I want to add this topic to the discussion and it goes into the quality of footwear. Some shoes i have bought over recent years have been pretty bad in quality either the shoe laces snap off in fact that is my most complained about thing is shoe laces. I have had several pairs where the laces have been cut off either due to poor workmanship or the laces are poorly made. On some shoes they dont seem to last very long at all and there just break. Many years ago they seemed to last a lot longer than what they do now. Like one pair from rivers ok I have had them a while but not actually worm them that long and the sole started coming away from the rest of the shoe. and when walking in them they seem to crack apart right where the foot bends about a third the way in from the front of the shoe. Why is it that i can get a cheaper pair ive got before and they seem to last longer and are better Cant really work that one out at all.buy a cheaper pair last longer that more expensive pair. Some shoes are really a total rip off i dont know why we pay so much when they all cheaply made overseas. I guess it these big companies again gettign countries offshore making them cheaply.
I agree about the generally poor quality of some shoes.
In the old days the soles were sewn to the shoe body. Now, if present, the stitching is for decoration only. Consequently, I have had many opportunities to perfect the art of re-gluing poorly attached soles. Unfortunately, I still havenāt managed to do it without the glue showing here and there.
Just as a side note, I been advised that the āshoe glueā which you can buy is no different to other contact adhesive which is a lot cheaper.
I too have paid big dollars and shoes on sale, however, I am glad that you have raised the issue, as I thought that I was just choosing badly. Now that you have highlighted the issue, could it just be that all good shoemakers have died?
I have recently re glued a pair of shoes which were not that expensive but not that good and the soles started giving away at the sides and some of what i glued has come away a bit but maybe i had not glued that part so ill try it again. Either way some of these shoes are pretty lousy to begin with. Another pair i got from the same place which were cheaper and have lasted for some reason and i remember they were just under half the price the other pair was. I suppose this is how it is now adays but anyway i ll re glue them.
I agree. Shoe quality is appalling and price is not necessarily the determining factor. Iāve been buying shoes from Rivers as I can purchase them online and they have styles which are both aesthetically suitable for office work and suitable for walking, as I walk to the train station for my commute. Iāve worn the current black pair for a few weeks and the upper has already split away from the sole at the toe, which not only lets in water, but looks very shabby with the split white interior contrasting with the black exterior. I previously purchased a pair of vegan courts online for around $170 and they only lasted a couple of weeks. The same thing happened with textiles and clothing years ago, which is why I now use a couturier for tailored suits. The garments cost more but are properly constructed with decent suiting fabric, fitted and finished and last much much longer. Now if there is a shoe-maker equivalent for a couturier - who produces durable, comfortable and office-appropriate footwear without using animal-derived products - Iām interested!!
Shoes are only one item of many today that are made to NOT last very long at all. I was told by a shoe repairer (a REAL shoe repairer at that) that if you buy a pair of shoes today they will simply fall apart even if you donāt wear them, within a short time.
I remember when i grew up being younger we went to a local shoes shop independent from all these other places and this man that ran it knew everything about shoes and how to fit them and all. And they were never overly priced and seemed to last longer but its hard finding smaller places around and either way its all made so cheaply and sometimes we have to pay more for worse quality things. I remember the original owner of the shoe shop sold up and the next owner was never as good as the other man was, And that was even over years ago when he sold the store but yes it is ever increasingly harder to get reasonably quality at a price. some shoes seems to last where others are lousy and fall apart. I did a better job partly re gluing those newer pair from rivers its not like they were only $20 maybe it would not matter so much. I know some brands like redback shoes they are australian made or mongrel are made here to and they are actually not as expensive as counterparts like steel blue or blundstone etc.
Thanks for starting this interesting discussion @passerbye123. I purchased some cheap shoes from Target to get out of a bind. Needless to say they fell apart pretty quickly!
Quite frankly I am more than disappointed and fed up with the rubbish we are getting here in Australia in the way of clothing, footwear and most imported goods from China and the likes.
It is the fault of our buyers who go to these countries and negotiate our goods for import and are settling for cheaper products at the expense of the consumer.
Having travelled overseas many times I have been fortunate to be able to buy clothing and shoes from the US, Europe and UK. I am more than happy with theses goods.
Incidentally I bought a pair of cheap boots in the UK in 2010 they are still wearable, if not a bit worn by normal wear and tear.
We in Australia are definitely disadvantaged by the 3rd rate quality of goods being dumped here.
As per my post in the forum about the car seats breaking apart, many items now use a āleatherā product that isnāt quite all leather. These composite products do not wear as well, are cheap to produce, and so are the preferred product for producers to use. The use promotes rapid turnover thus more sales and at a price point for production that maximises profits on each sale, a double win for the producer and a double whammy for the consumer.
I recently purchased a pair of shoes made in Spain for around $150. The left shoe fell apart after only a couple of wears, and the shoe repair man said it couldnāt be repaired and threw it in the bin!! Think Iāll stick to cheaper shoes and just replace them as they wear out.
I could not agree more with the quality of footwear in Oz. We really get all sorts of poorly made footwear. As Grahroll said these sort of pseudo leather are horrific. In Europe the quality is more stringent as consumers will not be taken for a ride with inferior products. Most shoes in Europe are much better, tho there are also quite a fair bit of rubbish. It depends also where you go and buy them it seems to me.
When you talk about leather like look at lounges that are around there are many around but there are many ways to make leather look like it is real when the leather is not true cow hide. one way to tell is if you can see on the opposite side of the leather and it the color looks different it means the leather is real.Because they can color the leather i think what ever color they wish.I read once where one person said the leather industry is not regulated so it is hard in australia to know if you are getting true leather.but the best way to know for sure is check the other side and you know its real.alot of products i agree they sell now are fake leather.genuine cowhide leather is expensive because it is costly to tan it.i worked in a furniture place where they sold some leather furniture and you could tell some they sold were real leather and some were not.but yes alot of the footwear is junk now a days and still pay so much for it.as irakip says its the buyers fault i suppose buying it cheaply or sourcing it cheaply.
I have bought rivers shoes just for walking to and the 2 pairs didnt really last that long it may have been under a year.one of the pairs just came away from the soul so i re glued it even after a while it still came away. i even told rivers on facebook go on there if you want to complain it can actually work sometimes. yes clothes they are also cheap i remember the days when you could get clothes made here in australia or altered but it seems like it died.just like good shoe shops as i remember when i grew up the local shoe store the owner knew everything about shoes properly fit them but they seemed to last many years ago.
After a bad run (no pun intended) in recent years with locally purchased shoes, and the lack of choice for my unfashionably wide feet, Iāve recently been purchasing my D fitting shoes online from Homyped. So far so good.
Thanks for the tip, enbconje.
I have to buy half-size shoes which are few and far between, unless I pay over $200 for!
Homeyped have a chart you can print, then stand on to draw the outline of your foot to get a reliable indication of the correct fitting for you. So far so good.
Ill add my recent complaint about a pair of rivers shoes that has given me a bad blister which i find only occurs of dd not fit properly or not enough padding. Well this pair is appalling cant believe how bad they are.another rivers pair the sole is way to soft a twig poked right through recent and i felt it on he bottom of my foot.Maybe ill be hand picking in future. unbelievable
Actually ill add my incident with a pair of rivers shoes even though some pairs might be good i had bough a a pair a while a go only to find when wearing the i got a blister which will heal in time. just cant believe how bad fit they are. another pair i got from rivers seems comfortable to wear but has a very soft sole and a twig poked through i had to actually pull it out quite staggering they are that soft even though are comfortable to wear. it is very hard choosing a simple pair just way to many choices.
