I came across this picture of Hemingway loafers by Barbanera and was inspired to make a post about a subject I have started to think about more and more: Wearing or cherishing your shoes. I feel there are two types of people. Those that beat the heck out of their shoes and those that cherish them like trophies. The question is, which are you? I have always been the latter until recently. Now I am a combination of both. Let me explain.
Growing up, I always had two all-white Nike Air Force One’s. It was the standard in my time of youth. One of them was always brand new-in-box, never touched, and one that I wore consistently. But when I say wear, I mean watching every step I took and cleaning before every wear to ensure they stayed as white as possible. Because nothing was more unappealing than dirty-looking shoes. This type of mentality has been with me pretty much ever since.
As I amassed more and more shoes, the more pristine they stayed too, as their subjection to light/the elements became less and less. But as I get older, I find myself gravitating towards the same pairs over and over. And now I have pairs that have never even been worn before and I have had them for at least 2 years (and sometimes more). Imagine that. My Summer go-to’s are my butterfly loafers and my Winter go-to’s are my chelsea boots and city hikers.
But I never understood taking a shoe to the level highlighted in the photo above. I don’t think that I could ever bring myself to do that. Frankly, I would never repeat a pair of shoes in the same week, let alone day after day. But always wondered what that was like. When I see this photo, I feel there is almost a sort of freedom to it, to the idea of just not caring (maybe not worrying) and wearing your shoes to death (almost literally). To really get all of your money out of them by pounding them into the ground.
I imagine as I get older, I could get closer to this type of person. My black chelsea boots probably have the most wear of all and the older I get the lazier I get and slipping on a pair of boots sounds more and more appealing each day. It takes me effort to think of my outfits now, an effort that I don’t often care to exert. I am starting to subconsciously create these easy go-to outfits without attempting to be clever and stylish like I once was putting thought into my looks and caring about the end result. Comfort and ease are setting in. Man, a sign of the times. Especially now that I have entered my 40s. I am gravitating more and more and it appears to only get worse!
But which guy are you? A wearing or cherishing your shoes type of guy?!
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—Justin FitzPatrick, The Shoe Snob
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Cherished
I would say I�m in between. And let me tell you why. I remember when I got my first pair of Santoni�s dubmonks, handstained and I swear, the first wear, while I was cooking my meal, a drop of hot oil from the pan jumped and landed on the cap toe of the shoe. I wanted to die. A that time, those were the most expensive shoes I�ve ever bought and now they are ruined.
Then I got a pair of Red Wing Beckman�s and even though I knew they were sh*t-kickers, I still wasn�t ready for that haha. And one time, I took them to a The Kooks concert. As soon as they showed up on the stage, they guy next to me started to jump and spilled some off his beer on my Red Wings. When I got home, saw the stains and wanted to die. So, at this stage, I was at the cherish state.
Those Santoni dubmoks were bought in 2012 and the Red Wing�s in 2015. 8 and 5 years respectively, now they look better than ever. I remember when both incidents happened asking on StyFo on how to get them repaired and I remember when I asked about the Red Wing�s a guy told me: �They�re Red Wing�s, spill more beer on them.� I didn�t but kinda understand that they were meant to be worn and not cherish.
I�m still not at the other end, I still take care of my shoes, rotate them but enjoy wearing them in whatever conditions the day presents. The Santoni dubmonks still have the oil stain�s barely noticeable, other people wouldn�t know and they look amazing after 8 years. And the Red Wing�s, last December I took them to a trip to Vancouver, walked over 16,000 steps a day with them (I obviously took two pairs of boots haha) and we visited a place that was a forest and was raining all the time. They got extremely wet but they fulfilled their purpose, I wasn�t cold even though they go tall wet, they water never reached my feet and I had awesome traction to be walking everywhere. Let them dry for a whole day and nothing happened to them.
That�s why I am a big fan of shoes. I do cherish them but will not treat them like trophies� I want to wear them.
Thanks for sharing Armando! Great stories!
I used to cherish my shoes, those that I considered expensive. Took pics, put them in the shoe cabinet.
Then while wearing my watch, cost considerably more than even my most expensive shoes, it hit me that even this watch has some light scratches on its bracelet, even though I’m always being very careful.
Since then I started wearing all of my shoes, being careful still, after all, shoes are meant to protect my feet, not the other way around.
And also looking at my leather briefcase, I remember many years ago when I bought it, I always put it inside the cloth bag after each use.
Then after my 1st business trip carrying that briefcase, putting it through x-ray, overhead cabinet on the plane, then I thought oh well, just wear the briefcase without burdening my mind.
I can think several more examples like my alligator wallets, etc.
In conclusion, worn, but not abused, and take care of them cause they will last a long time.
Thank you for sharing Paul. Makes perfect sense!
Well, Justin, you just hit a subject that haunts me all the time and everyday. My oldest pair is a whiskey shell Cordovan longwing from Adam of Carmel, and this pair I got back in year 2010 !
I love the looks, the smell of fresh shells, and the obvious handwork/craft of the pair so much that would not dare them taste the dirt, and could just give them a regular conditioning.
BUT, I do have a pair from year 2009, a burgundy shell STB, which I have been wearing once a week ever since. Of course, they look still fresh new and shinier then new, as if just out of the box; have had two resoles done to them.
Having about more than 2 dozen pairs for at least 14 years, I could tell you that it�s all about putting your heart and mind in balancing the usage and maintenance.
To be honest, the more craft obvious on the pair, the more it gets in the cherish-camp, I feel. And yes, out of that vast selection that we snobs amass over time, there would be those super-loved once for the feel, comfort and looks.
Appreciate bringing this up, you are genuine, you speak out the heart for most of us.
Regards
Nadeem.
Thanks for sharing and for your kind words Nadeem. I appreciate them as well as the support in the blog. Thank you
Why can’t you be both? I can both wear and cherish my shoes. IMHO, the first photo is someone who wears shoes just to protect his feet from splinters and other sharp objects. I could never abuse my shoes that way. I spend good $$ on my footwear and do my best to cherish what I put on my feet. Even if I only had a few pair of shoes, I would still wear them with pride and cherish them because they make me feel good.
Funny enough the main photo is from the owner of the brand 😉 Wearing and cherishing is good. I just think that people worry too much about inconsequential things and spend more time worrying than enjoying. Of course, not all do that, but a lot that live online.
Hello Justin
I have an old 1980 BMW E21 that I try to keep in pristine conditions, but I use it like one week in a month. Once it got a little nick and I was very worried, but my older brother said “if you want it in pristine conditions put it in a museum”.
So my approach is that; being careful to a healthy degree and try to forsee in which enviroment I will use my shoes. But sometimes is not possible keeping shoes perfect, and the shoes will get damaged. Be prepare to live with it.
My grial shoe is a pair of Edward Green Dover that I will buy in London if I succeed in a bussines I am planning. I can imagine how horrible I will feel if the first day I damage them. Maybe I will use them in bed paired with my not handsome pijamas for several months until my wife kicks me out of the house..
I feel that way about my car too, but living in the East Coast of the US, it is impossible. If you are park in any parking lot your doors will get scratched lol, sad but true
Both. I have a few pair that I baby for elegant events. I wear the rest with some measure of abandon. Once, because of a sale, I bought two suede Tramezza captoes of the same model. I kept one pristine and the other was really beaten down. (To the point I was once on the roof watering down our house with a fire evacuation pending.) Generally the difference lies in the style of shoe. It seems wrong to beat down finer shoes.
I think that this is healthy. If one has a good amount of shoes, there are a few that we can treat differently 😉
Sprezzatura can apply to a minimally maintained and casually worn pair of shoes. Suede is more forgiving. Just brush before wear and keep them shod.
Indeed!
Wearing all my favorites. Enjoy them. No saving. My rule with everything I have as well as with new items in my wardrobe.
Yes sir!
I have always taken care of my shoes, or so I thought. Since I learned more about nourishing the leather I do that. I had to give up two pairs of Church’s cap toe oxfords because of cracks. They were worn very well. I used to wear a Church’s wingtips for winter and wet weather. They were recently donated. Not enough conditioning in all of those cases. Now worries. I have two pairs of brown captoe Church’s bookbinder. I have three pairs of tan Church’s shoes; cap toe, medallion cap toe and wingtip. These shoes are from the eighties and are all in great condition. I recently purchased a Florsheim loafer and wingtip. These are for more casual conditions.
sounds like you put yours to good work! As they should be 😉
I wear the hell out of my shoes but I also clean and resole them regularly and they hold up great. I would never wear a beat up looking dress shoe.
With that said, I have an MTO pair of your brand and a custom pair of Norman Vilaltas that are my two favorite pairs and I wear them each maybe two or three times a year. Most of the times they’re boxed up in the closet and I’ll pull them out just to look at them and admire them. Almost a shame they don’t get more wear as they’re both super unique and both get compliments literally every time I wear them.
On the other end of the spectrum I have a 20 year old pair of converse all stars that I wear to the gym. Multiple rips / holes in the canvas, the rubber sole on each shoe is cracked and broken into several pieces and the heel section of the sole is starting to peel off the upper on one shoe. Will probably never get rid of them. They’re my gym / mow the lawn shoe and I love them.
It’s amazing how long Converse shoes lasts lol, those soles are unbreakable!
I think patina is something very personal when it comes to clothing and footwear. It’s the case with raw denim jeans, it’s the case with the workwear folks and their boots.
The Stitchdown Patina Thunderdome has seen great success in recent times and, if anything, demonstrates that more than a few people are willing to put the stories of their lives on display through their footwear.
I find it, then, a little odd that the same people who would spend big bucks on nicely hand patinaed shoes (most of which are, in my understanding, artistic renderings of real life leather wear/scuff patterns), and then go on and cherish said shoes in order to not patina the “patina”. Why not spend the time and put that patina in your shoes yourself with perhaps a teacore leather? Then you get the difference in coloration and texture too!
I totally understand wanting to keep certain shoes looking clean and pristine, since certain formality of outfits require so, but I don’t think there’s anything wrong with wearing shoes made to be worn.
Thanks for sharing Steven!