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I just replaced my Mephistos (similar to Birkenstock) after five years of faithful service. I have very few pairs of shoes, and I pay whatever I need to pay for a good fit and excellent quality. My version of frugality involves living with less, which doesn't always mean paying less for the few items I do purchase.
This. For me, it’s “Buy once, cry once.” I purchased a nice pair of Mephisto several years ago before we took a trip where I knew we’d be walking quite a bit. Best decision ever. Comfortable and they look good even today when I wore them to church. My previous pair was purchased in Haarlem, Netherlands. They lasted 10 years.
They’re brown and I have a nice black pair of shoes. That’s it for dress shoes cause it’s all I need or want.
For Work, which is Business casual, I favor ROCKPORTS. They are comfortable, durable, they last a long long time, fit well, and can be purchased on Amazon or anywhere at a sale price. Someone somewhere is always having a discount on Rockports. I have two, a black and a brown pair. If I need to throw on a tie, or a jacket, well, I still have nice shoes on that did not cost a fortune.
As for casual shoes, I have been made fun of for my sketchers. But I splurged on some NIKE Space Hippies. I bought two pairs, one black, one cream, and within a 9 month period, the black ones already have a hole on the top. I guess recycled yarn, while a great environmental and "Groovy, Man" idea, is not durable. I do not recommend because at the overprice, they lack durability.
Sketchers, well at least they last.
Also, I needed a pair of Navy Blue dress shoes, so I went to the CLARKS website and got a pair on sale at a discount. They are comfortable, I have had them going on three years now and they are just as good as when I bought them. They look fine for business casual as well as a night out. (here in Florida at least)
I want durability but also want something that looks half nice at work.
My old lady still wears cheap canvas shoes from Walmart or DSW. She makes 400K a year and wears shoes with holes in them like we were poor.
Those soles are made of polyurethane.
Polyurethane sole is nowadays often used due to the soft, shock absorbing abilities. The con is hydrolysis, and deterioration progresses little by little even when not worn.
Unfortunately the soles are often paired with a quality leather top.
I had two pairs of super comfy leather shoes with this sole. One pair was never worn.
Look here what happened:
I decided to wear them for a quick errand run before tossing them out and was mortified when they started to pulverize and leave crumbs on the store floor. At that time I didn't know about the hydrolysis. Now I make sure that I don't buy shoes with this sole no matter how comfortable they feel.
Read about here: https://www.safetyjogger.com/en/eu/technical/hydrolysis
Thanks for explaining, I ran into this on WORKSHOES. I thought it was just cause all the shoe brands started sourcing from China. You wouldnt believe how hard it is to find non-Chinese shoes. There are still few small brands left in USA, but not cheap. I found Double H boots. NOT CHEAP. Then went looking on ebay for Double H bargains. You can sometimes find new discontinued styles or I have bought used ones that obviously had very little use (no creases and no wear on soles) and yes even cowboy boots (never thought I would wear cowboy boots...), wealthy people buy them for one time event or costume party or whatever then have no further use for them. Stuff like that. Double H boots, whether work boots or cowboy boots tend to last very long time. Unlike the self destruct Chinese stuff with the crumbly soles. Never buy the plastic shoes if you are going to be in them more than a hour. Your feet will not be happy. If your feet arent happy, you wont be happy.
Oh and the glued on sole shoes, cant unfortunately be repaired by cobbler. Otherwise could have real soles put in if uppers are good quality. Think cobblers mostly disappeared along with leather soles on shoes. But still few out there. On higher end shoes might still be worth asking what re-sole costs and whether its possible. With lack of leather sole shoes in modern world, who knows maybe cobblers have come up with way to resole more modern shoes. Or maybe they only make custom shoes the old way, who knows.
I personally think that sandals like birkenstock are a bit over priced, so I bought a pair that was half of the price. I am now going to see if they are of the "quality" of birkenstock. I also like boots such as creepers and doc martens, which are very comfortable, though they cost a bit.
Do you splurge on shoes and if so, what brands and how much would you pay for a good pair of shoes, boots or sandals? Just curious!
Shoes? Yeah, I have 1 pair that's pretty nice. (Others are sneaker type.) Not really a lot invested in the "nice" pair. Maybe $75.
Sandals? Like flip-flops? $20 max.
Boots is where I don't mind spending for REALLY good quality.
Sorel's for snow/ice work use. Add'l wool liners add $30. Figure around $200 for the Caribou model.
For motocross, I use FOX COMP model boots. They give REALLY good ankle support, and I can feel the pegs when jumping.
OK, I get it. This is NOT the info you were looking for. Ok, how about women's boots with integrated 1.5" lift? These don't look "clunky" and they are REALLY well made. (But, like everything else in the world, quality isn't cheap.)
I personally think that sandals like birkenstock are a bit over priced, so I bought a pair that was half of the price. I am now going to see if they are of the "quality" of birkenstock. I also like boots such as creepers and doc martens, which are very comfortable, though they cost a bit.
Do you splurge on shoes and if so, what brands and how much would you pay for a good pair of shoes, boots or sandals? Just curious!
I did that once, bought cheap knock offs. They broke in two with minimal wear.
I love my Birkenstock collection. Only slightly obsessed.
A friend of a friend of mine once said that when it came to clothing, he never paid retail for anything except shoes.
And given what we ask our shoes to do, I understand where he was coming from.
But I'm not beyond buying good brands off-price. Rockports, which are the most comfortable dress shoes I've ever owned, I don't see off-price too often, and I don't have any in my collection right now.
But I do still have the pair of black Via Spiga dress loafers (retail: $280) I bought at the now-defunct Daffy's for $80 17 years ago. I've had to resole them once. I think this was one of my best buys. They were slightly irregular, but you'd have to look very closely to find the flaw in their manufacture that led to the more than 2/3 discount.
It does seem harder to find shoes not made in China these days.
Because everyone’s feet are different, it’s hard to find companies whose last works on your foot. I am generically an eight wide. However, I have B width heel. I also have a very high instep and a high arch, and my toes are very squared. A wide forefoot.
New balance makes a sneaker with what is called an SL-2 last. That’s the thing they make the shoes on. When I can find those they are perfect. They used to advertise it. They don’t anymore.
So add to my funny foot, I have a tendency to come down with planters fasciitis, and I have heel fat pad atrophy. The cellular walls in the fat of my heel are deteriorating and unless I have a deep heel cup, so it kind of pushes and holds the fat back where it’s supposed to be, my heel will flatten out and essentially I’m walking on my bone. Which hurts. A lot.
So frankly, heals are out. I’m done with heels. And I can’t wear cheap shoes they don’t fit. And they will hurt. I have a pair of slippers called Haflingers. They are boiled wool clogs, and the support on those things is wonderful. The heel cup is nice and deep. The arch support is good. I think I spent 125 on them about a year and a half ago aside from all of this I also have diabetes. So running around in no shoes is absolutely not recommended. My slippers can go outside.
I just bought a couple of pairs of easy spirit clogs because I remember those were a pretty good brand at one point. There is no support in them at all. They went back.
Go buy clothes on sale, but unfortunately, eight wide is an extremely popular size. If I must buy a pair of shoes, I will buy whatever I can find that fits properly and is comfortable. And I will pay the price because it’s worth it to not have foot pain.
I used to buy cheap shoes at Walmart, not knowing any better. Then I discovered Skechers, which to me are "expensive" shoes. I live in them now. I have a bunch of pairs so that I can trade off on wearing them, but they're all comfortable and supportive. And NO heels.
I used to buy cheap shoes at Walmart, not knowing any better. Then I discovered Skechers, which to me are "expensive" shoes. I live in them now. I have a bunch of pairs so that I can trade off on wearing them, but they're all comfortable and supportive. And NO heels.
I bought a pair once only to have them quickly fall apart. They seemed pretty sketchy to me. Anymore who knows, might been a fake pair. The people selling fakes are getting lot better at it. And they show up in legit retail stores, not just some guy selling them on street corner out of trunk of his car. Whats lot more dangerous are fake auto parts, yea its a thing now. Greed knows no bounds.
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Solly says — Be nice!
