How Much Are Those Shoes?

Thoughtful Thursday

Once you have started spending over $100/pair for shoes, you may want to know what you can expect from your investment.

There are many variables that play into how much a pair of shoes will cost and how much happiness they will bring to your soles.

Cost:

Lets face it...Branding is a big deal in our culture and you can bet that a percentage of the cost of marketing is built right into the cost of your shoes. Surely you will have better luck with brands that are known for their comfort and not just for their logo or famous endorsements.

Here is another “Lets face it!”...Where the shoes are made will play a significant role in the total price tag and nothing is more frustrating than hearing...”I don't want to buy shoes made by child labor from China” and in the next breath hear...”I won't spend more than $40 bucks on a pair of shoes”....WHAT!?! That doesn't make any sense at all! (I will cover -the pro's and con's-of “made in China” at length in another post)

Technology and old school craftsmanship are crucial to any comfortable pair of shoes. It should come as no surprise that both innovation and time tested experience come at a premium.

Materials such as leather, vibram, stitching and adhesives come in varying levels of quality and contribute to the price of the shoe and its overall comfort/durability. 

Happiness:

Are your feet happy to begin with? Or have you been battling foot pain all your life? I know that shoes are not the “cure-all” for pain, but they can certainly help...particularly when they fit properly and are an appropriate style given the nature of your foot and planned activities.

Your happiness with your shoes will also depend on who you let decide “which pair to wear”...your EYEBALLS or your FEET? Shoes chosen by your feet will make your soles happy...feet rarely lie about how comfortable they are, whereas eyeballs are easily swayed by only the aesthetic aspects of a given pair of shoes.

The shape of your foot, your gait and planned activities all factor into how happy you will be with your shoes. I know I will wear out the following phrase “proper fit and appropriate style” to get across the idea that if you are aiming for comfort, you must consider what's most important.

Quite often I have heard shoe-stomers rationalize a shoe purchase by suggesting that a more expensive pair of shoes will last longer...or even forever. That statement scares me because it does not take into consideration any of the facts I have outlined above...nor does it consider how that shoe-stomer might treat those shoes on a daily basis.

Price is not the key factor in the lifespan of a shoe! How you treat your shoes, fit, gait and appropriate style is what will impact the life of your shoes. I know a gal that can kill a pair of shoes in six months flat no matter how much she spends on her shoes, while other folks have a cheap pair of Keds that they have worn for YEARS!

So why buy better quality shoes? You will have happier more comfortable feet for whatever amount of time shoes happen to last for you...and buying good quality well-fit shoes can help you avoid costly foot pain down the line. A wise investment indeed!

You can buy a Toyota or a Lexus...both will get you from point A to point B quite reliably, but obviously one of them offers far nicer comfort features...but...if you don't give your Lexus its regular oil changes, it isn't going to last longer than the Toyota just because you spent more on the car. I am also guessing you wouldn't take the sedan “off-roading” all the time and expect that not to affect the lifespan of the vehicle.

The same goes for your shoes. Take care of your investment and they will take care of you. Your behavior is a much stronger predictor of how long your shoes will last than the price you paid for them.

Buy nice shoes, be nice to them and your feet will be happy with you and that is priceless:)

 abigail dagmar