Monday, October 1, 2012

Refashion/Upcycling: when should one say stop?

I have been wearing these black leather driving mocs for a good 8 years. They served me well when I had to run to the train station from the office, when I feet were very bloated during the 2 pregnancies, and when I need to run after 2 active kids. In fact, I think the cost per wear must be about $0.06. So when this pair of well worn, well loved loafers fell apart, I tried to glue the split leather back together. Then I filled in the scuffed area with black marker and polished them with shoe polish.

My husband saw all the effort I put into restoring the shoes and he asked me why I did all that considering that they still looked pretty worn out and mishapened. He actually said, 'why don't you be a woman and buy a new pair of shoes?'

I don't know the answer to that question. But it got me thinking: when should one stop rescuing old well worn items that might have passed their due dates, when one is able to buy new ones that can serve a long time in the future? Can one go too far with this refashioning thing?

I look forward to your comments!
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4 comments:

  1. AnonymousOctober 2, 2012 at 10:45 AM

    I'm big on restoring old shoes - it's hard to find shoes that are that comfortable again. I have tried to purchase replacements only to have them feel good in the store and end up painful after a day of wear. Leaves me so disillusioned.

    My shoe repair store told me the best thing I could do was buy cleaning liquid and the Meltonian brand shoe polish and it really does make shoes look very shiny and new again. I restored two pairs of shoes this way. It's worth a shot and if it doesn't work you can always use the polish and cleaning liquid on other shoes to help keep them looking new longer. I also take my shoes there to get resoled and any other issues fixed. It is worth it for the comfort in my opinion.

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    1. LovenickyOctober 6, 2012 at 9:09 PM

      Thanks for your comment and your advice! I guess I should take the shoes to the professionals and see what they say.

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  2. AnonymousOctober 2, 2012 at 7:58 PM

    Well, sometimes the 'can afford' still doesn't bring the wanted result since quite often nothing similar is on the market at the time of search - hence 'rescue' is going on and on and on!
    I admit: when I need professional help for a rescue job I well and truly end up paying more than any new pair would possibly have cost me (especially for classical 'male' shoes), BUT ...
    Currently I have a heavily swearing Hubby on hands who's growling like mad towards what he tends to call 'those Alladin-Shoes' (narrow point and nearly upwards; still 'on' here - don't know about the rest of the world; might be luckier ;-) !) and throwing the following harsh sentence into the face of any sales person on duty: "praise the Lord, one has a bit of stock and there are helpful and good repair shops to be able to hopefully outlast this nonsense of fashion!"
    ... and praise the Lord, for women we can even call dyo repairs a separate fashion-appearance; I go for it!

    Greets, Gerlinde

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    1. LovenickyOctober 6, 2012 at 9:10 PM

      Thanks Gerlinde for your comment. I know that I have weird shaped feet that makes it difficult to find comfortable shoes. And once one find a pair of comfortable ones, it's really hard to part with them!

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