Help finding shoes
I tend to buy 1 pair of shoes that are my "go to" shoes. Thus i like them to cover a variety of roles while fitting a few requirements. These are worn basically every day barring literal special occasions. I'll wear them to work, disc golf, a walk, a light hike, anything less than the fanciest of dinners or occasions, and can get away with them if I have to even for those. Oh and while I find it matters less these days, i'm an 11-12 foot size which tends to limit my options in physical sores.
I like slip ons at this point, both as an aesthetic and from a practicality standpoint, and due to my "do it all" requirement generally want something that is comfy, looks half decent, is in black, but also has decent grip on the bottom.
I've currently burnt through my keen slip on's. I got these almost exactly a year ago in black, and they've been "good enough" for $60-75.
That said I'm not in love with them, and I'd also like a dress shoeish equivalent like these rockports . However i've heard they're garbage, especially for the price.
I'm throwing this on here because I'm not against spending more for better quality shoes, but I've spent 2 or 3 times as much as the keens, and gotten very similar results. Hell i'd LOVE if I could just take them to a cobbler to get them fixed every X years, but seems that's really only a thing for heavy duty work boots at this point (which led me down a rabbit hole of looking for a specific kind of redwings, but those also were no longer being made)
Merrell went from quite good many years ago to just garbage that didn't even make it 6 months, and on the other side of the coin I found some Lowa "snow shoes" that fit my requirements and lasted I think 2-3 years, but were no longer being sold by the time I needed new ones.
Does anyone have some suggestions, or am I just better off getting the cheapest thing that I like the look of because they're mostly all going to be burnt through? Even then, any suggestions on half decent brands?
Anything with a goodyear welt should be able to be resoled by a cobbler. If you want something that looks like your "slip ons", you could go with something like a loafer or boat shoes, depending on formality you'd want.
Alternatively, you could get chelsea boots - they're versatile, no lace, and are more easily repaired.
Thursday boots is probably the lowest I'd go price wise (you're looking at ~$250), then you can go grant stone and above. Generally, anything with a goodyear welt and real, good leather will be in the $300 range, so as long as you're prepared for that you can definitely get something high quality that a cobbler can work with.
Of course, there's also protection of said shoes. Leather lasts much longer if you take care of it.
The goodyear welt subreddit has good information about more brands and pricing options. Unfortunately high quality shoes is somewhat niche so you may not have any stores locally, so you’ll have to roll the dice on online shopping, so make sure the return policy is good.
Also note that with real leather, it’s very possible and likely that your shoes will feel like ass for a month while you break it in. That’s another cost for quality, but it’s a one time thing.
Good to know, however I do run into the issue of aesthetics, namely that I don't really like loafers/boat shoes traditionally, and for several of the ones I can find they have a dress sole that's going to be less all purpose.
As an example if it were a slipon style, the renegade from Thursday looks like it would fit my needs, but before I compromise I'd love to know if there's any other brands you recommend, even assuming price is not a problem (it might be at some point but I'd like to at least know).
I'll check out the subreddit as well, but looks like grant stone doesn't quite hit my mark.
Thanks for the tip for Thursday boots! I'll be giving them a try for my next pair of dress shoes.
I don't have advice for specific shoes for you, but I do recommend that you rotate your shoes - don't just wear the exact same pair every day. I don't have a great source for it other than experience, but if you have two pairs of shoes and switch them off every other day, then they will last much longer than if you buy and wear them sequentially.
Fair enough, although likely it just means buying two of the same and rotating.
I 100% recommend buying the same thing and rotating. I have sneakers that are just slightly different colours, but otherwise exactly the same, and the only reason they are different is so that I can tell them apart. I'm on year 5 with them, and I use them for a lot of things, including a fair bit of overlap with what you listed (walks, hikes, disc golf). As long as they get a chance to breathe between uses, they'll last better.
Heck, I would be tempted to go with two pairs of your keen slip ons, if they meet your need.
The keens are a little cheap quality wise and i'm not in love with the looks so it's the main reason i'm not just buying two and being done with this, but yeah I might just pick something from another "good enough" brand that I like the look of more and do that.
Over the years my shoe closet has expanded quite a bit. I am a strong believer in using the right footwear for the task at hand. So I tend to keep the following around:
i used to use this model of shoe wearing, before diversifying. doc martins' chelsea boots will function well in a variety of situations, between hiking and the office, and scrub up nicely if you look after them.
Doc Martins are popular, but to be honest, they're fairly low quality for the money. The leather is low quality, and the soles are glued on. If you're willing to go up a bit in price (more in the $200+ range), you can get much, much better.
What brands are better for equivalent cost? What are the brands that are much better at 200 dollars plus? Mine lasted me maybe two years which is better than your standard shoe but was still a little disappointing. I’m definitely thinking about paying more for higher quality next time so I’m v interested in your recs for similar shoes. I’m also limited by being a woman with a large shoe size, for which docs work very well style wise!
The closest in price is going to be Thursday Boots. At above that, you have Meermin, Loake, Wolverine (on sale), Grant Stone, and Redwing (although they go hard into chunky workwear).
These will not only be sturdier (if you're taking care of them, of course), but they're also all repairable, since they're proper Goodyear welt boots. You can take them to a cobbler and have them resoled as a result.
Heh. Funny you should mention, as a year or so ago when I was last looking into this I found these:
https://www.redwingshoes.com/work/mens/safety-toe/ComfortPro-06705.html
Which seemed to fit everything but my "please be in black" requirement, but also are apparently no longer in production as I was unable to find any.
It does seem they've got something else now that might fit all my criteria:
https://www.redwingshoes.com/work/mens/shoes/Cross-Lite-06822.html
but I have no idea if it's actually a decent shoe, or if this is just "fine we'll also make whatever's popular, but it won't last" kind of thing.
I'll look into them. So far running into the same problem that I've had before where nice boots/boot companies don't make the quasi sneaker style I like.
Edit -
Misread your comment. Yeah the chelsea style doesn't quite fit what i'm going for. The Louis Analine might fit my need however.
+1 For chelsea boots. If you can get them tailored with inside zippers and no stretchy bullshit they are amazing.
I'm about to order a new pair of Crafter Romeo slip-ons from Danner. I own like five pairs of their shoes. They just really fit my foot. Still made in-house. Many models with welt stitching, although these are molded. Still, I abuse the hell out of my work shoes and these lasted three years.
This, oddly enough, brings up another strange issue I've found with this whole escapade, which is I can't get these in black.
These are still probably on the possible list, but it's just weird to me that "well you've got that in black right?" is such a difficult ask for this specific niche of shoe.
Beetles boots with inside zip imo.
Or this style: https://pandomoto.com/product/all/unisex/motorcycle-waterproof-boots/
I wear my Timberland 3-Eye Boat Shoe everywhere. You can get them with a gritty profile sole, which makes them good for hiking in all terrain, or you can get them with a flat sole, which makes them look more formal.
I got the ones with a gritty profile sole. They look less „rugged“ in real life compared to the photo. In fact, even though they are quite outdoorsy, they look perfectly formal. It‘s my most versatile shoe I‘ve ever owned. Plus they are super comfy, even on long hikes. I often use them for farm work during the day and then just brush them off in the evening to go out, sometimes with a bit of a wax buff-up.
https://www.timberland.com/en-us/p/men/footwear-10039/mens-timberland-authentics-3-eye-boat-shoe-TB050009648
I’m not sure if the style fits your tastes, but Jim Green makes some excellent quality, durable, leather boots, for a reasonable price. I have a pair of the barefoot African Rangers that I hope will last a decade+.
Been wearing Altra’s for several years and they’re by far my favorite. They have zero drop, zero arch support and a wide toe box. Basically they let your feet work like they’re supposed to. They offer various styles from casual to trail hikers and running shoes.
https://www.youtube.com/@RoseAnvil/videos
I think this is what you need for research. I love this channel.