Sole Welting

I use my stuff until it passes the point of patina and enters the homeless category. I care for my stuff as much as I can with the best methods I know. I enjoy using the same things over and over again and seeing them age and change. Keeps me from getting tired of them!

I'd be pretty ticked if my shoes struggled to make it past 5 years. Thankfully, that's not my reality. Not even close.

Well, as I have said in the past I have many ideas why it has occurred that way.



patrickBOOTH said:

Well, as I have said in the past I have many ideas why it has occurred that way.

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It's one of those things that are idiosyncratic to each individual. Some people can seemingly...literally...walk on eggs. Others have a heavier tread.

But your attitude is admirable, IMO. No one gets value...or their money's worth (much less enjoyment)...out of an item if they fail to use it, or fail to use it for the purpose for which it was designed. Or if they are forever taking extraordinary measures to preserve it in its original state.

Nor, if the truth be known, if the item is acquired in a miasma of expediency and cheese-nipping. If you don't appreciate an item for the tangible attributes it embodies, it literally has no value except to represent the degree of hardship it caused you.



RogerP said:

I'd be pretty ticked if my shoes struggled to make it past 5 years. Thankfully, that's not my reality. Not even close.

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+1 And I don't even (overly) take care of mine, and wear them plenty.

Quote:
I wear my shoes plenty, and generally in the way they were intended to be worn. So no rock climbing in my stitch cap Oxfords. Some people might consider that "babying" my shoes. I don't. I also take care of them - keep them clean, moisturize and polish as needed. I'm not sure whether than constitutes 'extraordinary measures to preserve them in their original state' or not - but then I don't pretend to understand what such measures might embrace. I thought you were supposed to clean and polish your shoes.



RogerP said:

I wear my shoes plenty, and generally in the way they were intended to be worn. So no rock climbing in my stitch cap Oxfords. Some people might consider that "babying" my shoes. I don't. I also take care of them - keep them clean, moisturize and polish as needed. I'm not sure whether than constitutes 'extraordinary measures to preserve them in their original state' or not - but then I don't pretend to understand what such measures might embrace. I thought you were supposed to clean and polish your shoes.

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I clean/polish rarely, certainly by SF standards I'm sure.

patrickBOOTH said:

None of mine, albeit one pair have lasted more than five years. For various reasons.

Just another made-up conversation we sold ourselves.

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How many shoes do you wear on a regular basis? I think SFers think high quality shoes last longer because they own a lot more shoes than your typical person. Women's shoes tend to last a lifetime because your typical women has 50 pairs of shoes she rotates.



jaywhyy said:

How many shoes do you wear on a regular basis? I think SFers think high quality shoes last longer because they own a lot more shoes than your typical person. Women's shoes tend to last a lifetime because your typical women has 50 pairs of shoes she rotates. 

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Tony Gaziano was quoted in Men's Ex saying a 15 pair shoe rotation should covers enough occasions and would last 20 years.

Obviously he is wrong according to StyFo common wisdom.

Well-made shoes should last 20+ years, often 30+, in my experience, if they're taken care of and soles are protected as necessary. Often the uppers deteriorate before the soles I find. For me this is based probably on a 6-pair rotation and a lot of walking. If you've got 50 pairs and rotate them, and work inside, I guess you'll never need to buy any more for your whole life, whatever their quality. But wearing quality shoes regularly until they come to the end of their natural life, seeing how they change, and rotating with less pairs, is more satisying I think. That's doing the shoes justice and paying homage to the people that made them.

thelonius said:

Well-made shoes should last 20+ years, often 30+, in my experience, if they're taken care of and soles are protected as necessary. Often the uppers deteriorate before the soles I find. For me this is based probably on a 6-pair rotation and a lot of walking. If you've got 50 pairs and rotate them, and work inside, I guess you'll never need to buy any more for your whole life, whatever their quality. But wearing quality shoes regularly until they come to the end of their natural life, seeing how they change, and rotating with less pairs, is more satisying I think. That's doing the shoes justice and paying homage to the people that made them.

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I used to have only two pairs of shoes for work - a pair of black full brogues and a pair of black cap toes. I normally had to resole them after around 18 months.



chogall said:

Tony Gaziano was quoted in Men's Ex saying a 15 pair shoe rotation should covers enough occasions and would last 10 years.

Obviously he is wrong according to StyFo common wisdom.

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WHAT THE HELL DOES HE KNOW?!

Sometimes this thread reminds me of the Carly Simon song "You're so vain."

There are a number of people posting here who seem to think that their experiences are universal. And that they are commanded by God to speak for everyone.

They get (or say they get) 25, 50 years out of a pair of shoes, so that must be the norm and anyone who experiences something different is dismissed.

They've never contracted a foot disease from wearing used shoes. So it must never happen. They have never had any problem with the insole of a used shoe not being perfectly comfortable. So it's impossible.

Rubber soles don't make their shoes hotter, don't hold in more moisture...in fact, their shoes get cooler and more comfortable.

They are the most interesting people alive and when they drink beer it is always Dos Equis...Yada yada....and I bet they think this whole thread is about them...



DWFII said:

WHAT THE HELL DOES HE KNOW?!

Sometimes this thread reminds me of the Carly Simon song "You're so vain."

There are a number of people posting here who seem to think that their experiences are universal. And that they are commanded by God to speak for everyone.
They get (or say they get) 25, 50 years out of a pair of shoes, so that must be the norm and anyone who experiences something different is dismissed.

They've never contracted a foot disease from wearing used shoes. So it must never happen. They have never had any problem with the insole of a used shoe not being perfectly comfortable. So it's impossible.

Rubber soles don't make their shoes hotter, don't hold in more moisture...in fact, their shoes get cooler and more comfortable.

They are the most interesting people alive and when they drink beer it is always Dos Equis...Yada yada....and I bet they think this whole thread is about them...

Click to expand...

DWFII said:

WHAT THE HELL DOES HE KNOW?!

Sometimes this thread reminds me of the Carly Simon song "You're so vain."

There are a number of people posting here who seem to think that their experiences are universal. And that they are commanded by God to speak for everyone.

They get (or say they get) 25, 50 years out of a pair of shoes, so that must be the norm and anyone who experiences something different is dismissed.

They've never contracted a foot disease from wearing used shoes. So it must never happen. They have never had any problem with the insole of a used shoe not being perfectly comfortable. So it's impossible.

Rubber soles don't make their shoes hotter, don't hold in more moisture...in fact, their shoes get cooler and more comfortable.

They are the most interesting people alive and when they drink beer it is always Dos Equis...Yada yada....and I bet they think this whole thread is about them...

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Just sharing our (users') experiences. As you like to, too.

I'm sorry, was only one person in this thread allowed to have a point of view?



DWFII said:

WHAT THE HELL DOES HE KNOW?!

Sometimes this thread reminds me of the Carly Simon song "You're so vain."

There are a number of people posting here who seem to think that their experiences are universal. And that they are commanded by God to speak for everyone.

They get (or say they get) 25, 50 years out of a pair of shoes, so that must be the norm and anyone who experiences something different is dismissed.

They've never contracted a foot disease from wearing used shoes. So it must never happen. They have never had any problem with the insole of a used shoe not being perfectly comfortable. So it's impossible.

Rubber soles don't make their shoes hotter, don't hold in more moisture...in fact, their shoes get cooler and more comfortable.

They are the most interesting people alive and when they drink beer it is always Dos Equis...Yada yada....and I bet they think this whole thread is about them...

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All I can say is, wow.