l can get away with leather soles in Oz because it hardly rains in my area. No snow around where l live either, hardly ever seen the stuff. lt must be aweful living in snow areas, l really don't know how you blokes cope with it.
Someone buys me $20,000 Lattanzi bespoke alligator boots with rubber soles: l sell them on ebay or give them away without even wearing them. That expresses how horrible l find the rubber soles.
Here is my only pair of rubber soles shoes. Over 20 years old (Blundstones) with cracked soles and all. l use them to wear down the beach when i'm on the rocks; the rest of the time l keep them under the cupboard in the shed for the spiders to live on. They are not good enough to join the rest of my collection so a dirty old shed is the best place for them.
http://i19.photobucket.com/albums/b151/Marc_au/Ron1/Ron2/Rubbersoles-mine-1.jpg
Last edited by The_Shooman (2009-01-15 00:09:31)
Last edited by John Rotten (2009-01-15 06:05:44)
I really prefer leather soles. One thing Manton wrote right was that shoes worn with a jacket and tie should never have rubber soles.
All the shoos I wear in the office have leather soles. My casual shoos are Zegna suede with a composite leather-rubber heel. These see the most wear and therefore the most wear and tear. They're also very easy to resole once or twice a year, and replacing rubber is cheaper than replacing leather.
Last edited by The_Shooman (2009-01-17 08:46:49)
Last edited by The_Shooman (2009-01-17 11:30:48)
Since it never snows where I live the only shoes I own with rubber soles are my running and cycling shoes. For casual I prefer leather double sole shoes to rubber and, perhaps out of luck, I've never experienced slippage surprises outside of the occasional hi-polish marble.
In my experience Danite soles are superior to leather soles except aesthetically.
They last longer and offer better traction in wet/snowy/icy conditions.
BTT
Last Wednesday I walked more than 12km (7.5 miles) in Paris, wearing leather soled shoes. That has had a terrible effect on my left ankle - I still can't walk more than a few hundred meters without feeling pain. I'm going to get at least one more pair of rubber soled shoes for long walks on pavement.
I 've got a pair of MTM Edward Green jodphur boots with commando soles that I use as motorcycle boots. The sole style looks great with the boot and has lasted 10 times longer than a leather soled boot would have.