It was perhaps Melbourne's largest ever hot shoe shuffle - more than 2400 pairs of stolen shoes were moved into Epping Memorial Hall in a bid to find their long-lost owners.

Lonesome cowboy boots, rainbow-laced sneakers and even a pair of motorcycle boots filled the hall in Melbourne's north on Sunday, as police sought to reunite victims of a shoe thief with their lost footwear.

Of the more than 2000 pairs on display, by far the most common item was the humble work boot, including one unworn pair of Blundstones still wrapped in their box.

A sea of mustard, tan and black boots spattered with every imaginable shade of mud and dust and concrete and tar offered vital clues as to the trade of their owners.