People who have worked with me in the past will be aware that I’ve never been a big fan of shoes. For pretty much my whole professional career I would arrive at the office, take off my shoes, and wear just socks for most of the day. It helped that at my first post-graduation job, my manager went a step further and was barefoot most of the day. I’ve always felt that if we were meant to wear shoes indoors, we wouldn’t spend money on carpet.
In Boston I bought a pair of Ecco shoes, only to have them fall apart in under a year. Failing to learn the lesson, I bought some Ecco winter boots. They were fine when we left, only worn a few times, but after 8 days in Minnesota the soles have shredded away. No more Ecco footwear for me. Sure, it’s light, but it’s expensive and it doesn’t last.
As late as 1850, shoes were made on symmetrical lasts. Both shoes were identical. The concept of “left shoe” and “right shoe” did not exist. (Also, the plural in English was still “shoen” until the 1800s.) Mentioned in an article about T-shirts without the annoying tag that makes your neck itch. This kinda boggles my mind, like going to the art gallery and looking at all the paintings from around the time someone discovered perspective.
In case anyone’s slightly interested, my new Birkenstocks are Richmond in Cordura. I think I’m going to have to order a second pair and stash them away. See, when I listened to the Hitchhiker’s Guide To The Galaxy radio series season 2, I didn’t feel that the whole Dolmansaxlil sub-plot was excessive at all. Like Douglas Adams, I had had the experience of walking the length of Oxford Street, visiting every wretched shoe shop, in the futile hope that one of them might have a pair that would actually fit my feet.