Durable dress shoes?

Hey guys I am new to the forum. I am looking for advice on a nice pair of dress shoes that can withstand the abuse of my job. I'm a car salesmen and I am walking on pavement all day through the lot and the longest a pair of shoes have lasted have been 9 months before the sole was worn down and started to have holes through to the inside of the shoe and those were a pair of Cole Haan with a thick heavy rubber sole almost like a boot.

My dilemma is I want a shoe that looks nice but can take walking on the pavement and also be comfortable as I'm wearing them 12 hours a day. I don't think anything with a leather sole will work but seems like all the nice quality dress shows are leather soles.

Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

Alex



alarsen77 said:

Hey guys I am new to the forum. I am looking for advice on a nice pair of dress shoes that can withstand the abuse of my job. I'm a car salesmen and I am walking on pavement all day through the lot and the longest a pair of shoes have lasted have been 9 months before the sole was worn down and started to have holes through to the inside of the shoe and those were a pair of Cole Haan with a thick heavy rubber sole almost like a boot.
My dilemma is I want a shoe that looks nice but can take walking on the pavement and also be comfortable as I'm wearing them 12 hours a day. I don't think anything with a leather sole will work but seems like all the nice quality dress shows are leather soles.
Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.
Alex

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Price range? Leather soled shoes can be extremely comfortable. You can also topy them to extend the time between resoles.

I wouldn't be opposed to spending up to $200 or so on a quality pair of shoes but I also want to try to get two pairs so I can alternate shoes but can't afford to spend $400 on shoes right now. So might just get one pair for now.

Also my fear of leather soles is walking on the asphalt all day and in rain when it rains would completely destroy them?

Well I have to admit that I don't topy my shoes, but folks around here that do would argue that they will help with the "walking on asphalt" part. Maybe try

http://www.allenedmonds.com/aeonlin...001_-1_1_image_0_N_127607_127607__subcategory

I was thinking about Allen Edmunds also what exactly do you mean by topy your shoes? Also if i did go with a leather soled shoe would the rain ruin the sole? What about dirt? Our employee parking lot can get a little mushy in the rain as it is gravel.

I just would hate to buy a $200 shoe to find out I'm going to destroy the sole in a few months

It's a thin but durable rubber layer that is bonded to the leather.

http://www.styleforum.net/t/245884/topy-vs-rubber-oversoles-on-leather-in-new-england

You can also more rugged vibram oversoles added that have lugs.

Hmm interesting I have an Allen edmunds store about an hour away I may take a trip down there. I am still weary of a leather soled shoe though.

I'm a newbie but from what I've read here, you should let your shoes rest at least a day in between each wear. It looks to me like you're looking for one shoe to wear day in and day out. I would research more before deciding because I think AE's would wear down quickly with everyday wear.

thekosmicdesign said:

I'm a newbie but from what I've read here, you should let your shoes rest at least a day in between each wear. It looks to me like you're looking for one shoe to wear day in and day out. I would research more before deciding because I think AE's would wear down quickly with everyday wear.

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Any shoe would wear down quickly with everyday wear, not just AEs.

But yeah, OP, you'd want to make sure your shoes have 24 hours to rest (with cedar shoe trees) in between each wear.

Would upping your budget to ~300 dollars be too much? AE has a 2 for 300 deal on factory seconds and closeouts going on currently.
Picking up 2 pairs would mean you can alternate them and in turn, have shoes that'd last you decades (with proper care and recrafting as needed).
If you do so, getting a cobbler to put on a topy or vibram sole would suit your need for shoes that can take a beating from walking on asphalt and pavement all day.

I might be able to stretch to $300 I'll have to see what I can do. Also I'll have to look into getting the topy or vibrams put on the sole.

I also see that Allen Edmonds has ruber soles shoes that are fully recraftable as well, they are closer to the $300 range but I'm thinking I might stretch and buy one pair of those then get a lesser expensive pair of shoes to alternate to untill I can afford a second pair of the Allen Edmonds.

It may get out of your price range, but Allen Edmonds will make custom shoes from many of their stock models. You can chose mismatched sizes, choice of colors for the various parts of the shoe, and your choice of soles and insoles. There are several different types of rubber soles avaliable. So you could get, for instance, a nice pair of Park Ave or Strands, but with your choice of rubber sole instead of the standard leather.

Honestly, they're not that dressy but you could get a pair of Clark's desert boots. The crepe rubber sole wears like steel.

I would recommend Clark's, Rockport, ECCO and Allen Edmons. They are pretty durable shoes.

Try Clark's, ECCO, Rockport and Allen Edmonds.