Two years ago this month, I was teaching my son to polish his school shoes. I got my own Ecco work shoes out to demonstrate on and had a moment of revelation: those things were horrible and had to go.
Over the following few weeks I re-equipped myself with several pairs of proper, English-made, leather-soled shoes, and these are what I've been wearing to work ever since. Nothing high-end - mostly Loake 1880s and a couple of pairs of Cheaneys. They haven't transformed my career but they do make me feel better presented, and polishing them no longer feels like a chore.
Now one of them has developed a hole. The heel, unusually for my shoes, is still in good condition, but the sole has worn away right under the ball of my right foot, just where it rests on the accelerator pedal. It can be repaired, of course, although it's a factory job - these shoes ain't going to Timpson's - but i was surprised that it happened so soon given that the shoes have been worn typically only one day a week for two years.
So I wondered, is driving especially hard on shoes? More so than walking? And, if so, would anyone here consider keeping a different, tougher pair of shoes in the car just for driving? Seems like a lot of fuss, but as well as preserving those expensive soles it would save the scuffed toecaps that seem inevitable when working pedals with polished shoes. As so often, I ask myself, What Would Humph Do?
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Last time a car wore a hole in the sole of my shoe it was the roller thingy on the throttle pedal of a Wartburg!
I like nicely polished shoes and I don't have any toecap scuffing trouble but my Grensons get a bit marked on the sides if I don't keep my feet straight in the footwell...
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If your accelerator pedal has worn a hole in your shoe I would get your pedal fixed, it must have a suspension spring fitted as a return spring.
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I always used to drive in Slippers! - only £4 a pair! nice and comfortable! nothing better than to kick your clod-hoppers off for the drive home after work!
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>> I always used to drive in slippers
I was a passenger in a van that got T-boned once, by a woman wearing slippers, pyjamas and a dressing gown! She'd just dropped her husband off at the station and her foot slipped off the brake pedal at the exit as we were passing.
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Well now there is hope I see !
:-)
As far as the repair goes, while it might be worth sending them back to be refurbished at the factory, it is likely that you could get as good a job done locally if you can find a proper cobbler and to be fair some Timpsons branches are actually ok.
One of the reasons leather soles can wear quickly is when they encounter friction when wet. For example a rubber car pedal. Don't be tempted to put "stick-a-sole" type outsoles on them, it upsets the relationship between the height of the heel and the sole and can cause discomfort.
As for the scratches etc. Don't worry, a bit of patina is good ! You're doing exactly the right thing. Don't wear them on consequutive days and keep some polish on them and they'll love you forever.
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Now the OP's had his proper answer, a small rant from me about people who drive in sandals or even worse, clogs.
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I don't think driving does so much, my safety boots wear about evenly on both soles.
I only have the sort of boots/shoes you are referring to for my non work wear, always leather soled.
I get a rubber sole put on them as soon as possible after purchase, they then last me indefinately.
If you were to watch yourself in your routines WdB i wonder if you'd see that you lead with your right foot, spin on it as it were whenever you move....sort of the FWD version of movement, where your left foot is merely following the lead like the rear wheels.:-)
Do you for example get up from a chair and pivot on your right foot every time?
Getting in an out of vehicles and spinning on your soles in movement does cause heavy wear, the stamped and grippy decks on the transporters could rip the soles apart on cheap company supplies boots in 3 months, the better quality DeWalt's i bought myself (idiot?, but my feet/legs are worth a lot to me) lasted 12 months...as an aside those grippy decks caused severe joint wear for us humans.
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>> I get a rubber sole put on them as soon as possible after purchase....
Nooooooo !!!!!
That's the equivalent of permanently wearing a condom !
:-)
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...That's the equivalent of permanently wearing a condom !...
Which would be good advice for many members of our society.
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WdB, having just looked up the price of Cheaney's I hope they do it for free!
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Now would i ask someone who wants to sell millions of replacement items how to make the ones i already own last forever?...:-)
Oh and agree about the level between sole and heel, i usually get substantial heels fitted too....the cobbler who once soled my Sargeants Dundee boots in Northampton did suggest i shouldn't fall in a river, they are quite a meaty item.
We luckily do have a handy little repair cobbler in the town, should have retired long ago but keeps going.
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Actually, I often don't wear anything when driving... In the way of shoes to be clear ! I like to feel the pedals. If you see what I...Oh never mind.
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>>It can be repaired, of course, although it's a factory job
All well and good if you get them repaired for free. However, I had a quote for new heels and soles for my only expensive pair of shoes that sent me hotfooting towards my local cobblers shop to have the job done for a fraction of the manufacturers price.
They did a perfectly good job, too.
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I tend to wear subtle black trainers, because I can do walk, go out and drive in them. I can do anything with comfort and they are subtle enough.
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>> trainers,
aaarrrgh, cough splutter...NURSE....
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Tennis shoes they are sold as . They are a just a do anything. I've never found shoes comfortable to walk in, and before I had a car I was walking 10 miles+ a day.
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What on earth are all you grand Burlington Berties rabbiting on about?
'Don't wear them on consecutive days' indeed! Do you think we're made of shoes Humph?
It will soon be time for me to trek up to Portobello Road on a weekday and get another pair of 30 quid gangster's tennis shoes. The one's I'm wearing are getting a bit rough.
I do have a pair of good shoes, but they were never the same after getting caked with mud in Algeria many years ago, and subsequently repaired by a cobbler who put rubber soles on them - not stick-on, much better than that. Ghastly.
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One should never judge a book by it's cover but one can most certainly judge a man by his shoes.
:-)
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Does that make me a holy man?
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Probably, but it might be best to limit the amount of walking on water you do in your good ones.
Edit - Not good for the soul...
Last edited by: Humph D'Bout on Thu 8 Sep 11 at 15:09
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...One should never judge a book by it's cover but one can most certainly judge a man by his shoes...
Quite right, my low-cost, no maintenance suede slip-ons are still going strong.
Wish I could run a car on the same basis.
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If a local Timpsons can't repair anything(shoes or watches)they will send the items away to specialists.
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Speaking of trainers, this video is, I think, a tease for some new trainers from Nike.
I don't quite get it, perhaps Humph could explain.
www.youtube.com/watch?v=MBDv7kKeIHA&NR=1
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>> one can most certainly judge a man by his shoes.
>> :-)
'I'm awfully sorry, Mr Gandhi, but the Viceroy won't see you dressed like that. Couldn't you at least put on a pair of decent brown brogues?'
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If a local Timpsons can't repair anything (shoes or watches) they will send the items away to specialists.
If a local Timpsons can't repair it, it won't stop them trying. And by the time they decide they can't, there may not be much left. Cheaneys say it takes six weeks (!) to complete the refurbishment, and while that may be overkill, it doesn't seem like a job to entrust to a monkey with a glue gun.
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'Ows about taking some pics of the offending shoes, before and after.
I've never had my shoes properly refurbed by a quality maker, should be quite interesting to see just how good the overhaul is.
You'll be doing your bit to keep what little's left of our boot and shoe industry.
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Waiting in line for key cutting service, a guy in front of me asked how much to resole a leather pair of shoes. The guy said £55. The customer just walked away muttering he could buy a new pair for that.
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yes! - why are Cobblers so good at cutting keys~??
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Good question.
They're good at charging too. Well, a certain chain are anyway.
Need a new watch battery? The dearer the watch, the dearer the battery, despite the fact the batteries all cost pretty much the same anyway (within a few pence).
Timex, about a fiver. Raymond Weil, about thirty quid.
Ho ho ho.
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Clarks Gortex Polyveldts Have just been broken out for the Autumn - Salomon approach shoes most of the summer really - this is where BMW organ type pedals come into their own....very comfortable...
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I shall upset Humph here. I have a couple or three of nice pairs of shoes. 1 Pair of black Lobbs Oxfords, 1 Pair of Loakes brown brogues, and 1 pair of tassled loafers who name escapes me.
They all got worn for a few months, and then fitted with thin rubber soles...
The Lobbs are 8 - 10 years old, and have never needed to be restitched, just a new sole stuck on from time to time.
I am currently wearing a pair of Lands End Oiled leather boots with thick composite soles.
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1 x Watch battery - 76p
1 x Use of fancy special tool for opening snazzy watch - 29.24
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>> 1 x Watch battery - 76p
>> 1 x Use of fancy special tool for opening snazzy watch - 29.24
Less...
1 x proportionate cost of employees wages / NI / holiday pay etc to operate tool.
1 x proportionate head office contribution
1 x VAT
1 x wholesale cost of battery
1 x proportionate contribution to occupancy costs of premises, rent, rates, insurances, telephones, electricity etc
1 x tax
1 x profit margin.
1 x lack of faff of having to do it yourself
Bargain
:-)
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>> Actually, I often don't wear anything when driving...
Barefoot. My Australian friend drives with no shoes in the summer. No finesse the ozzies. To the consternation of Iffy, I like to drive in sandals with the aircon in the footwells. Lovely.
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...I like to drive in sandals with the aircon in the footwells. Lovely...
Sandals are the lesser of the two evils - only worthy of transportation rather than hanging.
Still too great a risk of getting a pedal caught up in a shoe for my liking.
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deleted - vxfan
Last edited by: VxFan on Thu 8 Sep 11 at 21:05
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>> One friend I knew wore earplugs when driving.>>
Maybe MIL was in the back.
Last edited by: Old Navy on Thu 8 Sep 11 at 17:07
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I'm pleased to say your link doesn't work:)
Pat
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Philrob has tried in vain to insert a link for motorcycle earplugs, that's why it's in blue but it doesn't work, so neither did his attempt to get some free advertising:)
His first post?
Pat
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Wooooooooooosh
That one went right over Pats head Iffy!
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...That one went right over Pats head Iffy!...
What?...About twenty past five.
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Huh? oh yes, take the next left.
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>> Huh? oh yes, take the next left.
Tsk. You're both wrong. It was Edward the Confessor.
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Would one of you please tell me what I've missed?
.............hang on, I think I might have got it now:)
Pat
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I was almost inconsolable last year when the soles and heels of the (leather) Hush Puppies I had been wearing for about ten years broke up - no discernable wear, they just disintegrated. I only noticed at first when I realised I was bringing chippings from the drive into the house via the holes in the heels. I still can't bear to throw them away.
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>> I was almost inconsolable last year when the soles and heels of the (leather) Hush
>> Puppies I had been wearing for about ten years broke up
>>
It's Hush Puppies for me. Silly name, but the shoes are the longest lasting I have ever found.
They are reasonably smart albeit in a brown sort of way, if polished, which I admit mine hardly ever are, but also comfortable and equally good for slopping around in.
I bought a pair on eBay which were probably fakes, but were even better than the real thing.
The real ones had a tongue which wasn't quite long enough, so the laces would tend to get caught the wrong side.
My wife finds it strange that I can drive in gumboots.
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Oh, the hushpuppie. Quite the comfiest shoe I ever owned, but now departed. I now wear Pods on a day to day basis, as they seem quite long lived for a cheap shoe, but one day I will have another pair of, preferably suede, 'puppies'.
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>>although it's a factory job - these shoes ain't going to Timpson's
I don't know what they'll charge you, but the last time I asked Church's they wanted iirc £80. Local cobbler, half that price.
(For those who are amused by such things, I once bought a car that was cheaper than the pair of shoes I was wearing at the time.)
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Yes, that's about what I'd expect. Worth paying too, given that the Cheaney refurb will be on the lasts the shoes were made on and they'll come back as good as new rather than merely resoled. I bought the shoes (end of line, as it happens, for about half the list price) because they fitted so nicely on my awkwardly shaped feet, so it would be a shame to spoil that with a rough and ready repair.
To look at it another way, in 2010 I bought a pair of summer slip-ons for about £75. Two summers on, they're as good as wrecked and just about wearable around the house. This doesn't appal me - it seems par for the course for lightweight, casual shoes. So if a factory refurb on the Cheaneys gets me another two years it seems fair value to me.
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...So if a factory refurb on the Cheaneys gets me another two years it seems fair value to me...
Agreed - no point in buying a Bentley then taking it to Kwik-Fit for a service.
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...For those who are amused by such things, I once bought a car that was cheaper than the pair of shoes I was wearing at the time.)...
If the old saying: 'the cobbler's kids are never shod', is true, does that mean the personal finances of an accountant are always in a mess?
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Haha not sure about accountants, but I know a loopy economist (is there any other kind?), I have no idea how he manages to sleep at nights! He swears blind he's worth a mint, on paper at least.
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I'm proud of the fact that I don't own a pair of trainers/crocks/sandals ! My best going-out shoes are black Grenson oxfords ( Mostly funerals now ) and brown Clarks. My day to day shoes, which I've just polished, are a dark grey pair of lace-ups bought in a warehousey sort of place in Clitheroe for £12. Very light and comfortable, even after a years wear, they are now black 'cos I didn't have any grey polish and I could only get black or brown replacement laces.
I've got some steel toecapped oxfords for garage use and a couple of pairs of slip ons, black and brown....£10 a pair.
Ensemble completed by pairs of wellies, Brasher walking boots, motorcycle boots and deck shoes. I'm not a shoe enthusiast !
Now let me tell you about SWM's collection of size threes........better not, I'm off to bed in an hour !
Ted
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I'm equally proud to say I don't have a pair of leather shoes.
Not for the past 15 years anyway.
Trainers for the gym.
Approach/Trail shoes for everyday work/pub/going out/backpacking.
My current favourites are Salomon XA Pro's.
No shoe cleaning for me, only sponging the mud off or occasionally putting in the washer (in a pillowcase).
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After years of Hush Puppies I converted to Clarks with the thick rubber soles.
Can usually get 2-3 years from a pair, wearing them 5 days a week (and consecutive days at that! :)
Once had a pair of leather soled shoes, hated them, no grip at all.
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I'm a long way away, Bobby (coincidentally Cheaneys' model name for the shoes that prompted this thread), but I reckon I can smell your five-day Clarks from here.
};---)
It was looking inside my old Eccos (two pairs, alternated through the week) and discovering the fetid insoles and disintegrating textile liners that made me realize something had to change.
We've strayed a bit from the driving point but I've had some useful answers here. Fussy as it seems, I'm tending towards the idea of keeping a spare pair in the car, especially for the cooler months when it's hard to avoid the soles being damp when I get in. Whether I'll be able to stick to the discipline when it's been a long day and I just want to get home is another matter.
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Question to ask yourselves is, would you wear the same trousers five days or longer in a row?
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>>Question to ask yourselves is, would you wear the same trousers five days or longer in a row?
Think you know the answer to that from me :)
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>> Question to ask yourselves is, would you wear the same trousers five days or longer
>> in a row?
>>
Yes.
As we are trading intimate questions:
Socks and underwear - daily.
Shirts - 2 days
Trousers - weekly
Shoes - every 2 years
Suits - rarely worn now - 25 years
Dressing gowns - too soon to tell, I'm still wearing my grandfather's, c 1920.
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Agree with you Cliff apart from the shirts - daily for them.
Oh and I have my own dressing gown :)
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As previously mentioned, I don't give a hoot for fashion and as I know Mr Versace doesnt design sunglasses but some carry his name, the same way as I know that somewhere away at the back, there is a "designer" who designs what is sold in M&S, Next etc. So I don't buy into all this "designer" led society that we live in.
I also struggle to understand the argument that a pair of quality shoes that need sent back to the factory or resoled, and can only be worn on alternate days , are better than a bog standard pair of £40 Clarks shoes with good rubber soles and can be worn every day and last a couple of years. The argument just doesn't wash with me.
Similarly I don't see what a £100 shirt does that a £10 shirt doesn't - if it makes the buyer/wearer feel good and they can afford it, then full credit to them. However if an item is priced skyhigh, to cover the costs of the skyhigh rents that the supplier is paying in the centre of London for instance, then that suggests to me that the actual money being spent on the garment is not too big?
Anyway back to my Clarks, I kind of see them as my all weather tyre - sometimes they feel a tad heavy on a hot summers day buy I can also wear them in the snow and they give me good grip. Leather soled shoes, are like the proverbial Mercs and BMs in the winter, folks buy them for the look and the status, but in reality, they just aren't up to the job!
:)
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Yes, but don't you notice a distinct odour of rotting fish following you around?
:-)
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I hope the likes of BMW don't start making shoes, it would put the badge snobs into a competitive frenzy. :-)
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...I hope the likes of BMW don't start making shoes...
Have you checked?
The so-called premium car makers sell all sorts of branded merchandise.
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>> Have you checked?
Not a chance, no interest whatsoever in wearing branded kit. One of the first thing I do when I buy a car is remove all the dealers advertising stickers. I would remove the cars badges if it made them unrecognizable.
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Yeah, your right on both counts, I would remove the badges if i had a Kia, but as you say its unmistakeable and wont keep the flies away...
;P
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>> Yeah, your right on both counts, I would remove the badges if i had a
>> Kia, but as you say its unmistakeable and wont keep the flies away...
>>
>> ;P
>>
Fell right into that one Z. :-))))))))))))))))
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I would remove the badges if i had a
>> Kia,
Did that when I put my new Vitara into service. Took all the plastic chrome badges off the back,
I've been juggling the letters about to see if a suitable word can be made. It had
stickers on each side under the back window announcing make/model and power unit.
On the premise that I knew what it was and no-one else would be bothered....off they came.
She'd also been fitted with smoked film to every bit of glass after the B posts......hardly see out with sunglasses on. Professionally applied, it was a neat job....but it soon came off !
Ted
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>> ...I hope the likes of BMW don't start making shoes...
>>
>> Have you checked?
>>
>> The so-called premium car makers sell all sorts of branded merchandise.
The funniest merchandise item I have ever seen was a BMW branded pipe displayed in the glass cabinet at a dealer along with the cufflinks etc.
Seeing me chortling, the service receptionist explained with great seriousness that the bowl was designed to break off if hit by the airbag, so as to prevent the pipe being rammed down the driver's throat.
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...the service receptionist explained with great seriousness that the bowl was designed to break off if hit by the airbag, so as to prevent the pipe being rammed down the driver's throat...
BMW drivers taking themselves too seriously?
Surely not.
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>>that the bowl was designed to break off if hit by the airbag<<
Which then starts a fire whilst you are trapped in the car.
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>> Which then starts a fire whilst you are trapped in the car.
>>
Which doesn't bother you too much as the narrow pipe stem has disappeared down your throat and you can't get a breath.
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>>Yes, but don't you notice a distinct odour of rotting fish following you around?
Got a blocked nose most of the time! But I am sure my nearest and dearest would tell me if there was!
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Humph, when you said you were in Livingston earlier in the week I was going to suggest you should have carried on through to Glasgow and meet for a pint.
But you would probably look at me in utter despair and turnaround and walk out!!
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That would have been good, and don't worry, I'm used to Glasgow, not much would come as a shock !
:-)
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I expect they're just used to it. I can't begin to tell you how unhealthy it is to wear the same shoes in perpetuity. I used to run a shoe factory and we had access to data re bacteria counts etc which would ( if you'll forgive the pun ) make your toes curl. I'm not suggesting you should all rush off and spend the family silver on multiple pairs of designer shoes but please do your feet a favour by at least alternating the shoes you wear on a daily basis. This at least lets the perspiration dry out of the stitching and linings and makes a huge difference to the bug count contained in them.
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...by at least alternating the shoes you wear on a daily basis...
I have two pairs of Malyasian child killer suede slip-ons, and do follow Humph's alternating advice.
Apart from the health benefits, shoes - and other clothing - lasts longer and looks smarter for longer if rested between use.
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I think I've just had a Prof Higgins moment !
:-)
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>>but please do your feet a favour by at least alternating the shoes you wear on a daily basis
so do you mean like wearing your left shoe on your left foot one day, and then on your right foot the next?? :)
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I think I need a strong coffee.
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>> so do you mean like wearing your left shoe on your left foot one day,
>> and then on your right foot the next?? :)
I've turned up at work in odd shoes after dressing in the dark to avoid disturbing Mrs B!
Noticed when tucking trrousers in socks to ride the bike out of Euston.
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I thought all the trendy teenagers and dressed up mutton that populate the south wore mismatched shoes, socks etc. :-)
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Nah, that's Fife. Hear any banjos?
:-)
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The nearest we get to them is the faint hum of the motor racing at Knockhill. (If the wind is in the right direction.) :-)
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Nah, it's Friday, so that'll be the hum of Bobby's shoes.
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No wonder he goes to work on his bike. I'd not want to share an enclosed car with those shoes either...
:-)
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...I'd not want to share an enclosed car with those shoes either...
At least he wears shoes in the car.
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Although I confess to not owning a pair of leather shoes, i have the strange pecadilo of never wearing the same shoes on consecutive days.
In warm weather I have a choice of Chaco's. Fantastic sandals far superior to the normal run of the mill stuff.
When cooler, I prefer Haglofs & Salomon trail shoes. Top quality stuff which I find supremely comfortable to wear when I am on my plates all day.
Plus, I am a great believer in Superfeet footbeds. I wear them in my day to day footwear, my winter boots and my ski boots. Different volumes & cushioning are availabe, but the arch support is a revelation if you are in a job where you are on your feet all day long.
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>>
>>
>> so do you mean like wearing your left shoe on your left foot one day,
>> and then on your right foot the next?? :)
>>
That would even out tread wear. :)
I do rotate gumboots. When one develops a hole I relegate its pair to the spare. Sometimes I can later match up good non-leaking pairs, But more usually I accumulate a mound of left-feet.
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>> Similarly I don't see what a £100 shirt does that a £10 shirt doesn't -
>> if it makes the buyer/wearer feel good and they can afford it, then full credit
>> to them. However if an item is priced skyhigh, to cover the costs of the
>> skyhigh rents that the supplier is paying in the centre of London for instance, then
>> that suggests to me that the actual money being spent on the garment is not
>> too big?
Near the nub of it. I am prepared to pay for quality but not 75%, or more, of the price for what amounts to marketing costs, which is how the 'designer' business model works.
I'm happy that other people do though. I regard it as a form of tax on the gullible with too much money - 16.67% of the purchase price being VAT, and it keeps a good few people employed.
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Last year a car ran into the back of my son's. The peccant driver explained that it wasn't really her fault because her flip-flop had come off at the critical moment.
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A one legged man goes into a shoe shop.
"Yes Sir, can we help you?"
"Got any Flip Flips?"
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Centipede goes into a shoe shop and says
Have you got any flip flop flip flop flip flop flip flop flip flop flip flop flip flop flip flop flip flop flip flop flip flop flip flop flip flop flip flop flip flop flip flop flip flop flip flop flip flop flip flop flip flop flip flop flip flop flip flop flip flop flip flop flip flop flip flop flip flop flip flop flip flop flip flop flip flop flip flop flip flop flip flop flip flop flip flop flip flop flip flop flip flop flip flop flip flop flip flop flip flop flip flop flip flop flip flop flip flop flip flops?
Last edited by: Zero on Sat 10 Sep 11 at 10:31
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2 things required for happiness:
Comfortable shoes and good food.
Without either it's hard not to be a bad-tempered sod.
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"No, but we've got plenty of trainers in your size"
Centipede -"Ain't got time to do the laces mate!"
Last edited by: Humph D'Bout on Sat 10 Sep 11 at 10:36
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...Centipede goes into a shoe shop and says...
That sort of behaviour wants stamping on, hard.
Last edited by: Iffy on Sat 10 Sep 11 at 10:36
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Shoe shop assistant- "Blimey, a talking centipede !"
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I prefer a shoe where there is a continuous sole that wraps up the rear of the heel.
Similar to this -
tinyurl.com/69p3yjc
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Zero. They look very much like the M&S slippers I invariably get for Christmas/birthdays.
I find them very comfortable for driving.
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Nah...don't like them ON. Gigolo's shoes !
Ted
Last edited by: Ted on Sun 11 Sep 11 at 23:28
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>> "Got any Flip Flips?"
Q. What do you call a Frenchman in sandals?
A. Phillipe Felop
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Here's some nice driving shoes. tinyurl.com/c7j253m
The Rosso Red ones would match my car's colour.
Last edited by: L'escargot on Sun 29 Apr 12 at 15:57
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Within your link L'escargot, is a another to Crockett and Jones. I have no current association with them but what I can tell you is that you'd be very hard pressed to find a better product than that. Anywhere. Not cheap, but then the best rarely is.
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>> ...... Crockett and Jones.
Nice shoe trees. tinyurl.com/d9g7p7p
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Driving and shoes - Mike Hannon
