Obama, Cameron and Shoes.

[AntonAAK]

It's ok. No politics here.

I'm just rather bemused by this Wall Street Journal columnist's attitude that you have to be wearing something new to be properly attired.

Imagine if one of us went to a meeting with the president...

http://blogs.wsj.com/iainmartin/2010/07/20/cameron-wears-old-shoes-for-historic-meeting-with-obama/

 

[Baron Kurtz]

Given that Cameron's shoes likely cost minimum £2000 (he is shall we say in the class that tends to get things bespoke), I can't quite understand what this cretin is talking about. Obama's shoes ain't no great shakes, either.

In a time where political personalities - particularly those who are … errr … privileged - are desperately trying to convince us that they are "just like us", "everyman", is it surprising that neither Cameron nor Obama wear their (In on case vast) wealth on their sleeves, as it were?

A non-issue. But typical of the rather shrill tone of US media outlets.

bk

 

[Edward]

lol That is rather a bizarre littel story.... that someone saw this as an issue isn't, I suppose, too much of a surprise when you think of the debate that raged over whether Obama should have bowed to a foreign head of state, but it does seem somewhat an irrelevant detail about which to obsess. I very much doubt, if questioned after the event, Mr Obama would even have noticed the colour of the shoes, much less their overall condition.

 

[cookie]

Obama was photographed famously with a pair of holed shoes around election time so this is an improvement. But since when is creasing an indication of poor quality shoes? I would suggest it is an indication that they are a comfortable pair of the UKs finest bespoke footwear.

 

[Baron Kurtz]

I think it was Spiro Agnew who, on the campaign trail, pointed out: Better a hole in the shoe than a hole in the head.

bk

 

[Warden]

At least they are good classic Oxford shoe.

It must of been a dull meeting if the only thing to report is the shoes.

Harry

 

[PADDY]

The only person this reflects on, is the reporter.

The Reporter had nothing to write about (or didn't have the initiative, intuition or insight to find a solid angle to a different story), and so "out of despertation and panic" plummeted for 'shoes...' [huh]

Absolutely ridiculous story (and this is coming from someone who has worked professionally as a News Reporter).

It also displays ignorance on the part of the reporter on the upper middle classes of the UK. Nothing wrong with wearing a 25-year-old pair of Churches, Greens or New & Lingwoods, or more likely, wear your Grandfather's which have been resoled and resoled. Or your Dad's old Barbour or Tweed jacket.

A mark of quality and class, is someone who can 'afford' to buy a pair of premium shoes and keep them going 'forever' by just getting them refurbished and resoled once in a while (as that shows the quality of their workmanship and lineage). And of course, they develop much more character too. The cheaper shoe is here this year and gone the next, in exchange for another pair of cheap shoes (false economy too!).
Just look at the footwear of the British Royals and Aristocracy (or any of the European Royals for that matter).

This is the 'mark' of class in the UK. Going out and buying a brand new pair of shoes from your local Mall (as the Reporter hints that Obama may have done)...well, that reflects on the difference between these two men and their 'class' and 'cultural' backgrounds.

This reporter obviously doesn't mix with the Hampton's set, let alone the Chelsea set. POOR REPORTER and reporting, in 'oh' so many ways.

 

[vintage68]

The Reporter had nothing to write about (or didn't have the initiative, intuition or insight to find a solid angle to a different story), and so "out of despertation and panic" plummeted for 'shoes...' [huh]

Absolutely ridiculous story (and this is coming from someone who has worked professionally as a News Reporter).

It also displays ignorance on the part of the reporter on the upper middle classes of the UK. Nothing wrong with wearing a 25-year-old pair of Churches, Greens or New & Lingwoods, or more likely, wear your Grandfather's which have been resoled and resoled. Or your Dad's old Barbour or Tweed jacket.

This is the 'mark' of class in the UK. Going out and buying a brand new pair of shoes from your local Mall (as the Reporter hints that Obama may have done)...well, that reflects on the difference between these two men and their 'class' and 'cultural' backgrounds.

This reporter obviously doesn't mix with the Hampton's set, let alone the Chelsea set. POOR REPORTER, in so many ways.

Jeez Paddy, tell us what you really think! Of course I agree with you. It's the small details that count as most of us here would agree, and there's something very American about assuming that a new pair of shoes would "classier" or more respectful. Unghh, Ack! Pfft.

 

[the hairy bloke]

Personally, were I to meet someone of this importance for my job, for the first time, I would wear (clean, polished) old shoes, that meant I could concentrate on the business at hand.

Rather than "Oh crickey! My feet hurt".

 

[dhermann1]

Wasn't there a thread or a post (or maybe just a story in the news) about either the Prince of Wales or the Duke of Edinborough wearing some very old, very favorite shoes?
Anyway, they might have looked a little spiffier in person than in the photo. But I agree that Mr. Cameron probably knew he had a lot of walking and standing to do that day, and chose a pair of old reliables.
And as far as Mr. Obama's shoes are concerned, I recall his income from the year before his election being something in the $1.5 to 2 million range, mainly due to royalties from his books. So I imagine his footwear is also relatively decent, not "cheaper" as the writer suggests.
I think the guy was shooting for a tone of drollness that he didn't quite achieve.

 

[Dewhurst]

All this article does is remind me that I need a new pair of NOT falling apart loafers.

 

[Tomasso]

I haven't read the WSJ since Rupert got his hands on it.

 

[cptjeff]

Wasn't there a thread or a post (or maybe just a story in the news) about either the Prince of Wales or the Duke of Edinborough wearing some very old, very favorite shoes?
Anyway, they might have looked a little spiffier in person than in the photo. But I agree that Mr. Cameron probably knew he had a lot of walking and standing to do that day, and chose a pair of old reliables.
And as far as Mr. Obama's shoes are concerned, I recall his income from the year before his election being something in the $1.5 to 2 million range, mainly due to royalties from his books. So I imagine his footwear is also relatively decent, not "cheaper" as the writer suggests.
I think the guy was shooting for a tone of drollness that he didn't quite achieve.

Prince of Wales, and he has a couple of pairs that he still wears that are 40+ years old.

Bespoke, of course.

 

[Tomasso]

Prince of Wales, and he has a couple of pairs that he still wears that are 40+ years old.

Bespoke, of course.

 

[Puzzicato]

Prince of Wales, and he has a couple of pairs that he still wears that are 40+ years old.

Bespoke, of course.

My grandfather has some shoes that are that sort of age. He used to get them from a company here that had about 5 different lasts, and once you knew which fit you needed, you just chose the leathers etc. Semi-bespoke, I guess. He gets them resoled every other year and they will see him out.

I think it is just lazy journalism to concentrate on some minutiae of personalities instead of reporting on the meat of the discussions. I got through the last general election with only the slightest notion of where the major parties stood on issues, but knowing that Mrs Cameron wears black polish on her toenails and Mrs Brown doesn't wear polish.

 

[Tomasso]

Semi-bespoke, I guess.

In the trade that would be termed MTO (made to order).

 

[dhermann1]

Oh, God! I spelled Edinburgh wrong!

 

[Mav]

I haven't read the WSJ since Rupert got his hands on it.

I'm with you. And this pitiful article is even worse than what the WSJ usually has to offer.

 

[Yeps]

The color at the toe there is gorgeous. I wish I had shoes that old and that nice (then again, I need a time machine to get them).

 

[Tomasso]

The color at the toe there is gorgeous.

Rumor has it that it's achieved by using a blowtorch;probably a military thing.