Folk wisdom warns us not to judge a man till you’ve walked a mile in his shoes. But I give you express permission to judge me before you’ve done the full mile. In fact, I’d rather you stayed out of my shoes altogether – I forked out 140 quid for them just the other month and they’re already wearing out fast.
The shoes in question are a pair of suede brogues, in brown, from a very well-known British shoe manufacturer. But it’s not this particular pair, or this particular shoe maker, that have upset me; it’s ALL traditional men’s leather shoes. Much as I hate to admit it, I think trainers get my vote nearly every time for anything other than pairing with suits.
These are not superficial comments, you understand. These reflections are the product of a sartorial experiment. I’d never paid much for footwear in the past and the idea was to pay top dollar and see if investing a bit more was the way forward. (…OK, not exactly top dollar – £140 isn’t actually very much for traditional men’s shoes, but it’s not nothing, and it’s a darn sight more than I paid for my last pair which came from M&S and did sterling service.) Well, I’m sorry to say that the experiment so far is really not looking good.
I knew in advance that a leather sole would wear out eventually, but I didn’t expect it to happen so fast. And I didn’t anticipate the toe and the heel perishing as well. Past experience with less expensive models has introduced me to the magic of the cobbler – rubber pads, rubber soles, metal toe and heel clips are all available. But I object to rushing over to get my shoes pimped out the minute I unbox them! It’s madness! Like buying a brand new car and taking it to the mechanic before you can drive it....
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