It’s truly amazing how you evolve as a person, not only with the way you think but with the way you behave, with the way that you dress, with the way that you do most things really. Thinking about what I wanted to write about this morning I was just think about me being in this place in time, and how different I am compared to 2 years ago, when I was in Italy, and even 5 years ago, when I was just getting out of university, in Seattle. It’s amazing to think of the transformation of being since that time, particularly with how my shoe tastes have changed. I wish that I never had to get rid of any of the shoes that I have owned as of 7 years ago so that I could put them into a line, in order of purchase date. This would allow me to truly capture the details in how my thinking and tastes have changed, and ultimately –as I would regard– evolved.
When I was younger, I used to just buy shoes because I liked the way they looked, that being, I liked their styling. I would buy them, and wear them proud. But when I moved to Europe, I started to noticed how I no longer liked my old shoes and wanted to have things that I actually loved the shape of, not just the styling of them. I wore things before that were way too elongated and pointy. And even though, that was the style and what was available back then in the States, it quickly became quite boring for me. It’s a shame too, because I had so many nice things, that I wished I would have been able to keep. But I could just not stand them anymore. So, thinking about what I like now and what sits in my closet, I still have some classics that I have had since the very beginning, things that have managed to withstand the time of trends and passed through them, as well as things that I would have never like before but that I do now, such as my Gieves & Hawkes (by Edward Green) loafer� that I have Paulus Bolten give a patina to.
At the age that I am, I feel like I have gone through all of my changes and will no longer have such drastic alterations in my thought and dress sense. Granted, I will always go through phases where I will love loafers versus everything else or maybe only want to get full-brogues, but overall, I have come to know that a shoe’s shape is what draws me to it. It’s credibility in it’s quality (does not have to be only the high end, but good enough to stand a couple of years in London weather) is what is going to sell me and it’s styling is what’s going to capture my attention. But you never know, if I one day move to Japan, and have another culture influence my very being, I just might start wearing only crazy colored shoes, and never go back from that! (not likely…)
All Shoes By: Gaziano & Girling, Top 2 Pictures Courtesy Of: Leffot
Benjy
I remember buying my first pair of quality shoes back in 2006, a sleek (back then) pair of black Ferragamo loafers with rubber soles and a metal horse bit. It was officially retired early this year but boy did it see me and my business grow through thick and thin.
From the deserts of Dubai to the coal mines of Kalimantan, these beauties have never let me down, no matter what sort of shithole I’ve ignorantly brought them into (coal mines! WTF!)
They are still the most comfortable pair of shoes I’ve ever worn, and even though the insole, outsole, AND upper are cracked to death, I’m just glad that they did not give up on me when they could.
Enjoy your retirement with that fresh pair of cedar trees buddy.
The Shoe Snob
Benjy – Thanks for the story, a good shoe will definitely create a lot of sentiment for the owner…..I can’t imagine the day that my black/red saddles give up on me. Not that it will be any time soon, though.
-Justin, “The Shoe Snob”