It’s a perfect summer night.
Your skin is warm, your hair still damp at the nape of your neck from a post-beach shower. Your skirt softly sweeps against your legs as you step out into a balmy dusk. Suddenly, your foot wobbles beneath you. Your confident stride falters as you look down at the really cute pair of heels you thrifted recently - the perfect finishing touch to your outfit. Admiration turns to horror as you realize that the trail behind you isn’t pieces of chocolate cake, but the crumbled detritus of your soles disintegrating off your feet. Your toes dare to touch the bare concrete with each step, your now mangled shoes hanging on for dear life.
Thankfully, this has never happened to me. (And yes, I do still have aspirations of writing fiction). But I know the betrayal of vintage shoes is something that has befallen plenty a secondhand shopper, leaving too many undeserving divas barefoot and hobbling in the remains of an excellent outfit.
So, how does one escape the fate of secondhand shoe disaster? For starters, always test drive! Before you buy, walk the aisles, and even gently bend and smack the soles together a few times to see if there’s any cracking, crumbling, or peeling - all bad signs. Once you’re home, try a bit of romping and twirling, do the dishes, go get the mail and walk the dog before straying too far from home in new-to-you footwear. Second step, see a professional. New heel caps are a quick and relatively inexpensive fix, some damage is preventable, and a good cobbler can point out other potential issues with a trained eye.
Third step? Buy good shoes.
Certain materials and construction elements can ensure better chances of longevity in shoe design, but it isn’t always easy to tell a good quality shoe from a bad one - especially if you’re unfamiliar with the brand. While there is a ton of very well made clothing out there without a designer label, the same can’t exactly be said for footwear. Unfortunately, expensive shoes are actually just better (most of the time). Everyone knows Manolos and Choos, but there are so many other luxury brands out there that are widely available at even better prices than the trendy fan favorites. Below, a roundup of some of my favorite underrated, high quality names to look for in the vintage shoe aisle.
Hot tip: before you get too excited about scoring a pair of never-worn designer gems, thoroughly inspect deadstock shoes. Certain materials - like plastic, foam, rubber, and even leather - actually benefit from wear! Shoes left in unworn condition can dry out without the addition of any body oils or dirt, causing cracking and splitting.
For lovers of: Miista, Dries Van Noten
Retail price: €250-€745
I kind of neglect my chat here on Substack. I swear its not on purpose - I’m sorry! I’ll accidentally go totally silent for months, all the while thoroughly enjoying the buzzy chats from other writers I’m subscribed to. Viv Chen of The Molehill has a very active chat (and admittedly a much larger subscriber base) that is full of secondhand gems. Someone mentioned Robert Clergerie there back in March, and I briefly popped back into the 1-800-VINTAGE chat to inform you all that it had sent me down a rabbit hole!
This was a brand I had somehow never come across before, but that search sparked a new obsession. One of my subscribers responded to a link I dropped, divulging more: “I have these - been wearing them for YEARS in nyc, my regular dog-walking shoe and they are sooo comfortable.” Thanks for the intel, Maisie Amelia! Now that I’ve tried on Clergeries in person and have a first hand account of comfort & durability from a fellow NYC walker, I can personally attest to these shoes being cute AND great quality. Clergerie strikes the perfect balance of freaky/sexy/cute, reminiscent of the irresistibly weird selection at Miista (a personal favorite) and Dries.
Tan leather sandals, Size 5, $70
Pink beaded starfish sandals, Size EU 36, $75
Cognac leather square toe flats, Size 7, $140
Very weird canvas platform clog-ish slip ons, Size 7.5, $42 in cream and $32 in black
Leather and cork wedge sandals, Size 7.5, $78.75
Black sequin sandals, Size 8, $45.90
Black patent leather sculptural pumps, Size 8.5, $56
Mustard suede wedge sandals, Size 9.5, $52
Green leather knotted platform sandals, Size 10, $125
Maisie’s certified comfy dog-walking shoes in an insane purple moire, Size 10, $138.90
Brown leather platform mules, Size 11, $47.25
