In the past decade corporations and the advertisers who propagate their brands have trained us to believe in this phenomena called “fast fashion.” Many businesses have built their brands around cheap and disposable things. After all, if fashions change every year why commit to anything you want to wear longer than one trip around the sun?
There are lots of good reasons to not follow the herd on this one. More garbage in landfills, more money out of your wallet (long term), and missing out on the joy of owning something of quality.
I found my first pair of Redwing boots in 2011. I was looking for a way to reward myself for surviving years of working excessive overtime at my shitty job. I settled on a pair of chukkas in cigar featherstone leather with stacked leather sole (which they no longer make.) They didn't make me feel better about my job but I liked them so much I’ve bought two more pairs in the eight years that followed (Beckman in cigar featherstone leather and the Iron Ranger in gray).
I still own that original pair of chukkas, I just dropped them off to be resoled yesterday. All three pairs of these boots have become a part of me. Every few months I condition and polish them and, when I do, I relive our adventures. I’ve worn them on the stages of SteemFests 1 and 2 (in Amsterdam and Lisbon), Columbus, Montreal, France, Sintra, New York City, and lots of short stops in between. Each scratch and every imperfection on the leather tell a story and spark a memory. In fact, I was wearing the Beckman's when I nearly fell down a flight of stairs at the Tobacco Theatre after giving my presentation at SteemFest 1. Yes, life is always an adventure.
This past weekend my wife, son, and I took a road trip to Redwing, Minnesota, and visited the home of Redwing Shoes. Our son is going to school to be a plumber and it was an honor to be able to buy him his first pair of quality work boots. He doesn’t like us to buy him anything so I had to stealthily purchase a gift card in the store and then surprise him with it before we left. The plan worked. Now he’ll have the experience of learning the true value of quality. If we're lucky, this will become a lifelong tradition for him as well.
Attached below are a few pictures from our visit.
The World’s Biggest Boot
Norman Rockwell Did Many of Redwing’s Ad Campaigns In the 40’s and 50’s. Who knew?
The First Pair of Boots Redwing Made in 1905
World War 2 Paratrooper Boot
Thank you for reading,
Eric
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What a collection you've got on your blog, I'm not really a fan of chukkas, I'm the kind of sneakers type of guys and one thing I can say about boots is that it obviously is welly cherished by people who owns them. I'm definitely happy for your son and my what a pose there by you hahaha
I was into sneakers back in the day. We used to wear suede Pumas and shell toe Adidas. That was in the 1980's.
Being a big fan and supporter of lasting style and quality, I really enjoyed this post. Amazing images...biggest boot, first boot, Rockwell ad campaigns..fun one. I love the relationship that develops with these lasting old objects, I feel like they are old friends.
The Norman Rockwell originals were the biggest surprise of them all to me. When I last visited the Redwing headquarters they didn't have any of this stuff on display. You know, I never thought about how much it is like a relationship you have with the physical objects that have been with you for a long time. That describes it perfectly.
It's nice to hear you took the polishing of your shoes from your dad - I believe that shows self confidence, not needing the newest trend. Few take pride in quality goods and longevity of possessions today. Many enjoy shopping and the quick turnover junk they sell us today as you noted. I'm trying to get 200k miles out of my car. There's something special about valuing well made things.
My dad definitely instilled that in me. What kind of car do you have @pittsburghhodlr? I once got over a decade out of a Saturn SL2. Those things would run forever.
2010 BMW 128i - I'm big on German cars, I believe they make the quality autos. I'm about to hit 110k miles now. I've had a few repairs that are pretty standard on it but not too crazy, if I can get 200k out of it I will. Even a smaller coupe is a heavy car from them, I once made it from Columbus to Cincinnati in a blizzard in that car. It took a few hours but by the time I was back in Cinci the snow was higher than the bottom of the car. Its rear wheel drive so that sold me even more on them.
i was given a pair of Redwings once, and I absolutely adored them. I think they lasted about four winters and various rugged outdoorsy holidays, until finally they gave up the ghost...
Hopefully one day I'll start a new Redwing relationship :0)
Cg
That's awesome. What style were they @cryptogee? My favorite of the one's I've owned have to be the Iron Ranger. The Beckman's are a bit more dressy but heavy. The chukkas are being resoled with a rubber heel now so they should be a lot lighter and will probably get more wear during the warmer months. I'll probably bring the chukkas with me to England.
I'm not sure what style they were, but they looked pretty much like that giant one you're stood next to :-).
Reading your article I realised I should have got them resoled, though I didn't think you could resole such a chunky boot...
... I'm hoping the weather's too hot for your chukkas when you come, but this is England so... :-)
Getting close now!
Cg
Oh, it must've been the Classic Moc, those are nice for winter.
The Redwing factory has a 10 week turnaround time for repairs but you can bring them to any reputable shoe store to have them resoled for around $100.
We've been watching the weather and it seems like we'll have to be prepared for anything. ; ) We're definitely in countdown mode at this point.
Yeah I think that's them, wish I'd kept 'em :-)
Yup be prepared for anything, during your stay you'll be fried and frozen :-)
Cg
Cheap is expensive, the saying goes, so it's better to pay for the quality of the products we buy. It's a good gift for your son, @ericvancewalton, and also a good life lesson. That way he'll learn that the best things cost a little more, but that they'll last longer. Very good photos that you share with us in this publication, Greetings.
Cheap IS most often more expensive. My wife and I were so happy to be able to get those for him. He's breaking them in this week, which is a painful process for Redwings. After they're broken in they'll be the most comfortable shoe he's ever worn.
Excellent review, Eric, I fully agree with you that you should not chase the fleeting fashion and consider it a brand. Of course, for many, this is very convenient, but I am also a supporter of the old rule, when a thing checked by the time and life is much better than a constantly changing fashion!
Surely, that one should be called the biggest world boot. That is as tall as some few storey building
Quality must be preferred over quantity every time . We should not follow some else's opinion in choosing and deciding.
that's a thing to HODL lol :D
Lol, I'm a Hodl'r of bitcoin and boots. : )
@ericvancewalton, Good to read your journey of Boots. And thank you so much for sharing these pictures, specially i liked the first pair of boots made by this company. Have a joyful time ahead.
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Really a great post about boots! Lot's of information got from this post that were unknown for me, thanks to share.
Hello Eric, how are you ... I think your trip to the shoes museum must be very pleasant. Besides being able to buy directly high-quality shoes. I also like buying shoes that are rather expensive and can wear them for years comfortably. I am not interested in following the model that comes out every year but not high quality shoes. Enjoy your day, my friend.
All is good! I can't believe it's Friday already. Enjoy the weekend!
Yes beautiful review
I really like this kind of shoes
It always reminds me of cowboy films
@ericvancewalton