Comfort and dress shoes

[Mid-fogey]

I think...

I keep thinking about just using the rubber taps or zip soles or sole savers. It's true, shoes never feel the same after a resole. I don't know if they have to be broken in again or what... same footbeds though the feel is off. Knowing that with rubber zip soles and how easily they can be replaced it should be a no brainer to use them and save your sole from having to be replaced. Though I still like the leather on the bottom, but maybe next time I get a new pair of dress shoes and am at a shop[ that can do a good job adding some rubber I might take the plunge and see how long I can go replacing the rubber before I really need a resole.

...you'll find the heels go round on you long before you get through the rubber sole saver. I have had a few cases where the toe of the sole saver peeled away, but that hasn't happened for a long time and they needed a new heel by then anyway.

I take a walk every day, so these really help preserve my shoes. When I get a redone pair back, they feel just as broken in as when I turned them in to the cobbler.

Years ago, I used to work in DC and walked a lot. I never got more than six months from a leather sole, and could never get more than two resoles before they didn't feel at all right.

A final note. Sole savers (or shoe guards) are good on rainy days because they keep your soles from soaking up water so fast.

 

[Johnnysan]

"From comfort to dress..."

I have a pair of Allen-Edmonds Benton shoes from their "Corporate Casual" line that came out many years ago. They currently have a Vibram sole on them, but as I've aged, I find that I need a bit more support than these shoes provide. I recently contacted AE to see if they could be recrafted with a leather sole and found that they can be. I'd appreciate some opinions on this one...will replacing the vibram sole with a leather sole stiffen these shoes up a bit and make them feel a little more "solid?" Thanks!