» Shoes
- filed under (Lack of) Style
- 10 comments
I had lunch with a friend today, A, and we were talking about shoes after lunch (while window-shopping. It wasn’t completely random) and she said she hates TOMS shoes. I wear a pair of TOMS almost every day. Of course I get that there are discrepancies about the company’s “good” deeds, and that the shoes are somewhat expensive for what you get, but I like that I’m buying a pair of shoes for someone in a third-world country every time I get a new pair. And I also like the shoes. They’re simple and I think they’re cute and they are SO comfortable. But I have several friends that don’t like the way they look, discrepancies about the company’s mission aside. I said that I worried about buying Eriana a pair of Tiny TOMS because I’d heard that the kids shoes aren’t super durable, and I’ve had all of mine for at least a year.
A asked, though, if they’re worth it for the cost if they don’t last very long, and I was confused. I said that I don’t think I’ve ever had a pair of shoes last much longer than a year if they’re worn regularly. She said she has some shoes she’s had since high school (we graduated in 2000). She asked about sandals (which I don’t wear that often anyway), and I said that I guess I’m pretty hard on shoes. A pair of sandals I bought this summer are already scuffed. ALL of my TOMS are scuffed on the toes. I’m clumsy, and I’m hard on shoes, I guess.
This… isn’t normal? My Keen boots (similar to, but not exactly like the ones linked to) that I bought in 2009 have lasted me a few winters, but I didn’t wear them much the last two years, either (due to swollen pregnancy feet and/or fairly warm winters). I have some dress shoes in REALLY bad shape that I still wore because I’m cheap. I had some flip-flops I bought in 2002 that I finally replaced this spring, but I wore MAYBE once a year (if that). I also have a pair of flip-flops that I only wear to/from pedicures (which I don’t often get) that I’ve had for several years, but bought just for that reason (I was wearing boots on my way to a pedicure and didn’t want to have to wear the papery sandals they give you to wear, so I bought a pair of flimsy sandals for ~$3. I have some shoes in really good condition that I never wear (a pair of silver dressy shoes I’ve worn maybe 3 times in 5 years, a couple of pairs of boots I bought when pregnant and before I stopped wearing heels everyday and have worn maybe twice each in three years, etc.), and I have some shoes in TERRIBLE condition that I just haven’t yet thrown out. The only shoes that are still in good wearing condition that I wear often are workout shoes, and they’re only in good condition because you can wear running shoes for things other than running for much longer than you can wear them to run.
So. How long do YOUR shoes last?
Swistle
August 11, 2012 6:33 am
I think it depends on (1) how many pairs of shoes a person has and (2) what they consider “worn out.”
I generally wear the same pair of maryjanes all fall/winter/spring, and they tend to last several years before they split. (I don’t think of shoes as worn out until they break. Dress shoes would be different—that would probably be “worn out when they no longer look good enough to be dressy.”) I have three pairs of sandals I wear during the summer, and I’m on my third summer with them (I bought them all together the same year), but that’s, like, one year per pair because I wear them all so it wouldn’t be fair to say a particular pair had lasted three years.
Slauditory
August 11, 2012 8:29 am
My shoes last for years. I stopped wearing my oldest pair of shoes (high-top Converse) after 6 years because they became disgustingly dirty and ripped after me doing clean-up/yard-work in them. My current oldest pair of shoes (high-heeled Kenneth Cole Mary Janes) is six years old; I got them for potential job interviews, but the first things I wore them to were two funerals. They still look good, although they need to be polished and the heel part is worn down a little. I have a lot of shoes, though (at least five pairs of formal work shoes, two pairs of sandals–which I also wear to work–a pair of boots, and two pairs of rain boots, and a couple of pairs of sneakers). The wear gets spread out over the shoes. My work shoes always look the most beaten up around the toes because I trip on the sidewalk a lot. (Oak trees + sidewalk = hazardous walking situation.)
Shelly
August 11, 2012 1:42 pm
Depends on the shoe and how often I wear it, I guess. Mostly I would say a couple years. Certainly not anything I’ve had since high school or college! I know I’m older than you, but geez! That’s just unrealistic. Also, I think my taste has changed a lot since then.
I have 2 pair of Fit Flops (the only thing I can wear in the summer) that I’ve had for 2 years and I wear one or the other every single day. They are broke in, not shiny anymore, but I can still wear them in public without being embarrassed. I have a pair of Uggs I’ve had for 3 years that I wear almost every day in the winter and it’s the same thing – they’re broke in/well loved but I can still wear them. I’d say my tennis shoes/running shoes last a couple years too. If nothing else, after a couple years I’m tired of wearing them and I want something new anyway.
Rebecca
August 11, 2012 8:54 pm
Hmm. It depends on the type of shoe, but I have to say that my everyday shoes tend to last a long time. They cost a lot, too, so I expect them to last. Otherwise, I wouldn’t buy them. For each season, I have about 2 sets of shoes that I trade off wearing.
For example, I have a pair of Ecco sandals that lasted about 5-7 years. They cost $120 originally. I wore them every spring/summer day that I wasn’t wearing my ($100+) Chacco sandals. The Chaccos lasted about 10 years and are now ready to be resoled. So, those two pair lasted between 5-10 years with constant wear. If you average that, I guess they each got about 3-5 years of wear during that time. I bought two new pair of Eccos this summer and expect them to last at least 5-7 years each. I will probably wear one pair more than the other, so it will wear faster.
I wear Merrills during non-sandal weather. I think those last me 3-4 years of nearly every day wear. I do have some leather boots as well. They tend to wear much faster, because the scuffs are so noticeable. They probably looked worn after 2-3 years, though I keep wearing them every so often. (I wear them when I am wearing dress pants. Merrills doen’t go well with dressier clothes.) Perhaps I will replace them this year.
Michelle
August 12, 2012 8:41 pm
I’m pretty hard on shoes. I’m also cheap and have a hard time spending more than $50 on a pair of shoes. So, my shoes last me a year or two at best. On the occasion that I get a good deal on a higher end pair of shoes, they tend to last longer.
Elsha
August 12, 2012 9:50 pm
I think it depends on a lot of things. For instance, I almost never wear shoes in the house. And I’m in the house A LOT. I’ve had some shoes (my Ariat boots, for instance) for years. Other pairs, like most of my flip flops, last a single season. Maybe two. (The $20 pairs, not the $3 cheapies.) My dressy shoes tend to last much longer since I only wear them a couple times a month.
Also, I just want to throw in that my sister bought Will a pair of Toms and they are a) adorable, b) durable, and c) go with anything. So I don’t own any, but I definitely like his.
K
August 13, 2012 10:50 am
I have a lot of shoes but many of them didn’t cost very much. I think, though, that with having quite a few pairs, that they get rotated through quite a bit and often last 5+ years.
Laura Diniwilk
August 14, 2012 7:35 am
It really depends on the shoe. I have a lot of shoes that I’ve had for years because I only wear them on occasion. I am definitely hard on my everyday shoes though – I’d say I go through at least 2 pairs of black “work shoes” a year. One rainy day and they are stinky for life, so I think it’s gross to keep them much longer than that.
Emily
August 14, 2012 11:44 am
That seems kind of short to me. I mean, I have flip-flops that are five or six years old. My work shoes tend to wear out faster than the others because I’m wearing them all the time. I walk on my heels, so that’s usually the first part to go.
Jesabes
August 14, 2012 9:38 pm
Like Swistle, I wear shoes until they fall apart. My feet are pretty finicky (spelling?), so I buy expensive shoes ($150-ish) and wear them for many years. I was really annoyed when my feet got bigger during pregnancy and stayed that way.
I haven’t been able to find any sandals that I can handle wearing for long periods of time, so I just buy cheap ones now. They also last a really long time, because I rarely wear them.