As far as footwear is concerned we have never had it so good. Never in the whole history of humankind have shoes been so cheap, of such high quality, nor has there been such a variety of styles on the market.
By now I can hear you telling yourself that poor old Misfit has flipped his lid, gone round the bend, is talking through his wotsit, but stop and think for a moment.
It is not so long ago in these parts, and it still obtains in quite a lot of the world, that people counted themselves lucky to possess a single pair of shoes, and there are still some people on the planet who have none at all.
Indeed to goodness, nothing new there, old Misfit. The world was ever thus; some are at the top of the tree and others at the bottom. Imelda Marcus had thousands of pairs while most Filipinos had only one.
Well, Imelda Marcos was something of an aberration in this respect, but your humble writer, without actually counting them, has about twenty pair, and he does not regard himself as extravagant or filthy rich. Most people in Britain, feeling the need of a new pair of shoes, whether they need them or not, are able to wave their plastic at the retailer and get what they want. They can get a cheap pair of shoes for two hours minimum wage work which is pretty reasonable whichever way you look at it.
As for price points, they go all the way from handsewn makers like Lobb down to your £1.99 jelly which does still exist - I saw one last week. There are shoes for every occasion or use that the brain can imagine, and that is just the High Street. There are as many colours and materials as you care to mention, all the way from trainers to elegant stilettos, and that's just the ladies' department. If you want really specialised shoes, like for Scottish dancing or potholing, they are available through the internet.
But, I hear you say, the quality is not what it was. Not so. There was a time when you had a choice of soles. Leather or wood. Attached with either stitching, which came undone so the sole flapped in the breeze, or nails, which had an annoying habit of working through the insole and into the sole of the foot. As for wooden soles, the problem was that they made it very hard to creep up on people.
Then someone invented rubber, followed by foam rubber, and neoprene, and PVC, followed by polyurethane so that now, instead of every step jarring their spines, our customers walk in cushioned comfort. Soles got more flexible too. Gone are the days when working boots had steel hobnails in the sole to keep them from wearing out, now the steel part is in the upper to protect the wearer's foot. Gone too is the notion that you have to "wear in" a new pair of shoes.
There was a time when we warned staff never to use the word "waterproof" unless talking about wellies or similar, but thanks to the invention of one-way membranes they can say whatever they like, within reason.
Leather has changed as well. The basic tanning technique is much the same as it has been for generations but when it comes to finishing the variety, not just of colours but also finishes, in enormous, and ways have been developed to make sure the finish lasts much longer.
Leather is not what it was, some might say. Take a split and apply a thin plastic finish - is that leather or not? Regardless of what the regulations say, opinions are divided. Where does reconstituted leather stand? And as we all know, leather is defined as the tanned skin of an animal, so it can mean almost anything. All I know is that there seems to be an awful lot of leather about, especially when you remember how much is used for car seats, sofas and the like.
Added to which there is the matter of availability. Was a time there was the village shoemaker. He made perhaps six styles and you took what he gave you, and thought yourself lucky Don't let us kid ourselves, just because they were hand made didn't mean they fitted like gloves. The only people who could afford those elegant things you see in books about fashion were the rich, the very rich.
Now the public can get shoes almost anywhere, not just from specialist shoe shops. It has got to the point where eyebrows might not be raised if a building society started offering them. There are mail order catalogues with pages of shoes. They are offered on the pages of newspapers. Shoes are sold over the internet. I even recall a pair of sandals being given free with a magazine. Whether this is a good thing or not I leave you to judge.
Another blessing - there is no way a supermarket could stock the range of sizes, colours and styles the average shoe retailer needs to be viable, nor give the personal service that most of our customers seem to expect, so I can't see them putting us out of business the way they have the butcher, baker, candlestick maker, etc. I am sure Argos would like to sell shoes, but they have got more sense.
Going back to your village shoemaker, he was the only source of shoes there was for most people. It wasn't an accident that the Hobson in the play Hobson's Choice was a shoe retailer. Now there seem to be new names every time you open this esteemed journal. Not just names - there are countries you have never heard of supplying footwear into the British market.
Think how lucky we are to be able to source the shoes we sell from any corner of the globe and to have customers who are able to buy several pairs a year. We are truly blessed, and we don't even realise it.
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