You Don't Know These Boots, But They Know Me.
In the winter of 1996 I bought a pair of Redwing boots up in Arcata, CA for about $120. At the time I was a student just about to graduate and I didn’t have much money so the $120 investment in those boots was something I took seriously. I made sure they were a high quality brand, and that they could be resoled. The reason for the purchase was my move to Boston. I wanted some warm and comfortable weatherproof shoes. And I have to say they served me well. I have had them resoled about once every two years and every time I’ve had them resoled it has been by Piedmont Cobblers Shoe Repair.
Recently I’ve found myself living in SF and no longer working in Oakland so I did the convenient thing and took my boots over to a local shop in the Richmond called Heel & I Shoe Repair. The price to resole was about the same so I thought nothing of it. Six months later what I got was what you see below.
Bad workmanship for sure. The glue that bonded the sole to the boot obviously came undone but not only that, during the removal of the old sole the cobbler must have cut the leather on the boot which opened up a inch long slice at the base of the shoe, right about were water in puddles like to go. But even worse than that, they managed to damage the material that the sole binds to (a sort of inner sole if you will) so that It will cost about $160 to repair the boot and while I am wildly nostalgic I’m even more of a spendthrift.
Me and these boots have moved cross country twice and watched me shed most of my worldly possessions. I’ve climbed mountains, walked beaches and cruised on my motorcycle all over this and other continents in these boots for a decade. I’m not sure I can quite give them up yet so I’m going to shoe-goo the hell out of them. It’s a stupid little thing to care about I know, but it makes me sad.
Recently I’ve found myself living in SF and no longer working in Oakland so I did the convenient thing and took my boots over to a local shop in the Richmond called Heel & I Shoe Repair. The price to resole was about the same so I thought nothing of it. Six months later what I got was what you see below.
Bad workmanship for sure. The glue that bonded the sole to the boot obviously came undone but not only that, during the removal of the old sole the cobbler must have cut the leather on the boot which opened up a inch long slice at the base of the shoe, right about were water in puddles like to go. But even worse than that, they managed to damage the material that the sole binds to (a sort of inner sole if you will) so that It will cost about $160 to repair the boot and while I am wildly nostalgic I’m even more of a spendthrift.
Me and these boots have moved cross country twice and watched me shed most of my worldly possessions. I’ve climbed mountains, walked beaches and cruised on my motorcycle all over this and other continents in these boots for a decade. I’m not sure I can quite give them up yet so I’m going to shoe-goo the hell out of them. It’s a stupid little thing to care about I know, but it makes me sad.
posted by Yen at
3:37 PM
1 Comments:
aww, i know how much you love those boots. if it makes you feel better, even if you spent the money to get them re-soled again, you'd still be averaging less money spent on shoes per year than those who buy essentially disposable sneakers (tennis shoes, to you californians) every six months or so and then chuck them when they fall apart.
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Anonymous, at 12:14 PM
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