Shoes and ships and sealing wax. Well, shoes mostly.

[liadnan]

Has there been a run on the leather market, and I unaccountably missed it? Were all reasonably-competent cobblers and members of allied trades recently killed in a freak accident on their annual skiing trip?

I think not.

So why precisely, is it now impossible to find a pair of properly-made normal black shoes which one doesn't need to consider having specifically insured?

Incidentally, various women write of things called "manolos" and "blahniks", also of "Jimmy Choos". What, in the name of buggery, are such things?

Perhaps, after all, there is one reason for wanting to be a hobbit: the enormous savings on footwear.

***

My recent bout of illness left me spending several chunks of last week in bed. I tried, indeed I did, to concentrate on work of two kinds: reading a very dense book about the architecture of Hagia Sophia and reading the Commonhold Act, but I failed. Instead, I made my way through Abhorsen, the last of Garth "I have a very silly name" Nix' sequence, and The Light Ages by Ian Macleod (a book that first caught my attention because I thought it was from that other M[a]cleod of the clan Macleod, Ken). The latter reminds me of Colin Greenland's Harm's Way more than anything else/ Both well worth reading, reviews, and a host of backlog reviews, coming shortly. Also currently reading Death and the Penguin, which is impressive so far. The Minotaur Takes a Cigarette Break is next up, though the only real reason I bought it was that it's on £5 special offer (along with lots of other things from Canongate) in Foyles.

Comments

[eccles.livejournal.com]

"Manolo Blahnik" and "Jimmy Choos" are two gentlemen who make a very fine living making shoes for people who watch Sex and the City and want to pretend they are just like [insert name of favourite character].

[dr-lovely.livejournal.com]

Its Jimmy Choo darling, but as for the rest of it, I am afraid that you are deeply correct.

Church's...

[gonecaving.livejournal.com]

are the only way to go (but I suspect that they come into that insurance category you mentioned) And the only reason that I won a pair is coz my Dad bought them, and took a little while to realise they were too tight.
Mind you for day-to-day wear I usually resort to a pair of Salomon hiking boots (in Winter ) or a pair of Ecco sandals (in summer).

[atommickbrane.livejournal.com]

Can you not just do Shoe Express Pour Homme?

[liadnan]

False economy, I always reckon.

Re: Church's...

[liadnan]

Was actually Churchs I was looking at. Blah.

My knackered boots are still the best piece of footwear I have ever possessed. Unfortunately they are just starting to go too.

[atommickbrane.livejournal.com]

But they are very cheap, and I don't tend to destroy them at all quickly, you might have bigger clodhoppers than I though, I wouldn't know, I didn't examine your feet at the Prospect of Whitby in that much detail.

[eccles.livejournal.com]

Yeah, 'tis true I have no life and watch sex and the city *sigh*

[alan1957.livejournal.com]

yeh, but jimmy Choo's is rhyming slang fer shoes!

Re: Church's...

[talvalin.livejournal.com]

The problem I have is that I buy a single pair of shoes and then wear them until they are destroyed. My last pair were Kickers and were nice and comfy except for the basic problem that they were not water-proof (as in rain falling on them would seep through into the shoe itself). They lasted about 9 months and then the soles started coming off so they were retired.

My latest pair are some unbranded thing in the same style, and they're doing better but look completely knackered after a mere 4 months. Shoe polish might help. I'm beginning to wonder if I should spend more than £40-60 on my shoes, as the ones I've bought in the past don't seem to last very long.

Are Ecco shoes any good? Another friend swears by his Rockport boots, but they are hideously expensive.

[frankie-ecap.livejournal.com]

http://www.jimmychoo.com/womens/sandals/sandals.htm

Take a little time, browse. Every man should know this