My favorite pair of shoes...

[soupless]

...are these Cole Haans. They were the most expensive shoes I've ever gotten, but well well worth it I love the leather soles and layers of wood in the heel. They need a polish, I know.
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What are yours?

[chasea]

I suppose I should talk about my handmade italian lace ups that that I got for less than half price at a boutique in soho. Or my Frye and Redwing boots that look good while being indestructible. Or my Sidis.

But no, my favorite pair of shoes are my Generic Surplus Woorkboot sneakers. Comfortable, look great after over a year of wear, have a flat sole (important to me for drumming), and look good with pretty much everything. The insides are so soft that I am amazed how good they feel every time I pull them on. And they were only $72.

[Jayme]

...are these Cole Haans. They were the most expensive shoes I've ever gotten, but well well worth it I love the leather soles and layers of wood in the heel.

Forget the shoes... tell me about the chairs. Eames? Molded plastic or fibreglass? Nice table too.

Jayme

[soupless]

Jayme-

Some friends of mine and I heard about an elementary school that was closing in Iowa City. We bought 24 between the 4 of us. I've got six. If you're ever in Omaha, Nebraska you can get a delicious kebab and sit on their siblings.
They're fiberglass with the standard 4 leg base. Some have the herman miller labels, some don't.
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I have too many hobbies that involve buying expensive things. If I weren't into bikes, I could have rad furnishings, etc.

But if I'd get my act together and stop trying to live a Playboy's life on bike shop money I could probably have both.

[e-RICHIE]

these were gifted to me.
while i may not live in them like i do my braggard chef clogs, sentimental value counts a lot atmo.

[Jayme]

Great find! I saw these shoes in a pic from NAHBS. Mid 90's Airwalk bowling shoes. Never had more compliments on a pair of shoes I owned. I had shorter laces though.

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Jayme

[soupless]

Those nikes are fffflllyyyyyyyyy!

[davids]

If I am honest, it's these:



But these may give them a run for the prize:

[chasea]

My eyes!!

(sorry)

While I am sure they are both comfortable and practical, can we abstain from further talk of clogs?

[Brandon White]

Re Chairs .... I was going to buy a fiberglass set from Modernica (they use the original Eames molds), but realized they wouldn't be very eco of me. Went with the Herman Miller plastic model instead.

Chase - I have a pair of Generic Surplus I bought of Gilt (see other thread - lol) - They are comfortable and fit well, but I've only worn them maybe 10 times over the last year - just too hot typically down here.

My go-to shoes for the last 3 years have usually been these from jcrew


Otherwise - I reach for my beat to shit Paul Smith all white canvas sneakers .. no photo though - they've recycled models since the last 4 years

Edit: this made me go look for shoes on the Paul Smith website ... damn I love his shoes. I need a pair now.

[Jeremy S]

My favorite pair right are my Alden ravello shell cordovan chukka boots. Looks roughly like this:

[soupless]

D-d-d-d-d-d-d-damn Jeremy.

This place near my house sells Alden and I walk by them everyday. Love the brogues, but I've never seen the chukkas. And cordovan too. Wow.

[Jeremy S]

D-d-d-d-d-d-d-damn Jeremy.

This place near my house sells Alden and I walk by them everyday. Love the brogues, but I've never seen the chukkas. And cordovan too. Wow.

Alden has so many more models than anyone thinks. Most stores just carry the staples, and then run custom makeups once in a while. I got these when Alden SF was doing them last year.

I figure with Alden or any other welted shoe, I can expect 20 years out of the shoe with periodic resoling, which is why I pay the extra for them over glued-together mall shoes.

[DrZRM]

Nice shoes Jeremy, my favorites are my Alden shell cordovan longwings in whiskey.

[chasea]

Gorgeous. And to answer a question posted elsewhere, this is the kind of brown shoe you can wear with a navy suit. The Italians do it all the time, cuz they got flair like dat.

[DrZRM]

I also think it is worth it to pay a extra to buy shoes that are made by workers in the USA, in fact Alden's are made right here in MA. It's not unlike buying frames hand built by people who love building bikes, there are very few shoes being made in the USA anymore. Though I don't want to sound like a xenophobic nationalist, I like British, French, Australian (go RM Williams) and some Italian shoes too; any industry that is paying their workers a living wage to perform a job producing a high quality product seems well worth a premium.

Alden has so many more models than anyone thinks. Most stores just carry the staples, and then run custom makeups once in a while. I got these when Alden SF was doing them last year.

I figure with Alden or any other welted shoe, I can expect 20 years out of the shoe with periodic resoling, which is why I pay the extra for them over glued-together mall shoes.

[Jeremy S]

I also think it is worth it to pay a extra to buy shoes that are made by workers in the USA, in fact Alden's are made right here in MA. It's not unlike buying frames hand built by people who love building bikes, there are very few shoes being made in the USA anymore. Though I don't want to sound like a xenophobic nationalist, I like British, French, Australian (go RM Williams) and some Italian shoes too; any industry that is paying their workers a living wage to perform a job producing a high quality product seems well worth a premium.

That's the other reason. I figured people have heard enough buy usa! out of me for a while.

Today's boot for a rainy day: Alden x Leather Soul plain toe shell cordovan with a crepe sole:

[Chad]

Birks. Third sole, this time I chose a slip resistant vibram sole, the birk soles wear like shit and are a death trap in the winter.

Anyway, it's casual friday, birks it is, my boss refers to them as "those hideous shoes" of yours.

Love them.

[54ny77]

Alden's rock! I had a nice pair of cordovan's that were put through stupid corporate battles for almost 10 years, always looked nearly perfect after a quick shine. Sent off for rebuild 2 or 3 times. Bought at some ancient shoe shop downtown NYC, near Trinity church in those days, staffed by old men who probably sold the exact same shoe 50+ years earlier. Very cool. At the time it consumed massive chunk of my disposable paycheck, but my buddy and I went to get a pair just because it was one of those things you just did.

Interesting sidenote: post 9-11-01, they became somewhat of a pain in the ass at airports because back then they were made with steel inside. Maybe they still are? No joke as stupid as it sounds I switched to Allen Edmonds at some point thereafter because they had fiberglass inside and didn't beep all the damned time at security gate, and you didn't have to take shoes off all the time....or at least most of the time you didn't have to.

I also think it is worth it to pay a extra to buy shoes that are made by workers in the USA, in fact Alden's are made right here in MA. It's not unlike buying frames hand built by people who love building bikes, there are very few shoes being made in the USA anymore. Though I don't want to sound like a xenophobic nationalist, I like British, French, Australian (go RM Williams) and some Italian shoes too; any industry that is paying their workers a living wage to perform a job producing a high quality product seems well worth a premium.

[boundgear]

Bespoke Shoes Unlaced - a shoemaking blog

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