Add life to your new shoes; spray them with a waterproof protector. Then, have a shoe repairman add taps and half-soles of rubber. The added cost (around $20) will add many years to the life of your shoes.

Alternate pairs so your shoes have time to breathe between wearings. Also, let shoes dry for several hours before putting them in the dank recesses of your closet. If odor is a problem, clean the interiors with alcohol or a drop of tea tree oil, an antifungal agent. Take care not to splash to avoid staining the leather.

Wear hose or sock liners to guard against perspiration, which erodes insoles.

Get shoe trees to retain the shoe's shape. "Use forms made of cedar for the pair worn that day to absorb moisture." says Joe Rocco from Jim's Shoe Repair in New York City. Plastic trees are fine for your other shoes. You can get shoe trees at shoe stores, shoe-repair shops, or at stores like The Container Store (plastic, $2.50/pair, www.containerstore.com, or cedar, $17/pair, www.containerstore.com).

Polish, polish, and polish leather and clean suede regularly so the salt in sweat doesn't dry out the skins.