heavy on the old shoes, squire? These are what you want

Turn up to a meeting in DMs and that meeting will not go well…

Barkers are awful in my experience, the only pair of welted shoes I've ever had that tore my feet to shreds.

Interestingly, my second pair (bought last Dec) have had exactly this problrm and no amount of wearing has done anything to lessen the problem.

The first pair need to be re-soled, along with a couple of pairs of Loakes. The current Barkers are the cheapo ones with a cemented sole. Sure, I'll never get great life out of them, but they are much more comfortable than the others.

Shoe shop of choice for me is Edwards of Manchester.

The two most important things…. shoes and haircut.

You can have an expensive suit ruined by shoes and haircut.
On the other hand, good shoes and haircut make a mediocre suit look better.

The Loakes that I bought in the mid 80s are still going strong, and still look as good (if not better) than the day I bought them. I've lost track of how many times they've been resoled and re-heeled.

I believe that the shoes one wears say a lot about a person.

So, yes, quality handmade shoes are worth it.

SB

Absolutely worth it. I have had a pair of Cheaney's for 10 years. I've had them resoled twice and they get rebuilt on their original last – sent to Northampton. They are as comfy as slippers and still look the business. Good shoes, well looked after, clean and polished, give a classy look.

I have been wearing Church for years. Are very good, the refurb service is a good idea but not really necessary if you have a good (by good I mean really good) local shoe repair shop.

I have shifted my allegiance in recent years to the painfully hip http://www.jeffery-west.co.uk/ who make their shoes in the Church factory in Northampton. About £200 a pair, my local shoe repair guy loves resoling them for me, reckons they are as good as they come.

Don't buy cheap shoes

Geronimo, are those altbergs?
no finer boot available than altbergs.

loakes are great, and when resoled (properly) still great. however a decent resole is about £15-£20

a cheaper resole destroyed a decent pair of shoes so a decent cobler is worth his weight.

however contrary to a post above i have found samuel windsor to be perfectly adequate, not a patch on loakes in terms of fit or looks, but on a day to day work basis when you can buy two pairs for about £60 (google reader offers with different newspapers) i think they're really good value!

Best shoes I've ever, had them made to measure(for my freaky wide feet) for only £125

clarks loafers…

pro – high quality, will last for ever (require polishing every now and then) and the most comfortable shoes ever.

Con – neither fashionable nor trendy.

Funny, my Barker's shoes are painful too.

Not that bothered as they were only £30 or £40 at TK Maxx, but it did surprise me.

Trickers were way nicer. And about the same price. 🙂

I've got a pair of brown Crockett & Jones that are super comfy, but got stained when I walked home in a downpour. I'd be gutted if I'd paid more than £12 in a charity shop for them (brand new too) 🙂

Would love to get them sorted though. Is there a trick for removing stains?

http://www.northamptonchron.co.uk/news/Manchester-City-manager-Roberto-Mancini.6271608.jp

The Northamptonians in the know (and with the cash) go to Jeffery West.

Churchs do last (I have a pair of Graftons that is 20 years old) but I understand they are not what they once were.

The Crockett & Jones shoes I have are beautiful and worth every penny. Expensive, handmade shoes deserve to be looked after so a good cobbler is worth knowing.

ballsofcottonwool – Member

Best shoes I've ever, had them made to measure(for my freaky wide feet) for only £125

hhhmmm … that McCOLL MICROLITE WALKING SHOE might be something I look for as I don't really like those Goretex stuff so might give this a look.

🙂

Crockett and Jones do the best designs. Church are very good and solid but not cheap. Cheaneys are very good value and they've just been bought out by two members of the Church family. Jeffrey West have very trendy designs but they don't suit every foot shape. Cheaneys also make shoes under licence that you can buy in the factory shop like Cole Haan (NY), I've even seen Jimmy Choos in there. Trickers are very stiff and solid and never cheap. Cheaney and Church factory shop are open 6 days a week and Crockett and Jones are Friday pm and Saturday am.
I don't think these sort of shoes can be beaten. They last for ages, particularly if you rotate them, plus you're investing in a process and skills base that is disappearing in a world of bland mass production.

Grenson are fab too; built to last and repairable too.

Thanks for all the advice, I've tried on a hell of a lot of shoes since posting this, settled for 2 pairs of Loakes, goodyear welted, full leather etc etc. Next pair will definitely be Cheaneys, though hopefully that won't need to be too soon.