It’s always a sort of relief when you’re able to get rid of things. Clutter is a real problem, and nostalgia is a true instigator.
Before and after a move is a great time to rethink what you own, especially as you’re sifting through your things planning on how to pack and then unpack. When I was making my last move, I really dove deep into my closet. My wardrobe includes a lot of custom made things, which I usually reuse and upcycle anyway. I’m constantly reworking clothes. It’s really my shoes that collect, and especially the custom ones I don’t have it in me to throw out. Shoes I tend to hold on to. Which of course is a problem if I’m just collecting and piling shoes on top of each other.
Since all New York apartments are pretty small, I knew I had to suck it up and condense. I had to make a hard to decision of what to keep and what to toss. Deep down you know what you won’t wear anymore for whatever reason. There were four custom shoes I haven’t worn in years, and as much as it pained me, I knew I just needed to make the unfortunate closet space.
The above shoes I bought my first year of college with the intentions of decorating. I had silver fabric that I sewed first and then black lace on top.
I loved these and wore them a whole lot, but I didn’t want to accept the fact that they were a size bigger than my real shoe size. It made walking a little awkward.
I’ve been a No Doubt fan for years and always wanted these Vans “Rock Steady” slip ons but couldn’t obtain a pair because they were more than what I could afford and were sold out by the time I was ready to splurge. I had a pair of black slip ons from an off brand, so I used some red and white fabric paint and made them myself. It took a lot of patience to make that work, but it came out pretty great.
Thing is, the backing never loosened up and always cut me up whenever I wore them, so it was time for them to go.
These galaxy sneakers I created for a DIY project on my old blog. That post ended up being my top hit.
I bought the plain white sneakers from a local thrift shop to keep the project as cheap as possible. I used my favorite fabric paint to lay down a base color and then used a toothpick for the stars.
They weren’t the most comfortable because they just felt so cheap, so I didn’t end up wearing them much.
Oh, these sneakers I had for SO many years (since middle school??) and I wore the hell out of them. I bought them at Payless because I wanted a pair like Converse without spending the money on Converse. I drew checkerboard with Sharpie on the toe cap because everyone I knew was doing it and I guess for a hot second I wanted to fit in. I regretted doing that months later and tried to take it off with nail polish remover. It didn’t really work.
Years later, I revisited the sneakers and painted a quote from a Raveonettes song I really liked.
Can we also talk about how much fabric paint is my jam?
Anyway, I wore these the most out of every sneaker here, and even brought them to Portland with me, I eventually stopped wearing them and decided that letting them retire was for the best.
I gathered these together and dropped them off at a local clothing drop. I’m hoping they all made their way into a thrift store and was adopted by someone who will love them the way I loved them.
I miss all of these pairs but I don’t regret the decision to move on. I’ve been trying to stay basic with my shoe collection because it’s so easy to get out of control with shoes.
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