Bless the Dress, but Shun the Shoes
791. Bless the Dress, but Shun the Shoes
The Rema mentions the custom of blessing a person who acquires a new item of clothing: Tivleh u'sechadesh (wear it out and get a new one). There is an exception: We do not give this particular brachah for new shoes. Shoes are made from leather, the skin of an animal, and it is inappropriate for us to wish that another animal be killed so the wearer may get yet another new pair.
Shulchan Aruch states that a person should recite the brachah of Shehecheyanu (“That we have reached the occasion,” which is recited for monumental events, like a new Yom Tov) upon purchasing or donning new clothes. This halachah has been abandoned by some people in current times since buying new clothing has become so commonplace—but they still make the brachah on very elegant or expensive clothing.
What about shoes? Poskim say that according to all opinions shoes are not considered fancy garments, even for the poor, so Shehecheyanu is not said when buying them, just as it is not said for new socks or other ordinary clothing. It seems that the reasoning for this halachah is that in the times of earlier poskim, new shoes were considered a constant need and other apparel, a luxury.
These days, however, shoes can be quite expensive, more so than regular clothing, and can last for much longer too. It is therefore questionable why we don’t say Shehecheyanu on them. Perhaps the explanation given above for not saying tivleh usechadesh can be applied to Shehecheyanu as well—but this explanation is a stretch.
Alternatively, perhaps shoes were simply always less important because they are constantly in the dirt. Perhaps, the reason the Shulchan Aruch states that Shehecheyanu is not recited on them was never on account of the regularity of their purchase (or their expense, which was always significant), but because their primary use is traversing the ground.
Although these explanations are difficult to sustain, it is nevertheless the prevailing custom not to say Shehecheyanu upon buying or donning new shoes.
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