The other day, I purchased the boat shoes I had been searching for for years at "Paraboot," a famous French shoe brand.
I would have been happy if they were on sale during the sale season, but no such luck.
Now in my mid-40s, I've bought various shoes that were considered good over the years.
J.M. Weston, Crockett & Jones, Santoni, Hermes...
Well, none of them are left, though.
The main reason is that Japanese summers are too hot, so I have fewer opportunities to wear leather shoes, and I don't want to wear heavy, stuffy clothes that match leather shoes.
It's already difficult enough to get through the rainy season and summer with maximum discomfort.
Considering that, I should pay respect to those who work wearing suits or uniforms even on hot days,
and I believe I should never look down on them, even if I see their shirts with sweat stains.
Anyway, getting back to the topic,
I have the minimum necessary items to wear what I need as needed,
but it all started because I "loved clothes."
So why was I looking for boat shoes?
When it comes to leather shoes, there are straight tips, wing tips,
medallions, closed lacing, open lacing,
the designs are mostly the same, and I can't understand the price difference at all, except for the quality of the leather.
You can buy high-quality domestic men's shoes for around 80,000 yen,
while shoes from England, France, America, etc., with ridiculous stitching, cost over 200,000 yen...
If my child stepped on such expensive shoes, I'd go crazy,
and spending tens of thousands of yen on shoes that don't even fit my feet can only be described as extreme masochism.
That's where the idea of "bespoke" comes in.
Fortunately, I have a friend, Mr. Nagasawa, who runs a shoe brand called "OTTOMO,"
so I can get stylish and comfortable leather shoes.
However, the drawback is that I have fewer opportunities to wear them in the hot summer.
Sneakers can cause odors when you sweat and need to be washed.
But washing them is very troublesome, and they deteriorate the more you wash them, so they don't last long.
That brings me back to leather shoes, but I don't want stuffy men's shoes.
Then it would be loafers, but they constrict swollen feet in the evening and are very painful.
It turns out to be boat shoes.
That's when I had an idea: "Timberland" 3-Eye.
Old-fashioned Timberland shoes are extremely cost-effective,
and it's a miracle to be able to get this quality at this price in modern times.
Moreover, it seems to have been gradually gaining popularity recently.
I immediately went to the store in Odaiba, but it was closed.
Now, the next candidate was "J.M. Weston" Yachting Derby.
I saw it in a magazine or something and was interested, but when I saw the actual product, it had a huge logo.
The price was also too high, so I rejected it.
As a result, after various searches, I arrived at Paraboot,
and although I really liked the design after looking at their website... they didn't have my size.
Resigned, I went to the store to see the actual product and hear about it,
and they told me that my size was the last one in stock in Japan.
And since the price was going up in August, I took it as a revelation to buy it now.
If there's another shipment, it would be around next spring.
It's not a sale item, so it's a bit annoying to buy it at full price during the sale season,
but buying it before the price increase is like buying it at a sale price.
Ideally, I'd like to buy it as cheaply as possible,
but since various factors led me to encounter it now,
it's important to accept it frankly.
Above all, I want to justify myself when I'm faced with something I truly want!
Perhaps this is truly a good purchase.