Shoe trees

Shoe trees... surely a strange name for a very useful item. Yes, I've just been putting away my winter clothes, boots and shoes. Of the former, I have a pair that still garner compliments although they are now about twelve years old. The lace-up shoes are only a year or two younger. These are showing signs of wear, but are still useful to me.

As you may guess, both pairs are of the old-fashioned leather sole variety that could be taken to the shoemaker to be mended, to have new heels or soles put on. These days of course even expensive footwear often has composite soles glued on which means there's nothing much to be done but throw the shoes away when they get down at heel or whatever.

So I'm grateful for my shoe trees, one pair of which must surely be heading towards antique status, because I inherited them from my mom. She taught me to take care of my clothes, and that has stood me in good stead. Mind you, when I was a teenager and pounding the pavements in London, my shoes didn't last that long. It's a strange thing, but some people are harder on shoes than others. I've often wondered why this should be, and what the reason is. I don't think I tread particularly heavily!