# Men's business casual work shoes, durability and longevity **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [October 3, 2016, 7:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mens-business-casual-work-shoes-durability-and-longevity/767583 "2016-10-03T19:14:27Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 13\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Mean\_Mr.Mustard](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mean_mr.mustard/32/3865_2.png) [@Mean\_Mr.Mustard](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mean_Mr.Mustard)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2016, 1:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mens-business-casual-work-shoes-durability-and-longevity/767583/21 "2016-10-06T01:02:42Z")
> [@Dewey\_Finn](#): > > Even if you’re wearing socks, the insides of your shoes are going to get (slightly) damp. And 12 hours or so isn’t enough time for them to dry? mmm ---
**Author:** ![Count\_Blucher](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/c5a1d2/32.png) [@Count\_Blucher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Count_Blucher)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2016, 1:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mens-business-casual-work-shoes-durability-and-longevity/767583/22 "2016-10-06T01:32:35Z")
> [@iiandyiiii](#): > > I went ahead and ordered the same shoes. I don’t plan to get two pair since that just seems too much for now (plus I use special laces so I’d have to get another pair of those). Your call, but remember: those shoes, in the style you like, are available and in stock now (the laces too). Fast forward 1-2 years from now, who knows? Look, you know what you like, you know your style and you know you like these. Two pair to alternate every third day and two pair left in boxes in your closet to replace them when they wear out. Its a plan that would last you past the end of the next decade. ---
**Author:** ![purplehearingaid](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/7bcc69/32.png) [@purplehearingaid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/purplehearingaid)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2016, 1:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mens-business-casual-work-shoes-durability-and-longevity/767583/23 "2016-10-06T01:39:03Z")
It might be hard to the same style shoes , I have a pairs of hiking boots I really like and I tried to buy the same style 3 years later and I couldn’t the style was difference and I didn’t like it. I like your shoes . ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2016, 1:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mens-business-casual-work-shoes-durability-and-longevity/767583/24 "2016-10-06T01:56:46Z")
> [@Mean\_Mr.Mustard](#): > > > [@Dewey\_Finn](#): > > > > Even if you’re wearing socks, the insides of your shoes are going to get (slightly) damp. > > And 12 hours or so isn’t enough time for them to dry? Maybe twelve hours _would_ be enough time for the shoes to dry. I don’t know, as I’ve never done a scientific analysis. I don’t know if anyone has. Maybe this is just a myth. Maybe this is something invented by some clever guy at a shoe company to sell more product. But it _is_ standard advice. (If you don’t believe me, do a Google search.) But it seems to me that even if it’s not necessary to let the shoes dry out, they _will_ last longer, simply because they are being worn less frequently. Personally, I alternate between brown shoes and black shoes. ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2016, 5:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mens-business-casual-work-shoes-durability-and-longevity/767583/25 "2016-10-06T17:08:05Z")
> [@Mean\_Mr.Mustard](#): > > And 12 hours or so isn’t enough time for them to dry? > mmm Nope. ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2016, 5:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mens-business-casual-work-shoes-durability-and-longevity/767583/26 "2016-10-06T17:13:08Z")
> [@Count\_Blucher](#): > > Your call, but remember: those shoes, in the style you like, are available and in stock now (the laces too). > Fast forward 1-2 years from now, who knows? Look, you know what you like, you know your style and you know you like these. Two pair to alternate every third day and two pair left in boxes in your closet to replace them when they wear out. > > Its a plan that would last you past the end of the next decade. I concur. Get them now. ---
**Author:** ![iiandyiiii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/iiandyiiii/32/7924_2.png) [@iiandyiiii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iiandyiiii)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2016, 6:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mens-business-casual-work-shoes-durability-and-longevity/767583/27 "2016-10-06T18:07:41Z")
The limiting factor on my shoes is the sole – specifically the part right under the ball of the foot. Why would sole wear be delayed if I had alternated pairs? If sole wear is determined by how often they contact pavement, then it wouldn’t matter how many I alternated. Assuming I do 10,000 steps per day, and wear them to work 200 days per year, then their lifetime of 2 years suggests that 2 years \* 200 days \* 10,000 steps = 4 million steps per pair of shoes… 2 pairs would just double that to 4 years/8 million steps and so on, which wouldn’t add any value. ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2016, 6:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mens-business-casual-work-shoes-durability-and-longevity/767583/28 "2016-10-06T18:12:13Z")
> [@DrDeth](#): > > > [@Count\_Blucher](#): > > > > Your call, but remember: those shoes, in the style you like, are available and in stock now (the laces too). > > Fast forward 1-2 years from now, who knows? Look, you know what you like, you know your style and you know you like these. Two pair to alternate every third day and two pair left in boxes in your closet to replace them when they wear out. > > > > Its a plan that would last you past the end of the next decade. > > I concur. Get them now. I don’t think you should buy shoes in advance like this. Your tastes may change, or your needs may change. Perhaps next year your job requires something more formal. ---
**Author:** ![scr4](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/59ef9b/32.png) [@scr4](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/scr4)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2016, 6:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mens-business-casual-work-shoes-durability-and-longevity/767583/29 "2016-10-06T18:13:51Z")
> [@Casey1505](#): > > How much do you folks sweat? 😕 > > Perhaps the answer isn’t another $150 pair of shoes to rotate in, but rather a good $10 pair of socks “Sweat” doesn’t just mean liquid - it’s also water vapor, which your feet are constantly producing. Even though you may not feel any wetness, your feet produce enough water vapor that the inner surface of your shoes are exposed to nearly 100% humidity. ---
**Author:** ![msmith537](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d9b06d/32.png) [@msmith537](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/msmith537)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2016, 7:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mens-business-casual-work-shoes-durability-and-longevity/767583/30 "2016-10-06T19:49:22Z")
> [@DrCube](#): > > If you can afford it, I suggest you buy shoes you can re-sole. Then you can just repair them every two years instead of replacing them. [Allen Edmonds](http://www.allenedmonds.com/shoes/mens-shoes/dress-shoes/) makes a reasonably priced business casual / dress shoe. They will also recraft you shoe for around $100 once they start looking busted (replace the sole, condition the leather). Usually if they get to the point where they can’t recraft them, you’ll get a gift certificate for your next pair. I have something like six pair of oxfords in various colors. The main difference between AE and shoes you can’t fix is that they have the crafted soles (as opposed to the rubber ones built into the shoe). One thing no mentioned is you should get them shined every now and then. Pretty much any shoe repair shop or guy in the street with a shoeshine box will do it for $5 including tip. It helps protect the leather and makes them last longer. Also don’t wear your shoes in crappy weather (or have a designated pair of crap shoes you don’t care about). The road salt is super-bad for them. ---
**Author:** ![bump](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7c8e57/32.png) [@bump](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bump)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2016, 8:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mens-business-casual-work-shoes-durability-and-longevity/767583/31 "2016-10-06T20:24:42Z")
> [@Dewey\_Finn](#): > > For the past five or ten years, my go-to shoes have been a series of ones from a European company called ECCO. Right now, I’m wearing a pair with what they call a “[bike toe](http://us.shop.ecco.com/men-most-popular/ecco-helsinki-bike-toe-tie-050104.html)”. I’m wearing [the bike-toe Fusions](http://us.shop.ecco.com/all-mens-shoes/ecco-fusion-bicycle-toe-tie-037164.html?dwvar_037164_color=00101#q=fusion) right now. (in the brown nubuck, not the shiny black) On my last pair, the uppers wore out before the soles did; the polyurethane soles wear like iron on ECCO shoes. ---
**Author:** ![penultima\_thule](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/penultima_thule/32/3833_2.png) [@penultima\_thule](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/penultima_thule)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2016, 9:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mens-business-casual-work-shoes-durability-and-longevity/767583/32 "2016-10-06T21:17:52Z")
> [@iiandyiiii](#): > > I went ahead and ordered the same shoes. I don’t plan to get two pair since that just seems too much for now (plus I use special laces so I’d have to get another pair of those). Why not try an experiment? Get your old pair resoled. Wear them on alternative days. After a fortnight you probably won’t care which pair you wear. And you’ll get 2 more years from them and 4+ from the new ones. ---
**Author:** ![penultima\_thule](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/penultima_thule/32/3833_2.png) [@penultima\_thule](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/penultima_thule)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2016, 9:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mens-business-casual-work-shoes-durability-and-longevity/767583/33 "2016-10-06T21:22:05Z")
Oops, sorry. Did my research and actually looked at the OP’s photo. :eek: That ain’t going to work. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mens-business-casual-work-shoes-durability-and-longevity/767583.md?page=1)