Wear, repair, repeat

I don’t have a shoe rack.  They aren’t really built for more than 6 pairs of shoes.
I had more like a shoe palace, until the cats discovered it as a climbing toy and it didn’t survived the 5th  toppling. 
So I upgraded to a Shoe Pantheon.  When I first moved in, my partner asked me why I had so many shoes, and now after years of me complaining about my feet (they hurt), my shoes (they’re broken), the weather (it’s not the right weather for the shoes I want to wear with my outfit!) I think he understands. 

Shoes and I have a love/hate relationship.  I break them, they break me.  So I’ve found that I *need* (I use the term with my tongue firmly in cheek) to have a variety of different styles of shoes so when one pair gives me a blister I can wear a different pair that won’t hurt.  For instance, a pair of slingbacks just about severed my Achilles, so I switched to wearing slip-ons for the next week.  A pair of slip-ons gave me a blister on the side of my arch, so I swapped to some strappy sandal thing that didn’t rub the new hole in my foot. 

And then of course, I’m hard on shoes.  I must walk hard, turn fast, swivel here, pirouette there – my record is breaking 3 pairs in one week.

Now I hate throwing things out that I know can be repaired.  Throwing things into the bin that are just going to end up in landfill or donating broken things to charities so they can then deal with the rubbish problem.  I’m not philosophically aligned with either of those 2 options.  And shoes aren’t generally something I can fix myself.

So I make regular trips to see my shoe fixers.  I save up my broken shoes that I have collected from travels, thrifting, hand-me-downs, and bought new.  Shoes that go with marvellous outfits.  Shoes that I’ve spent good times and bad with.  Shoes that I have worn-in to fit my magnificent flippery feet. I’ve invested time and emotion into these things so I’m not giving them up without a fight.  (And I don’t want to have to find and wear another pair in if I don’t have to).

The team at Jon’s Shoe Repair in Trinity Arcade were recommended to me by a friend about 15 years ago.  I had a pair of boots that didn’t fit my calf and not everyone has a fancy machine to be able to fix that type of dilemma.  But Jon’s do!  They said, “We can stretch them or put in a gusset, if we have to.  We’ll sort them out for you.”  And I’ve been going to them ever since.  They always recognise me, and my shoes.  Brightly coloured, well worn, in need of some TLC (am I speaking about me or my shoes?).  Sometimes the repairs are more expensive than others and they’ll ask if I’m sure I want to fix the shoes?  I’ll always say yes.  Because otherwise what happens to the shoes? 

And sometimes they’re looking at a pair of shoes I’ve brought back for the 6th time for fixing (because I’m hard on shoes), and Sam at Jon’s will say to me, “I think it’s time to say goodbye to these ones, Jane.”

You need a shoe crew you can trust with your soles.