Anyone Worn Out There Shoes Yet.

[Guest]

Just curious if anyone wears their heels enough t hat they have actually worn out a pair so that it was time to retire them or trash them.

I usually buy "backup" pairs for the shoes I really like just in case. But I have about 40 pair that I wear to work. All heels at least 3.75 inches hi, no platform. So it has been a little hard for me to wear a pair to the point they either look really bad.

The really hi boots i have on today have lots of wear. The bad thing with these is they have stretched so much.

I have had soles put on one pair but surprisingly I don't wear them that much anymore.

I have a pair of 5 inch sandals that the shank gave out and the heel bends in now. Don't wear them either.

I had another sandal that the strap across the toe came out of the shoe. Funny thing is same thing happened to my wife's pair.

[Shafted]

On more than one occasion, here.

[mlroseplant]

I've only had to retire 2 pairs so far, in 3 years. One was a pair of ankle boots that were rather cheaply made, and the other was a pair of sandals that were also lowish quality. Otherwise, I just keep replacing heels, and keep wearing my other shoes, which now number about 30. I would say that about half that number have had the heels replaced. I've had one pair of boots resoled. Oh, and there was the one pair of sandals where the strap broke the other day.

[freestyle75]

Nope, not really. Not even with those shoes (non-heels) that I wear regularly to work. With my regular shoes (Oxfords style), I bring them to the shoemaker in London, who will exchange the sole and heel, polish out any scratch marks on the leather, install a new inner sole and a pair of new shoelaces and buff the whole shoe all over to a great shine. After that treatment, they look like new and are good for another 2-3 years of use.

 

I think that caring for your shoes plays a big part in how long they last for you. I use wooden cedar shoe-trees in all of my non-heeled shoes, stuff out my heeled boots with the paper that they came with and use boot shaft shapers for my knee-high boots. With the custom made heels, I even asked my cobbler to create custom made shoe-trees that fit the shape of the shoe perfectly.

 

Custom made shoe-tree for custom made heels. The only thing that I need to get fixed on that pair are the scratch marks at the back of the heel.

 

With heels that have an unprotected leather sole, I always let my cobbler install Vibram rubber soles first. These can be easily exchanged and will protect your shoe from wear. I even got the same in red color for my Louboutins.

 

Freshly installed Vibram sole (front part of sole) on my newest pair of A.F. Vandevorst boots.

 

But caring isn't limited to the sole / heel. You should regularly remove and dirt from your shoes, using e.g. a horsehair brush.

Then wipe your shoes with a cloth to remove any remainders of dirt. If the shoe hasn't received any kind of treatment for a longer time, it's also smart to use some leather conditioner that will replenish the leather and make it softer again. After wiping again, you can then start to use shoe polish. I really like the Burgol shoe polish made of palm wax, which can even be used for water polishing, which gives an almost patent leather like glossy effect. Finally, a special brush, such as the Yak hair brush made of Tibetan highland yak hair, is very helpful to achieve a perfect shine.

 

Couple of basic things from my shoe cleaning box: Horsehair brush (top left), shoe polish applicator brush (top right), Yak hair brush (middle), Black Shoe Polish (lower left), leather conditioner cream (lower right).

[Jkrenzer]

Can't count but my goal is to be hard on my heels. I wear them doing just about everything including yard work construction etc.

[Heelster]

At least 5 pairs of boots. Cheaper makes, but crappy weather and motorcycles will do that.

[Amanda]

I find if you try and wear a different pair every day over the year then wear is kept at a minimum.

[JeffB]

I find if you try and wear a different pair every day over the year then wear is kept at a minimum.

 

Now THERE'S a sound strategy! Well said, Amanda!

[LovesHiHeels]

I had a pair of boots from Payless that lasted only one outing and I noticed the sole had started to come apart. I very slight pull on the sole and the sole fell off in my hands. That teach me to buy cheap shoes. Apart from that I've not worn any heels out. Then again i only wear inside these days anyway. Would be nice to wear a pair out.

[Histiletto]

Heel tips are the items I wear out before the sole or the uppers show much of any signs of use. Then there are the incidentals when I accidently scrape or bump something that may leave marks or surface tears.

[Guest]

I have about 40 or 45 pair that I can or will wear to work. Because of that it is really going to take quite a bit to wear out a pair to the point of no return. But I do tend to wear mostly the same ones. That just reminded me of a pair of Jessica Simpsons boots I need to wear tomorrow. Not many cold days left to wear some of them.