knowledge passed by teachers and others.

It seems you assume you know the makeup of the shoes being worn and that the leather is failing and not other materials. Shoes are made of materials other than leather. In my experience, other parts of the shoe fail long before the leather's useful life is approached.

Well, not for leather shoes of course. For a good pair of shoes leather (either vamp or sole) will be the first one to fail.

I found that rotating among 2 or 3 pairs of sneakers, they never get smelly where daily worn shoes would within a 8-10 week span. In my case, 2-3 pair of shoes would last 10x as long in total.

Try rotating through 2 or 3 pairs of shoes such that you let every pair completely dry out for at least a full day before wearing them again. You might notice that they actually do take longer to physically deteriorate, and probably also longer to start smelling: the longer and more thoroughly you dry your shoes between wears, the better. To reference your rather ironic username, that's common sense (and verifiable by you if you're willing to do the experiment).

There's one benefit I can think of, being able to wear your favorite pair of shoes for longer.

Twice I've found myself shopping for new shoes and said to myself, "None of these new styles are better than my old shoes. Actually they are worse. I wish they still sold the old ones."

If I find shoes better than my current ones, I am very tempted to buy two pairs to prevent that disappointment again when they wear out.

To be fair, it has the benefit of having the choice between six pairs each morning (assuming they are not 100% identical). The disadvantage of course is that you might discard them earlier because fashion has moved on.

And you're just guessing, based on never having tried it. Rotating shoes seems to extend their lifespan, I suspect because gives them extra time to dry out.

There's no need for the nasty first sentence. The second sentence is fine.

I find that wearing a rotation of shoes helps them dry out between usages, but then again I have particularly sweaty feet!