Printed from smellbook.com/smells/new-shoes. This printout keeps the entry for New Shoes itself: its description, reference card, Connections, questions, evidence, related smells, record details, states, names and citation. It leaves out your own notes, the map, the lists of paths, routes, stories and fragrance directions, and the lists headed “Also linked to” (other entries that share its place or material) and “Linked from”; they are on the page online. The entries this one links to are still printed under Connections and Related smells.
Links SmellBook records for this entry: related smells. EDITORIAL links are chosen by SmellBook editors. Nothing here is a ranking.
QUESTIONS ABOUT NEW SHOES
New Shoes, question by question
What does new shoes smell like? EDITORIAL
New shoes smell rubbery and synthetic, with notes of leather, glue and cardboard packaging. Leather shoes smell richer and warmer; trainers smell sharper and more plastic. The smell is strongest when the box is first opened and softens once the shoes have been worn for a while. It can be confused with a sports shop or with new bags.
It is met when opening a shoe box, in a shoe store, and when trying on new footwear. The start of a school year or a new season is a common moment.
Typical settings: shoe box, store, new footwear.
What does the evidence say? NONE YET
No VERIFIED evidence is recorded for this entry yet. Nothing on this page should be read as a scientific explanation. Sources have been searched for and none suitable has been found so far.
How do people describe it, and what is it compared with? EDITORIAL
New Shoes varies by materials and manufacturing; this is a broad product-category profile.
Does it have a history? NONE YET
No historical source or heritage record is linked to this entry yet.
What is not known yet?
Why it smells as it does: open; the research status is with the evidence below.
Answers marked EDITORIAL are written by SmellBook editors to describe the experience and add no scientific fact. Answers marked VERIFIED point to claims on published sources, checked against each source's own summary where one was available (each claim's page says how); what each claim supports is in its own text and scope.
01WHAT THE EVIDENCE SAYSNONE YET
SmellBook adds citations claim by claim when reliable sources are available. Everything else on this page is editorial description, labelled separately.
Research status: searched, nothing suitable found yet (5 recorded searches, latest on 2026-10-19). New boots appear in novels and magazines, but none describes their smell. How the research agenda works ↗
Each step is a relationship SmellBook editors recorded in the knowledge graph, named as it is published there. Paths are not ranked or personalised, and they do not mean the smells smell alike.
CULTURAL: This entry's associations depend on context, language, memory or culture; its description and smell words are editorial. It says nothing about research or historical evidence; evidence for this entry is shown separately: NONE YET.
ATLAS POSITION099 / 200
MILESTONEIconic 100
PRIMARY CATEGORYObjects & Materials
PUBLIC TYPEExperience
PROFILE STATUScomplete
Names and identity for New Shoes
How this entry is identified and named, for citing it or matching it with other records.
SmellBook. (2026). New Shoes (revision 3, 2026-10-06). SmellBook Public Atlas. smellbook:smell:new-shoes. https://smellbook.com/smells/new-shoes
BibTeX and RIS for reference managers
@misc{smellbook_new_shoes_r3,
author = {{SmellBook}},
title = {New Shoes},
year = {2026},
note = {SmellBook Public Atlas, revision 3, 2026-10-06, smellbook:smell:new-shoes},
url = {https://smellbook.com/smells/new-shoes}
}
TY - ENCYC
ID - smellbook-new-shoes-r3
TI - New Shoes
AU - SmellBook
T2 - SmellBook Public Atlas
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/10/06
ET - revision 3
UR - https://smellbook.com/smells/new-shoes
N1 - SB-0099; smellbook:smell:new-shoes; resolver https://smellbook.com/id/smell/new-shoes
ER -
The citation names revision 3 of 2026-10-06, so a reader can tell exactly which version was cited. Citing records what was read; it does not grant a licence.
PROFILE NOTE
New Shoes varies by materials and manufacturing; this is a broad product-category profile.