This picture shows my cracked and broken soul…..
You see what I did there? 😉
In recent years, and the Wife can attest to this, it has become difficult for me to keep a pair of dress shoes for more than 6-8 months. I am not exactly sure why this only seems to affect dress shoes, but my sneakers (or tennis shoes as the Wife calls them) seem to last forever. It might be the way I sit at work, or the fact that I tend to fidget by moving my legs throughout the day. All I know is that I can put a pair of dress shoes through the ringer! Within two months of purchase they end up needing a good polish, sometimes some coloring as well. By six to eight months the soles are gone. If they make it to a year, I cannot wear them on rainy days, or my feet will be soaked.
I just don’t know. The only pair that ever seemed to hold up well was a pair of Clark’s that the Wife bought me years ago. They made it from about 2004 to 2006. Granted they needed and received much maintenance, and it was only after I was sliding all over the place in them that I finally got rid of them, but they seemed to make it the longest. Haven’t been able to find a suitable pair since.
So the saga will continue, as I, The Destroyer of Shoes, continue to try and find the pair that can handle my sheer awesomeness. Or I could just stop fidgeting….whatever comes first.
One last note, for some reason, the Wife doesn’t think that this pair of shoes that i own are suitable for the office. I tend to disagree. 😉
#1 by The Wife on December 3, 2009 10:01 pm - 10:01 pm
Perhaps you should call the shoe store and see if they sell souls. 😉
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xJu8xaRPD2c
#2 by Jon Angliss on December 5, 2009 12:06 pm - 12:06 pm
I used to wear Clark’s shoes as a kid. Slightly more expensive than any other brand, but were practically indestructible. Same still seems to stand 🙂
I don’t wear dress shoes much at all because I cannot find a comfortable pair… give me my boots any day, lasts 2+ years without issues 🙂 And I do the same fidgeting and bouncing of the legs.
#3 by IDR on December 11, 2009 7:27 pm - 7:27 pm
I had a pair of Bass shoes that did the exact same thing. Lasted about 2 months.
#4 by Timmy Z on December 17, 2009 12:22 pm - 12:22 pm
This will sound odd, but I have Skechers for my dress shoes. they make nice, passable ones. They last for me very well. A good 2 years, and i am a big time fidgeter and i usually sit and am on my toes, so stressing my shoes pretty bad. Give em a shot, they’re actually pretty cheap too.
#5 by RnR on December 17, 2009 12:28 pm - 12:28 pm
I have, and they make my feet hurt.
So far the best shoes I have had are Clarks and Merrels. However both are rather expensive and there is some trouble with finding them in 12w.
Another unfortunate problem I have is weight fluctuation. All of you know me and also know that I am not a small guy. 😉 Over the last decade I have bounced between 265lbs and 215lbs and back to about 260lbs. I am now currently down to 240lbs. This plays havoc on my shoe size. A shoe that will fit fine when I was around 260, is too big when I am 240. Or a shoe that fit at 215 is too tight when I am 230. So it can be frustrating.
On a good note, the Wife looked up the purchase date (August 09) of the shoes and called Zappos. When she described the problem, Zappos agreed it was a defect in the shoe, refunded her money, and sent us a free shipping label to send back the shoes. So it worked out for the best in the fact we didn’t get dinged for the amount of money.
New shoes from Timberland are on their way, so we’ll see how that works!