New, Old Shoes

(now)

 After Grace was born I made a decision to try to buy quality over quantity.  This went hand in hand with my identity crises and my collecting of classics.   To this end, I would often shop at the sales rack of higher end department stores, which is where I found one of my favorite pair of shoes ever.  I remember very clearly buying them because they were the most expensive shoes I had ever bought- $110 on a deep discount sale!  They are the perfect black flat; comfortable, attractive and durable!  However, after 10 years of constant wear they were looking very, very ragged and the heels were worn away.  In fact, I put them away and didn't wear them for several years but couldn't bear to throw them out.

(before)

Lately, I've found myself wanting my black flats again and so I decided to take them to a local cobbler to see if anything could be done.  Stepping into this store is like taking a step back in time.  In fact, I asked the owner if I could take pictures of his equipment because I knew that my father-in-law, Al, would enjoy them!

When we were discussing my shoes I mentioned that I was disappointed that I had worn away the name of the maker of the shoe and he said that either they probably weren't made anymore or the quality wouldn't be nearly as good anyway!  When I countered that they were only 12 years old (apparently that's a long time for shoes!) he said that I would be shocked at the quality of even high end shoes that are made today.

They resoled my shoes and polished them up a bit and they are, happily, as good as new! At any rate, as I haven't bought another pair of black ballet flats in 12 years I would say that I certainly got my money's worth!

Favorite Things #32

Years and years ago, I saw a list of classic, quality pieces that were suggested for having a solid, timeless wardrobe for a lifetime.  As you may remember, I LOVE lists!  I also love well made, quality items so I determined that I would set out to slowly build a wardrobe consisting of some of these pieces.  Many of them were out of my price range, so I saved or asked for the items for Christmas/birthdays.  Sixteen years later, I've acquired a fair amount of the items (and determined some weren't really for me) and I can honestly say that each one are workhorses and will probably never go out of style.

One of the first items I received on my list were Hunter Wellies and I was thrilled when my Mom gave them to me for Christmas!  I have worn them for the past 15 years and they are still going strong!  During those years, Hunters definitely became a little more fashionable (when they added colors to the line) but, unfortunately, manufacturing was also moved to China.  I'll admit, I love that mine say, "Made in Scotland!"  I can never get rid of them now- but I wouldn't want to anyway!