Quote:
Originally Posted by
Ivon 
What are the pros and cons of installing toe/heel taps? I just got my first pair of Lobbs and sometimes see pics of pricey shoes with them but not sure why? Thanks.
Toe taps in my opinion are a must. The toe area of the shoe generally wears down pretty fast with walking and depending on your gait and wear down to the welt and thin out the welt. This leads to much more expensive and complicated repair job. I think it is worth getting the flush metal taps on the toes if your cobbler offers them. As for heels, I used to swear by them, however I have noticed that with better shoes (read $1,000+) the heels are made much better and don't wear down nearly as fast. Generally, by the time they wear down significantly it is time to replace the whole sole anyway. I have really noticed that JR heels, or Bakers heels, even the rubber inserts are of much better quality that what comes on a lot of stock RTW shoes.
Quote:
Originally Posted by
iroh
this thread has shown me that even lower priced shoes when polished properly can look as good as a pair of the most expensive gaziano & girling shoes.
there is no need to spend $1000 for a pair of shoes now, if i had told people i was considering paying $1000 for a pair of shoes they would have thought i was mad. goes to show a high quality $200 pair of allen edmonds will look better than a $2000 pair of bespoke shoes when polished up.
save your money folks, and the embarrassment, spending more money doesn't always mean more better in the end. sometimes we can all get caught up in the marketing hype and forget that a shoe is really just some pieces of leather stitched and dyed with color and we are giving thousands of dollars to these shoe companies and not asking if it makes sense. the next time you drop a thousand dollars for a pair of shoes ask yourself do you want to put a couple hundred dollars of pure profit into the pockets of the man who they named the shoe after?
Well, kind of. With some good know-how you can improve the look of the finish of your lower priced shoes, however you are not going to trick any style conscious shoe guy. There are other things you simply cannot polish away such as an ugly last and ugly welts and such.
Quote:
Originally Posted by
BostonHedonist
Wet season is here and I need to get half soles for my new 1000 mile boots. Just wondering, is there any trick to picking the right size half sole, or are they a one-size-fits-all sort of item?
I would say it is something that should be discussed with your cobbler, they should be able to recommend and help you make the proper decision.
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