If Your Shoes are Dead...Please Bury Them

I'll admit, there is little more comfortable than a well broken-in pair of shoes. Not just running shoes. I've seen men who have had the same dress shoes for the past 20 years. They just keep bringing them in to be resoled. Women, I'll admit, do rotate their shoes selections a bit more, but there are those one or two favorite that end up being worn more than the rest.

Take a good look at those shoes, though. Are they really "good as new" when you get them refurbished? In most cases, the answer is absolutely not. Unless you are so diligent that you never, ever put a shoe on without using a shoehorn and never once put on your shoes without untying them, then you may be the exception. For everyone else, it's time to get rid of your dead shoes.

 A dress or work shoe, whether a man's oxford or a woman's flat, has the majority of the inherent support in the upper. That is the part of the shoe where the foot is housed. This is unlike a running shoe, where the support is in the midsole, which becomes compressed. The upper of a dress shoe will soften with time and no longer will provide support to the foot. The telltale signs are there if you look for them. Often the heel counter, the very back of the shoe, will show wrinkles and softening. In many women's shoes, especialy flats, you can even see the heel walking right on the back of the shoe!

When you notice that your shoes are so broken down that you're slipping around in them or walking right on them, it's a good sign that it's time to invest in some new shoes. I give you permission...go shopping!