Tuesday Shoesday ~ Show some support

I like shoe supports, there’s something lovely about them. I think it’s the way that they keep your shoes looking great, how they ensure your shoe wardrobe stays neat and the fact that it’s a slightly old-fashioned thing to use. Don’t you think that shoe supports just are fantastic? Or is it just me? I also like the fact that the title of this blog post could relate to any of the sporting events that are going on around the world at the moment; world cup, formula 1, Wimbledon and soon the Commonweath Games. But it’s not just our sporting stars who need support – it’s our shoes too.

It seems like the kind of subject that would have appeared in a Tuesday Shoesday blog post in my grandmother’s day. Okay maybe not a blog post – perhaps an article in Good Housekeeping magazine: “Looking after your shoes”. I’ve written about taking care your shoes in the past – polishing new boots, reheeling my favourite shoes and homemade boot stretchers – but so far I’ve missed out shoe supports because I’ve never owned any.  I really like the idea of looking after your shoes and making them last because a pair of shoes can be a big investment and once you’ve found a comfortable pair, you’ll want to keep them going for years to come. My favourite dolly shoes from New Look are still going strong and I’ve been wearing them for at least 7 years, with only one repair in the middle. In terms of cost-per-wear these shoes are probably my best ever buy and I think it’s a thrifty investment to repair them rather than replace them because they are just so comfortable. Plus, looking after my shoes rather than chucking them out keeps more rubbish out of landfill and that’s always a good idea.

So even though I didn’t own any shoe supports in the past and haven’t always followed my own advice of buying well, looking after shoes and repairing as I go, I’m very interested in prolonging the life of my footwear now. I picked up this pair of green shoe supports at a charity shop recently and have started to use them to prolong the life of more of my favourite footwear. I know they don’t look particularly pretty, but I really like how the paint has flaked off the metal and they look really vintagey when popped into my shoes. I want to keep an eye out for more similar shoe-trees so I’ll keep hunting at carboot sales and in charity shops in the future.

When hubby recently got some new shoes from Clarks, I asked to keep the cardboard inserts so that we could put them back into the shoes after wearing to keep their shape while they are being stored away. I’ve saved the box too, to keep them looking as good as new for as long as possible. I know that they would just get shoved in the wardrobe and be ruined by squashing otherwise so I’d like to prolong the life of these shoes, because they are a good investment and should last for many many years to come.

Do you already look after your shoes sensibly? Let me know how you store your shoes and whether vintage shoe-supports are old news to you 🙂 Tweet me @Cassiefairy