This is the thread where I say things and maybe other people say things too

[balki]

"Hey, you got 31 waist, 36 leg pants?"

36 leg pants = 36" inseam?
skinny 6'6" guy I know buys from the store, are you 6'8" or something?

[JoshInKC]

We have a Red Wing store in my neighborhood, but I haven't found anything particularly suitable for my office job that doesn't require a hard-hat or a CDL. I have been in there twice to look around and enjoy the smell of good leather, once before they closed and once after they re-opened a year or two later a couple doors down in the same small strip shopping center.

Quality low-quarter oxford and similar shoes suitable for the office and weekend casual dress that's a level above sneakers or boots are hard to find in the suburban sprawl full of corporate-owned conformity where I've chosen to reside.

You might consider giving the red wing store another shot. I know they've got some oxfords available at least on their website.
Also, as far as doc martens go, I would avoid. I think they got bought out sometime in the last 10 or 15 years and their quality dropped off a cliff.

Of course if you want to get really hardcore - look at Wesco. Like the rest of the other PacNW boot companies they're expensive, but they're custom fit and handmade to be tough as hell. Theoretically rebuildable to the end of time or your feet fall off, whichever comes first.

[Cam]

36 leg pants = 36" inseam?
skinny 6'6" guy I know buys from the store, are you 6'8" or something?

The problem is being slim with long legs. For example, Old Navy has tons of 36 inseam pants, but none with less than a 34 waist.

[George]

Of course if you want to get really hardcore...

I don't, although it's fun to look. I spent a little time at the Red Wing site. They have some good-looking shoes and boots at their site, but at $300 pair, it would be costly to get a few pairs in regular rotation.

I'd just like to find some decent shoes with good leather soles, or good, SOLID rubber soles like the old Doc Martens. The current crop of inexpensive mens shoes I see at DSW, Famous Footwear and stores in the mall (*cringe*) has HOLLOW rubber soles, in many cases. They look okay for a month or three, but then it becomes apparent the bottom of the soles have a thin layer of rubber stretched over an egg crate setup underneath. The thin rubber stretched over the holes in hollow sole wears out pretty quickly. Not only do they then look bad, but those holes let water in and suddenly you've got wet feet if it's raining or if there's melting snow on the sidewalks, etc. And then there's the cheap appearance of the uppers, white stitching and/or soles on black dress shoes, etc.

I used to go into those same shoe stores and find those cheap shoes, sure, but also the next higher level of quality that cost maybe around $100. There was a choice in cost and quality. Now it seems even the cheap shoes are $75 - $90 and there simply aren't any better ones available at these large shoe stores, unless I want to step up to Red Wings or similar at $300+ per pair, apparently.

I found this image on the web that illustrates the current sole problem pretty well.



As always, I have champagne taste on a beer budget.

[balki]

Nor'easter #4 in 4 weeks
can this winter end, please?

[mk]

Rewinded, 6230i.

[Leon]

I end up doing a lot of online buying, because of limited range available in NZ.

I'm on a little Island (well, couple of Islands) in the middle of the Pacific. So our "big" retailers tend to only ship in a limited range of things like shoes, and distribute them among their retail branches. Even super mainstream stuff like Skecher (sorry if spelling is wrong, but I can't reach my feet currently due to a cat installed on my lap), which is what I wear as work shoes. Unless I want the one of the specific two styles of that shoe they brought in that season, and distributed to their three different named shops (all owned by same larger company), I need to import.

Other things, the margin added can be a deal breaker. For example when I wanted to get a wireless car charger for my phone, I could import delivered to my door from the UK for 60% of the price of the same product from Samsung NZ (who were out of stock). Lack of competition in NZ, means some products can be surprisingly priced. Not the good type of surprising either.

Being a small market, at the end of a long transport, means a lot of things here are very expensive compared to larger countries. We hear that a lot from folk visiting or relocating here.

[Freude am Fahren]

I finally figured out how to grab the source image or video from an Instagram post. I guess that was kinda neat.

[speedpimp]

Last Saturday I found myself taking my break at a Bass Pro Shop. Spent half an hour wandering around and walked out with a pair of New Balance sneakers that were marked down from $70 to $40.

[Rare White Ape]

My whip for today.



I’m volunteering as a transport driver for the Commonwealth Games, which starts next week. I’ll spend two weeks driving athletes and officials between venues, training facilities, the Village, airports, etc. Should be fun