Finding shoes that fit sucks

[Drifter 851]

  I actually have a running shop not even 5 blocks from my house, but stores like that charge buku bucks and if I ever paid more than $45 for a pair of shoes I'd have to kill myself

[Commander_Undies 618]

I actually have a running shop not even 5 blocks from my house, but stores like that charge buku bucks and if I ever paid more than $45 for a pair of shoes I'd have to kill myself

Why? Sure if you're on a budget it's nice to get those cheap pairs, but we walk in shoes everyday. If I had the money and the foot problems some of you guys have, I think it would be a good investment to get a nice pair of shoes that'll last me years and help with my problems at the same time.

[Docwagon 856]

Yup, shoes and boots aren't anything to cheap out on.

 

Sort of like food.  Junk food is usually cheaper to purchase, but more expensive in the long run in terms of quality of life, health care, etc.

[Drifter 851]

Because footwear is usually extremely overpriced. Not all but "most" $100+ shoes are not made any different than $45 shoes. Yes there are some that are made better, but the majority of them are all made the same way, pressed/formed sole to sides and end up tearing at the same place. I have no problem paying more for a shoe that is made well, but even some of the ones I looked at in the local running shop that were $120 were made no better than the $35/$45 ones.

 

Again I'll repeat that there are some that are made better, but a there's a ton that are the same quality just with a two-three times higher price just due to the name/color of them it seems. Plus the only time I really wear "sneakers" are when I go for walks in the summer. 90% of the time I am barefoot around the house or in some outdoor style sandals so I simple don't want to spend a bunch of money on a pair of shoes that I'll only wear a limited amount of time per year.

[Docwagon 856]

Brooks and Asics are well worth the price.  I've got Brooks that I've owned for 7 years, and although they are relegated to yard word duty, they are still sound.  Asics usually run $45-60, but you're buying a lot of quality at that price.

 

My choices are pretty limited, though.  The "cheap" shoes and the big name brands (Nike, etc.) don't make shoes to fit me.  Brooks, Asics, and New Balance are about my only options.

[Drifter 851]

Haven't owned that brand, but like I said there are a few that are worth the price. I have a pair of black leather work boots made by CAT (same company that makes construction equipment) and they are still in great shape even today 12 years after I bought them. And I use to wear them every day when I worked in the fabrication/welding shop. Think I paid around $120 for those, but the quality of them is just amazing and well worth it.

[Docwagon 856]

Haven't owned that brand, but like I said there are a few that are worth the price. I have a pair of black leather work boots made by CAT (same company that makes construction equipment) and they are still in great shape even today 12 years after I bought them. And I use to wear them every day when I worked in the fabrication/welding shop. Think I paid around $120 for those, but the quality of them is just amazing and well worth it.

 

CAT doesn't make the boots, they license the name out.  Wolverine makes them, and they are top shelf work boots (as are the boots they make under their own brand).  The same people make a running shoe under "Saucony" and they are supposed to be really good quality.  They don't fit me that well, so I can't say if they do for sure.

[Drifter 851]

CAT, Wolverine, buster brown, some elves in a tree,  whoever they are made by, they have the CAT name on them and they are made of kryptonite lol

[Docwagon 856]

I want shoes made by elves in a tree.

 

That's one thing I wish American still had.  When I was in the Middle East there were cobblers on the street corners. They'd measure your foot and make you sandals right there.  They didn't make shoes or boots because it was so effing hot nobody wore anything but sandals, but it was really nice to have them tailor fit.

 

American cobblers either don't exist or charge a mortgage payment for custom shoes in the few places that they do.

 

There's not a lot about the Middle East I miss, but easy and cheap access to tailors, goldsmiths, pearl artisans, and cobblers sure is.  Everything we wear here is mass produced and one size fits nobody or is ungodly expensive.

[Drifter 851]

Sad but true words there. I feel the same way, I really hate to see the way our country has shifted to one where the skilled / learned craftsman have become a dying breed in the wake of mass production in the name of cost. Going back as little as 30-40 years ago there were still the self taught and skilled craftsman & women thriving in the country. I remember a number of tailors and other specialty type shops all around the neighborhood when I was growing up in the 1970's. Now almost every single one of those are long gone and a new business turns over in the other spots every few years.

 

Hard to say who/what exactly is to blame for that happening. Be it the global economy these days, high prices of the cost of living where people can't afford quality products like they use to, the internet making it easy to access extremely low cost products and have them shipped right to your door, or a combination of all those things.

 

Seeing how much things have changed just in our lives it makes you wonder what will be left 30 yrs from now.