Where the bastarding hell is all my summer footwear?!?

[WordInYourShellLike]

Disclaimer: I'm post menopausal and my memory has gone to shit which is why I find myself in this situation.

So sometime last year, late Autumn, I gathered up all my sandals, canvas shoes, and most importantly my red Birkenstock Madrids, and put them in a bag or a box, and then stashed them away until they were needed again this year because there really isn't room to have all the footwear out all year round. And now I can't find the fuckers anywhere!!! We live in a very small mid terrace 2-up-2-down and there just aren't that many places to look! And this is a large thing, like a full carrier bag size thing, not like a lost key or earring!

I've emptied the under-stairs cupboard (the place where my hopes and dreams go to die). I've searched the loft. I've dragged everything out from under the bed. I've had everything out of the airing cupboard. That is literally it, there's nowhere else I can think of to look! I know for a fact they didn't leave the house.

For the sake of my sanity, can anyone suggest anywhere that I haven't thought of? Anyone with a psychic gift for picturing the location of lost items? Anybody with a hotline to St Anthony? I can't afford to buy more and I'm at a complete loss! 😭

Have you had a chap Roy d lately to deal with some damp patches?

round…

Regret to report, no luck with bags on the back of doors. Bugger, I was quite hopeful! Not on top of kitchen units, not under either bed (there's an unbelievable amount of stuff under our bed and I've had everything out!).

2nd bedroom is the teenagers and I just now went in there and had a look and not in there.

I have no memory of getting the winter shoes out at all... but that doesn't mean it didn't happen so that's a possibility but still no idea where that stash place would be!

Nothing stashed at my sisters (she lives 200 miles away), nothing at MILs, my mum died many years ago. We do have some thing stored at my dad and stepmums (dad since died) but that was years ago. Must go down and sort all that out soon...

Under the bed, hung on the back of a door with something hung over the top or under bedding in cupboard? Under the sofa?

you’ve probably walked past the bag loads of times and just not registered them as they’ve been there for months.

or just give up, buy 1 new pair and can guarantee you’ll find them when it’s cold!

Lol, is that referencing the missing nightie thread? 😅No, no damp patched have needed attending to here!

Hmm, I keep things like the microwave box, the steam gen iron box under the stairs in case they break. Could they be in something like that? Boiler cupboard? Tucked at the back of a carousel unit. Behind the sofa? In a sideboard? Where the videos used to be because you threw them.out? Lawnmower box, wheelbarrow? My summer shoes were on a shelf on my wardrobe under a pile of bags and scarves.

Was just coming back to see if you had found them, as can't think of anywhere that hasn't already been suggested!
I know you said they haven't been thrown away, but is there a chance you stored them in a bin bag and someone thought it was rubbish?

I lost mine too, and I found a pile inside two shoeboxes on my wardrobe shelves. I would had expected to find rarely-used heels in those boxes.

You're all absolute stars, trying to help me with my ridiculous problem! And so many excellent suggestions! We only have one small wardrobe between myself and my other half, no shelves in it and it's easy to see what's in there. Just clothes, no bags or boxes.

I know they haven't been thrown out. They are in this house somewhere, or there's a small chance they're in the shed in which case I will need to look in there on a dry day. I'm keeping in mind the blue bag or box too as mentioned up thread... They probably are in a place I've already looked which is a depressing thought.

Just looked on ebay for an identical pair of Birkies, oh my days the price for grotty looking 2nd hand pairs! 😱

No idea where they are but you could try this...

My favourite shoes went missing and I searched the house from top to bottom with no luck.
I went to the shop I bought them from and bought another pair and told the assistant I would see her in a couple of days to return them. I went on to explain I was using them to 'lure' out the lost ones.....
It worked!!! Lost shoes were found by DH in the garage and I duly took new shoes back to the shop and got refund.

If all else fails, give it a try. The hidden ones will be jealous and come out of hiding for you😉

I think they are in a box or bag you think something else is in. Could they be behind something where you think there is no space for something else? Could they have been in a bag on top of the wardrobe and slipped down behind it or down the side? Did you have a wardrobe clearout and they got mixed up with stuff that was taken away?

Have you sent anything to the charity shop? Or has any of your family?

I had a clearout of the loft a couple of years ago, and I put all the stuff I wanted to keep in a binbag. I was then in hospital and eldest thought they were being helpful and took the lot to a charity shop... never to be seen again!!!

Mine were hiding in plain sight in a bag for life by the front door, could yours be?

OP please return to tell us when you've found them (I need to know wher not to put mine 😅)

You've checked suitcases, but have the suitcases got extra pockets, on the front for example? When I lose shoes, that's where they are.

Also lost a big big dressing gown in a house move - for a year! In was in a box labelled "spare sheets/towels" underneath said sheets and towels.

I found all of mine on Sunday in a bag for life tucked behind the standalone full length mirror. I also found some framed photos I’d been looking for for ages tucked behind the laundry basket.
I clearly have a tidy-tucking strategy that I wasn’t really conscious of. Could you be the same?

Go back into your loft and give it a really good clean out and you will find the bag where you put the shoes. This is what I do - put things away and can never find them - but then they always turn up in the daftest of 'plain sight' places !

Sorry, I had to get to bed early last night due to an early start and then couldn't sleep anyway due to racking my brain about the bastarding shoes! Haven't found them yet, can't empty the shed today due to lashing rain. I really hope they're not in there - they'll be so mouldy if they are...

I hate the fact that I have no memory at all of putting them away! I'm even doubting now that I did actually put a few pairs all together in a bag or box and stash them in a specific place, maybe it was more random than that!

I will carry on looking and make use of all the excellent suggestions you've made. I have looked in every single box and bag in the loft and they definitely aren't there. There's very little stuff in the loft atm - it's a lovely big space but we haven't yet put any boards up there and the insulation is very very deep!

We've lived here a couple of years now and I used the lost footwear up until last autumn so it's not packed away with the many admittedly still unpacked boxes that are still knocking about.

@ShinyBandana I am without doubt the same - I definitely do 'tidy tucking' a LOT! So that would suggest that they could be absolutely anywhere in the house, and not necessarily all together! Arrrgh FML!!

No help at all from me cos I am the same except every morning I am going "Where is my...."What have I done with...... People have already mention on top of the wardrobe and under the bed which is what I would have said.

I'm confused about why you're only looking for them now? It's been warm for weeks.

If you have unpacked boxes @WordInYourShellLike could you have stuffed the shoes in there, ambitiously thinking you'd have unpacked them by now?

@Floofydawg The search has been going on for weeks! It's been so hot and I've had so little energy that it has taken me absolutely ages to go through all the places they could have been. I've gone barefoot around the house and garden but when out of the house I've just had to wear my walking shoes. On the hottest days I haven't been out at all. Yesterday I thought it might be worth asking the Mumsnet massive for some new ideas as I was just going round in circles!

I’ve got no suggestions apart from attic, cupboard under stairs, drawers under beds, backs of wardrobes.

If there isn't room to have all your footwear out, where does the not-room-for-but-not-put-away stuff go?

Eg our shoes go on a rack, inevitably there are always a few pairs kicking around under the rack that there aren't room for. Could you have been looking at & ignoring some of your summer shoes for so long that you just aren't seeing them in with all the others?

This. You're going to have to attack the remaining boxes 😬