Anyone else can't bring themselves to wear vintage/used shoes ?....

[ukali1066]

I just recoil in horror from the very idea...anyone else the same ?

 

[scottyrocks]

Other people's shoes are not my thing.

 

[scotrace]

Rent shoes at the bowling alley?

 

[ukali1066]

never been bowling for that very reason

 

[John in Covina]

The other side might be has anyone had health problems from wearing previously owned / vintage shoes? I have yet to recall anyone mentioning that a pair of vintage shoes gave them something. I think that most problems, disease and maladies don't live for a long time in the conditions of a pair of shoes that have been in storage. My biggest concern might be fungus or yeast as those spores seem to be able to live for a long time. Over this way there are sprays to sanitize the inside of shoes. I'd consider several applications over a few days before any daily wear maybe.

 

[sheeplady]

I don't because I wear my shoes funny. I would assume that other people do the same. The wear you put on a pair of shoes impacts the way you walk. I don't want the way I walk (stride, tilt of foot, etc.) to be impacted by the wear somebody else put on the shoes. I might wear a pair that looked practically new, but I have never seen one.

I wouldn't be concerned about disease.

 

[Bourne ID]

I buy all my shoes used except sneakers. Just use some of the same antibacterial deoderizing sprays the bowling alley uses and your good to go. Not as creepy as head lice and scabbies from an old hat! What are your cleaning/sterilizing practices for a hat purchase? Besides..when you can find a mint pair of 250 dollar wingtip brogues for 5 dollars at the Salv. army....!? I've got an excellent collection of very expensive dress shoes for pennies on the dollar and that's money, well spent!

 

[scottyrocks]

Rent shoes at the bowling alley?

I have my own.

 

[AtomicEraTom]

I buy used shoes all the time. I'm wearing used cowboy boots I bought for 6 bucks. I've put a lot of miles on them.

 

[Quigley Brown]

It's rare that I buy brand new shoes. I'm very picky, of course, but there's been plenty of times that I've found a $120 pair in near-new condition for just five bucks. It's rare that I can afford a new pair to tell you the truth.

 

[Widebrim]

Except for a pair of vintage bowling shoes (go figure), I've never bought used shoes. I've thought about it, but I'd rather purchase a new pair of marked-down Italian or Spanish footwear (either at a "discount" outlet or at the "fashion" disctrict of downtown L.A.) and know that I have been the only user. To tell the truth, I just don't see used shoes my size in good condition, that is, when I have looked...

 

[Miss Golightly]

I had my reservations about wearing vintage shoes but in the last few months I bought two pairs of late 50's shoes (to be honest at that stage I was more concerned about them fitting me - which they did!) and I hope to wear them once I have broken them in - one set has hardly any wear and the other pair may have been worn only once.

 

[Jesse Jack]

Shoes are interesting. I have no phobias about sticking my feet into a pair of shoes which previously contained someone else's feet. The thing that someone mentioned is that everyone's foot is different and people break their shoes in differently. Also, I am rough on footwear and I want maximum lifespan out of mine. I don't want to pick up a pair that someone else has already worn halfway to its grave. With things like that I have a sense of security in knowing how long or short something lasts is based on my care of it and not whether or not someone else got things off on...well...the wrong foot.

 

[Jesse Jack]

It seems like it's easy enough to get new shoes in classic styles, that unless you have a shoe fetish and need to go easy on the pocket book, it doesn't make sense to me to buy used. I only buy shoes once a year and if I can't afford it I hint-drop around Christmas or my birthday.

 

[Talbot]

If the shoes are good shape I'll go for them. Not sure why I'd want to spend large on office wear. Wearing a nice pair of Florsheim gunboats right now.

$6 at the goodwill. They fit great and look like new. They're $275 in the Florsheim store just round the corner.

 

[John in Covina]

Not as creepy as head lice and scabies from an old hat! What are your cleaning/sterilizing practices for a hat purchase?

That's the thing a hat that has not been worn in 20 years or more probably can't give you any lice or scabies or much else as most bad things just don't live that long with out the human contact.

 

[Old Rogue]

I buy all my shoes used except sneakers. Just use some of the same antibacterial deoderizing sprays the bowling alley uses and your good to go. Not as creepy as head lice and scabbies from an old hat! What are your cleaning/sterilizing practices for a hat purchase? Besides..when you can find a mint pair of 250 dollar wingtip brogues for 5 dollars at the Salv. army....!? I've got an excellent collection of very expensive dress shoes for pennies on the dollar and that's money, well spent!

Wow...I love those wingtips. I just bought a new pair of dress shoes and settled for a pair with modern styling simply because I couldn't find wingtips. Great tip about the Salvation Army, think I'll check it out.

 

[Matt Deckard]

I have a few pairs of vintage shoes only because they were amazing styles that I couldn't find from companies today. It's true that in some cases a vintage shoe will cause problems with a foot if the previous owner had some sort of walking issue, and this is due footbeds forming to the previous owner's foot. Usually it's not a problem, and if the previous owner was your size, then your foot will sit on the footbed just fine and over time it will start to match your foot more, yet never be perfect.

The issue of other people's sweat and whatever else? Well, I'm not bother'd by old foot sweat that's salted up the bottom of the shoe... that's usually what people use to kill things. I'm okay with used shoes.

 

[Fletch]

They usually hurt somehow - a little pinch here, a little slip-slide-and-rub there.
I too am difficult to fit - the irony of being a very common size, 10 1/2D. They're the ones that get worn. Out.

 

[ukali1066]

Thanks for the input everyone....but I'm still not convinced