After six years' of hard use, it is time to replace my footwear of choice. My 2019 Loake Pimlicos are hereby replaced with brand-new pairs of the same. The difference between the old and the new is the result of entropy, time's arrow. Since June 2019, I have walked over 25 million paces, of which the majority was while wearing this wonderfully solid and comfortable pair of boots (the old one below). I have worked out that I have easily covered 12,000 miles in them. They have been through mud and rain and dust (though not snow – I have a pair of Ukrainian army boots for the harshest winter conditions), and I confess to not looking after them all that well. I guess that with the application of dubbin, drying them out by stuffing them with old newspapers, and – above all, sending them back to the factory for a re-heel, I could have extended their life even more.
If something is good – stick with it. Two weeks ago, I popped into the Loake showroom on ulica Chmielna (it opened ten years ago) and ordered myself two pairs of Pimlico boots. Two weeks later I receive a phone call that they have arrived. I pop into town to pick them up.
All being well (healthwise, geopolitics-wise), these two pairs, worn in rotation, should last me until I am into my 80s, by which time they will look like the old ones. Although I must say, comparing the photo of the old ones when new, I can see that the new ones are slightly more pointy in the toe.
Below: whilst not into consumerism, I do love the Loake customer experience. Each shoe comes in its own bag, the bagged shoes come in a box, the box comes in a bag, all branded. (Also in the box, a tin of dubbin, a grease that's not there to polish the shoes but to restore the leather after they've been out in the wet.) I'm happy to pay for such a quality experience. Above all, I'm happy to support a family business – a fifth-generation family business – one's that's blithely unconcerned with greedy shareholders bitching about the next quarter's earnings, but one that remains focused on long-term sustainability. If you can avoid buying stuff from corporates, do so.
I have been loyal to the Loake brand for 45 years; in 2030, the company will be celebrating its 150th birthday, by which time I will have been a customer for a third of its history! Below: my 2010 line-up of Loake shoes.
Buying cheap shit that lasts a season before being consigned to landfill is bad for the planet and bad for society. It enriches the richest. Support sustainable businesses instead. So, you may well ask; what of the old pair? The end up in my old boot museum... Art to enliven a corner of my living room. Below my old Pimlicos, and below them, a pair of even older Loake Kalaharis.
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