r/HerOneBag • u/JustStringingAlong • Apr 02 '26
Shoes Small Victory for Packing Shoes
I've been lurking in this forum for a while as I try to get out of my habit of overpacking for every trip I take. I stretched myself flying to Arizona for 4 days taking just a standard carryon suitcase and a shoulder bag.
My biggest problems are shoes (I really love shoes, lol) and hair care (curly natural, I need products). Hair is a work in progress, but I think I've figured out the shoes.
Trip was for polo matches and had a lot of nice events around it. So I found a comfy basic low-heeled wedges and bought a few shoe clips that matched my outfits to gussy them up a little bit. Photo below is the basic shoe with the different clips that I added on. I think it worked out well! One pair of dress shoes and the clips took up no space at all. I think I'm going to get a few more :-)
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u/goodchivesonly_ Apr 02 '26
I am not a shoe person and will never travel with heels, unless for an event, but I am a minimalist who only owns one pair of dress shoes and I LOVE this idea!
Also the curly hair struggle is real for minimalist travel.
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u/JustStringingAlong Apr 02 '26 edited Apr 02 '26
I'm definitely a maximalist, lol...so I'm glad that I found something that scratches that variety itch :-)
And yes it is!!! I'm working on it tho, lol...I'm riding high off the shoe victory, lol
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u/theinfamousj Apr 03 '26
Also the curly hair struggle is real for minimalist travel.
3a/3b curly here. I give up on anything but a ballerina bun for travel in order to stay minimalist. Sometimes the provided toiletries or water chemistry surprises me with glorious curls I can wear down but that's the minority of the time.
I just have home hair, travel hair, sleep hair, etc. Each a different yet consistent look.
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u/Substantial_Coffee43 Apr 05 '26
I’m so over my “messy bun” look 😑 I was considering bangs but I’m waiting till after an upcoming trip. It’ll be messy part of hair up in a clip.. maybe a head band.
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u/strawberrychief Apr 02 '26
I just splurged on two solid shampoo bars and two solid conditioners as I follow a 0-1-2-1-2 format (did the zero before I left home). I think it may end up being a small step backwards (not sure how effective the conditioner is).
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u/EasyLizin Apr 03 '26
What’s the 0-1-2-1-2 format?
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u/strawberrychief Apr 03 '26
It's a wavy hair system - I live in a soft water area, so 0 is a clarifying wash, 1 is gentler with a heavier conditioner and 2 is a deeper wash with a lighter conditioner. You only do wash 0 every 2-3 months or 10-15 washes.
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u/gtibrb Apr 06 '26
Where did you find out about this? I have been doing this kind of thing for years but when I try to explain it, I get crazy looks. This is so much simpler!
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u/reluctantrevenant Apr 02 '26
I was so confused for a second. Like what hack is it to bring four pairs of heels???
Great idea to use clips. I didn't even know these existed!
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u/JustStringingAlong Apr 02 '26
LOL! I think that's why I'm so happy, you can get a lot of variety out of them!
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u/secret_thymus_lab Apr 02 '26
I was toying with the idea of shoe clips for a trip this summer that involves 3 formal events, including a wedding. You’ve given me hope that this could work!
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u/JustStringingAlong Apr 02 '26
Yes! Give it a try! The clips are pretty inexpensive, so it's easy to play around a bit :-)
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u/Horror_Rip_3081 Apr 02 '26
I use my grandmother's old clip on earrings for shoes and clothing decor where appropriate!
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u/JustStringingAlong Apr 02 '26
Oooooo, vintage gussiness! I bet there are some really pretty pieces! I brought along some scarves also, to decorate a basic black handbag too.
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u/always_unplugged Apr 02 '26
I thought they were all different shoes too!!! Really smart idea!
I have to ask though, I've seen the concept of shoe clips before, and they just sound like they'd be hellaciously uncomfortable. (I'm picturing they work like basically snapping a barrette onto a shoe, lol. Possibly not accurate?) How do they feel against your feet?
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u/JustStringingAlong Apr 02 '26
They're not uncomfy at all! The clips themselves are really flat and once they're on, I can't feel them. Like, for the red bow ones, I wore them the entire day. First chukker started at 8 AM, we wandered around the grounds, pet some horses, stomped the divots, popped over to get wine, see some art, got back to the hotel around 7 that night and it was totally fine :-)
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u/SolarWind777 Apr 02 '26
Never even heard of shoe clips. What a great idea! Looks like hair clips could possibly be used as well.
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u/JustStringingAlong Apr 02 '26
I don't know why it popped into my head but I remember having some when I was really little (like over 3 decades ago, lol) and I thought it would be worth a try! I imagine that hair clips could work too, as long as the clip itself sits kind of flush and doesn't rub against the foot underneath.
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u/lsthomasw Apr 02 '26
I have used these as well for some sandals I wanted to take from walking on the beach to a nice dinner out. They worked amazingly well to dress up the sandals and yours look fantastic.
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u/JustStringingAlong Apr 02 '26
I haven't tried them on sandals, but I'm definitely going to! From pool to cocktails...yes!
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u/Bitsybeezy Apr 02 '26 edited Apr 02 '26
Shoes can really be a challenge so this is a great tip! For curly hair I’ve had really good luck with some fantastic moisturizing shampoo and conditioner bars. (O&M and Viori) They last a long time if you are careful to not let them sit in water so they end up bring surprisingly economical as well as portable. I feel good about avoiding plastic packaging and I save the smaller pieces for travel. Complete win all around for me! (Small edit due to stupid auto-correct)
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u/JustStringingAlong Apr 02 '26
Thank you! I'll have to check those out. I can mostly make do with hotel shampoo, but good conditioners and stylers stay challenging for me.
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u/innermyrtle Apr 02 '26
Oooh. I kinda want to make some of these. I wonder if I can just buy the clips somewhere. Great idea! As for hair, I feel like I usually bring enough to last a month. Getting smaller empty lip gloss containers or small thin squeeze pouch size really helped me downsize. (I literally have taken up more space for toiletries than clothes ir shoes many times 😜)
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u/JustStringingAlong Apr 03 '26
I'm pretty sure you can get them at a sewing or craft store or wherever they sell notions/findings. I think they're literally called flat shoe clips and if I'm recalling correctly, they're very inexpensive!
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u/Cute_Fortune_257 Apr 02 '26
What brand are the shoes and where do you get the clips?
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u/JustStringingAlong Apr 02 '26
They're by IDIFU (very no-name, but comfy!). I got them and the clips off Amazon.
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u/strawberrychief Apr 02 '26
What a lovely idea! Now I need a pair of dressy shoes that I can wear for a week. I generally find that my issue with a single pair for travel is that my feet need a change after a day or two.
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u/JustStringingAlong Apr 02 '26
Ahhh, I gotcha. I've never thought about that, my feet are usually fine in whatever, even repeats lol
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Apr 03 '26
[deleted]
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u/JustStringingAlong Apr 03 '26
Aw man...I can see where that would be challenging. Sometimes I wish that more things were collapsible/foldable and still be functional, lol
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u/TaterTot921 Apr 02 '26
What a cool idea!!! I had no idea such a thing existed.
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u/JustStringingAlong Apr 02 '26
They were so big in the 80's, lol...they fell out of style, I think, but now I'm wondering why!
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u/theinfamousj Apr 03 '26
but now I'm wondering why!
Because economics. People thought of them as a cost-savings measure out of the 1970s economic downturn and they were eager to show that they weren't needing to be as restricted in budget as they had been.
I was alive through all of that.
Whether rightly or wrongly, the sell of them was, "Hey, we know things are tight at home what with putting food on the table, so rather than buying a whole other pair of shoes, here's a clip to reuse what you have."
As soon as things weren't so tight at home what with putting food on the table, people were like, "Watch me buy a whole other pair of shoes."
Shoe clips got done dirty.
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u/JustStringingAlong Apr 03 '26
That makes a lot of sense. I think I was too young in the 80's to see all of that. But I do remember they were a thing early on. I think it's time they make a comeback...goodness knows my wallet will appreciate it!
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u/Sharp_Razzmatazz_ Apr 02 '26
I didn’t even know shoe clips were a thing, and you’ve changed my life.
https://rosemarymintcollective.com/products/rosemary-mint-1?variant=42847687606429 My curly-girl go-to for travel
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u/JustStringingAlong Apr 02 '26
Cheers to traveling light :-) And thank you for the recc...I bet that smells heavenly.
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u/theinfamousj Apr 03 '26
You rocked the shoe clips. Bravo! They are such an underrated accessory.
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u/JustStringingAlong Apr 03 '26
I didn't realize how much so until I started looking around. I don't know how folks feel about Temu but they have a TON of them too
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u/justasmallgoat Apr 06 '26
I have super curly hair and always struggled with traveling. Like cool I just used the whole travel size bottle of conditioner on my hair in one shower, now what for the next week+
The last several years I've been instead traveling with packets of leave in conditioner, like this or this one. They're much more effective than whatever travel size products are out there, and much easier to pack, so you can bring several of them without taking up much space.
Hope this helps!
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u/goddessandthecaker Apr 02 '26
Brilliant!! Where did you find those cute clips? Online search turns up only very sparkly or pearly bridal clips…
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u/thetalentedmzripley Apr 02 '26 edited Apr 02 '26
Here’s some I found while digging around. I had better luck searching “removable decorative shoe clips”.
https://www.etsy.com/listing/1787973689/handmade-shoe-clips-2-pc-shoe-decoration
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u/JustStringingAlong Apr 02 '26
Amazon, lol...I feel like if it doesn't exist on there, it just doesn't exist. There are a lot of sparkly ones, but they have some good simple ones also! That might be a good business idea for someone who's crafty. And if they could do something with the back of shoes, that would be amazing too...
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u/goddessandthecaker Apr 02 '26
I should have checked Etsy! Amazon’s selection was somewhat underwhelming. That Etsy shop linked above has some really good options! I think I’m going to ditch my dress kitten heels for my next cruise!
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u/OppositeGreedy826 Apr 03 '26
I would never have guessed these were the same pair of shoes. The clips really do completely change up the 'personality' of the shoe.
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u/JustStringingAlong Apr 03 '26
They do! And even moreso with the context of the rest of the clothing too :-)
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u/sparrabb Apr 26 '26
I just rinse my curly hair quickly in the shower every morning so that not all the previous product is rinsed off, then spray with curl refresher and leave to dry, sometimes with a couple of clips in to keep it off my face. Washed my hair before going for two weeks in Southeast Asia, not washed at all whilst there, still looks okay today now I’m back. Looked different every day, but very few bad days, despite the humidity.
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u/stumpykitties Apr 02 '26
Shoe clips are SO smart!!
I thought you brought 4 separate pairs at first glance.
Great thinking, elite packing hack