I’ve been buying Sketchers for years, because they’re cheap and durable. Whenever I go to buy them, they have changed the patterns on their shoes. I just want the same type of shoe forever. Sketchers doesn’t cater to me personally enough.
Saw a youtube short the other day about the differences between legit air Jordans and a pair of $40 knockoffs from some different factory in China, and they were listing things like how the netting is horizontal instead of 45°, and the little inch tall cartoon of a guy has the wrong number of fingers, and ended the video saying something like “so yeah, it’s really not worth it to buy cheap knockoffs, you should really spend the extra money to get the real thing”
I wear 6e wide shoes. It kind of infuriates me that people spend more than I spend on shoes, not to have nice shoes to wear, but just to have them. I gotta grind my $130 boots to dust every 6 months, and these mfs are spending that much just to show them off. I hate sneakerheads dude it’s such a stupid hobby
Please look into Nicks or Whites or traditional bootmakers. They will give you indestructible boots in all of the wide sizes. More expensive upfront but you can give them to your grandchildren if you do minimal care and pay the $50 to have them resoled as needed.
Nowadays they fake leather boots and shoes with tons of foam and plastic, the soles aren’t even really threaded: it’s glued in place. The top thread is fake. You can’t get a good pair of leather shoes for less than $600 anymore, last time I had a cheap usable pair was before Rockport was bought out and converted.
I mean, I feel like all the older generations said a good pair of shoes would net you $300, that’s gotta have increased with inflation now. It’s probably worth investing a LOT of money into good shoes if you spend a good chunk of life in em
I got these USMC boots for $30 at a gun show in the early aughts. They might have been cheap knock-offs of cheap knock-offs. But they felt like a dream and I could wear them all day and walk for miles without a complaint.
And when I walked them apart eight years later, I couldn’t find a similar pair that felt right.
Curiously, my buddy got a pair (different style) from the same vendor at the same show, and her soles fell apart in six months. It’s like I got Aladdin’s Lamp of military boots.
Oh what a timing! I actually just got my new pair fitted last week.
Over 10 years ago I got myself some Magnum desert ranger boots (y’know, back when they were still decent), and I finally had to change them this year. The leather was still… alright but everything else was breaking apart bad, so I figured I’d finally replace them.
But like! Magnum is a shit brand now, and all the competitors available here aren’t much better, and the only real options for boots in that style are just, super expensive, so at this point I just went to a cobbler to simply remake the same shoes but with better materials and nice colors.
Well, technically the design of the pattern was made by Magnum in early 2010s (it’s the old spyder model), but the construction of this pair specifically is all from scratch, tailored to my feet and to my orthopedic insoles.
Is sole wearing a thing that only relatively expensive shoes get? I’ve never spent more than $130 on shoes, and I’ve never had a sole wear out before the upper started tearing away from the bottom
It really depends on the shoe and what kind of working conditions, stress, and exposure to various elements they are getting. Sometimes it can be due to the way you walk too. You can get most shoes resoled and oftentimes they will fit better than they did originally. A good cobbler can repair separation issues too, where the bottom/sole is detaching. It never hurts to take them in and ask. They can do general maintenance too and clean them up.
I wouldn’t say “really expensive”, as it is all relative, but to me a good pair of boots is going to run in the ~$150-220 range. You can get some a little cheaper, but I am used to getting boots for construction.
I got my iron rangers a couple years ago and they’re fantastic. I think red wing was juuuust starting to fuck around with quality at that time, but I think it was on other models.
The break in period on the red wings is legit though. I could only handle them for a couple hours at a time in the beginning. I would bring another pair of shoes with me to work to change into when the boots got too painful.
Look up a YouTuber called Roseanvil. His gimmick is he cuts boots in half so see what they are made of. Short list of good, better, best… Thorogood, redwing, nicks. I work everyday in a pair of Thorogood not too expensive so I don’t have to worry about damaging them and they are really comfortable. Redwing better quality and slightly more trendy/iconic, cool to wear around the city. Nicks are a higher end work boot, if your life depends on your boots get a pair of nicks, think wildland firefighter/logger. Honorable mentions Thursday, a fashionable boot that can be repaired easily. Jim green best bang for your buck, got my super picky father a pair, he loves them and gets compliments from his fellow boomer truck drivers.
If you’re talking about the “good” Dr Martens I think you’re right. Last time I checked Solovair were the ones actually making the expensive “made in UK” Martens, and their own brand were slightly less pricy.
The vast majority of the new Martens you can find are cheaply made in Asia and are not very expensive though
Same with Timberland. I have a pair that I bought in a thrift shop and it’s going on strong for more than a decade. Bought a new pair and it gave up after 6 years. For this year I’m trying out some obscure maker from my country. They seem good so far, and cost less then a half of a new pair of Timberlands.
I have a pair of Doc Martens work boots that have been amazing. They’re metatarsal guard steeltoe boots that I got in 2017, although the soles are cracking on them.
I recently bought some Red Wing safety boots and my GOD are they comfortable. Mom calls them “Shit-Kickers” and I will happily wear them in any weather for many years
modern shoes in general absolutely suck, i’ve got a pair of wildling boots which are effectively thick wool socks with rubber outsoles and i just can’t go back now, it’s so much more comfortable.
not to mention that the shoes are so flexible that i can roll them up and stuff them in a bag if needed.
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