Tips for useroos like me

I came across this article today on Yahoo about 8 Things You Should Never Buy Used. They are all helpful, if not logical but I paid most attention to the shoes. The argument wasn't that strong advising people not to get secondhand shoes but it added to my growing discomfort of wearing strangers' gear. I just bought a new used pair of heels for work today and even before reading this, I was kind of grossed out. The shoes are perfect for work, what I was looking for, tacky and only $12 from Out of the Closet. Unfortunately, the gold lining inside is flaking and turning to powder on my black, opaque tights. The dust is more an annoyance than anything else because it looks like I dipped my toes in buckets of saw dust. On the up side, they are well made, have leather soles and are extremely comfortable. Once I wear them in, I'm sure it will be fine but I really want to tear them off of my feet and throw them right now!

Buying used shoes has been a challenge for me since January. I like the idea but I can't help but feel the need to wash my feet after sliding a covered or worse bare foot into someone else's shoes. I don't know these people. I don't know where they have been or how clean they were. Plus, the shoes are normally formed to someone else's foot which can be initially uncomfortable. For the last 10+ years, I haven't walked around barefoot in my home, at the pool or anywhere else because I find it unsanitary and get creeped out. These shoes take my neuroses to extremes. I still love this challenge and feel like I have become very creative with my purchases but it also reminds me that I am really pushing my comfort levels. Its been fun finding dishes, paintings, cabinets and lamps but shoes are tough. Luckily I have enough underwear and socks to get me thru this year...because I won't do either of those secondhand!

Note-I was going to post some gross pictures of what I imagine the previous owners' feet look like but I was so disgusted with the images I saw, I didn't want to scare off my small number of readers! Instead, I thought these were fun:

Update-now I'm off work and took a picture. Ewwwwww!