If Nancy Sinatra’s 1966 single, “These Boots Are Made For Walkin’” was written from the perspective of Farmville resident Mickie Carrington, the title would have been, “These Boots Are Made For Collectin’” because that’s just what she does. In fact, Carrington has collected 877 separate novelty shoes that all adorn a room in her house. On a table you’ll find a pair of novelty yellow rain boots that were meant to be a salt and pepper shaker. On the ground beneath the table, feet away are shoes that were meant to be planters. In between are a countless number of others of all shapes, sizes, themes and colors. Carrington’s collection was first featured in a 2002 Herald article. At that time she had collected 400. Now, 16 years and 477 shoes later, she sees no stop in sight.

Her collection started when her sister came back from California with a glass slipper with a bow on it.

“She wanted me to collect something because she was doing bells and my other sister was doing owls,” Carrington said. “She said I needed to collect something too.”

She said her sister’s have since stopped their collections.

“They probably don’t even know where they are,” Carrington said, “and I’m continuing.”

She said the room she has set up with her novelty shoes is the only room she has that she tells people they can look but they can’t touch.

“I don’t do anything else like that,” Carrington said. “My house is lived in. This is the only room that is not lived in. My shoes live here.”

She said she doesn’t have a favorite set of shoes because she likes them all.

Her novelty shoe collection has even expanded to include blankets with shoes on them, magnets and paper with shoes on them. The paper with shoes on them stay unopened.

She said she asked her sister when she first started collecting where she’d find the novelty shoes.

“It just boomed,” Carrington said.

She says she loves getting new shoes.

“What I usually do is I get a new shoe, or shoes, I sit them on the kitchen table or counter for a few days just to look at it,” she said. “Then I’ll start visualizing where I’ll put them in (this room), and then I’ll come in here and I find a spot.”