How much should we really spend on footwear?

Well, yesterday was my day off. I was going to stay home and make soap and candles and maybe bake, just to relax but I decided to go venture out to the mall (which i rarely do!). I had bought a really nice skirt 3 years ago and haven't been able to wear it for a year as it is now too big. I needed to go get it tailored as I can not sew and my sweetie doesn't have much time at the moment to do it.

I showed up at the tailoring place, put on the skirt and the woman told me that it will cost more as they have to take a lot off and remove the zipper in the process. She said if they only had to take a bit off they could have just done it on one side, but it seemed as though they were taking at least 1-2inches off on each side! WOAH! I didn't know I had lost that much weight but I guess I have...yikes. I cringed when she quoted me $30 for the alterations, but given the fact that at the time I paid a lot for the designer skirt, it was worth it. Still...ouch!

I made the mistake of heading downtown to my two favourite shoe stores. I never used to be into shoes until the past few years. I guess my bad arthritis has forced me to get good shoes and now that I am spoiled with wearing nice things on my feet, it's impossible to go back. argh. Here's what happened:

I found a nice pair of Hush Puppies on sale for $70 (down from $120). I needed them for work as I did not have a comfortable cushiony high heel to wear with dresses/skirts. I was happy with my purchase and i did NEED these so I wasn't too upset with myself. Then I venture over to another store, the one I always look in but never buy....until now.

They were having a 50% off sale that's been ongoing all month. I've been in a few times but never bought anything. This time, I noticed some John Fluevog shoes (this is a designer i used to look at 20 years ago because his shoes were so crazy, like art on your foot!!!). I have always been impressed with this designer but way back when his shoes were even too off the wall for me. Over the years, I drooled over the art-style-shoes but never wanted to try a pair on, afraid I'd blow $300 on shoes. His designs have gotten more wearable over the years too! Yesterday I did it. I tried on two pairs of Fluevog shoes and one pair of boots. The boots are a nice plum, wonderfully made, cool and funky. I wanted them all..(of course I did!) but settled on the purple boots. After all, I had only ever owned black and brown boots, it was time to expand my collection. hahaa. The website sells these for almost $500, i paid $200. I was scared to tell my sweetie but when I did he said they looked really good and didn't even cringe. As I get older, I realize I keep footwear much longer now anyway. My friend has had these $300 pair for 10 years and they are still in good shape. He was pleased with my purchase and said in the long run I'd save money because I wouldn't be tossing them in a year or two. True enough. Or is it?

Today I am still unsure as to whether or not I should have bought them, but my feet need to be taken care of and I have noticed a huge difference since purchasing good footwear. I just started last year so I am still in the midst of replacing my junky shoes.

My mother would also approve, she's a shoe person and used to complain to me in my earlier years that I didn't have enough shoes (in my twenties I may have had 2 pairs and 1 pair of boots). She used to stress how much good footwear is important. I should have listened to her. I wonder if I would have these foot problems had I listened to her 20 years ago.

So is it worth spending that much on footwear? Say I keep these boots for 10 years, that's $20 a year to have them. If I don't replace them for that long, then it's worth it...isnt it? :)

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John Fluevog Boots

John Fluevog Boots