I’ve bought several pair of high-end designer shoes for a fraction of their original prices by shopping consignment. Manolo Blahnik, Jimmy Choo, Christian Louboutin, Badgley Mischka, and Tory Burch and names synonymous with luxury and quality, but they’re not cheap! Luckily, some people tire of their shoes before they’ve worn them out.
When I buy a pair of leather-soled shoes, the first thing I do is take them to a cobbler and have them zip soled. Zip soles (mine are by the brand Vibram) are thin rubber outersoles that a shoe repair shop can add to the bottom of a shoe to make it last longer.
Before zip soles
Walking in wet conditions, and even rough cement, will scuff, pit, stain, harden, and crack leather soles. And on marble or other surfaces you might as well be walking on ice. Zip soles add stability and grip too.
After zip soles
Zip soles comes in beige, black–even red–so they’ll blend in with the existing soles. It costs me $25/pair at Bailey’s Shoe Repair in Kirkland. That seems to be about the going rate and it’s well worth it to extend the life of a pair of shoes. You can always replace the zip soles if you wear them out but you can’t swap out the original leather soles!
Do you have any tips for making shoes and boots last?
jeanofalltrades 
I do the same thing; unfortunately I rarely remember to do this BEFORE wearing the shoes out of the house a few times! Better late than never.
Glad to know I’m not the only one! I usually forget to weatherize my shoes until I wear them at least once in the rain 😛
I couldn’t agree more with this tip. I use Vibram soles as well and they really have great staying power. My only other tip would be to weatherize your shoes. That helps them last as well.
I agree! Weatherizing is a great way to extend the life of shoes. I also make sure my tall boots stand up by putting wine bottles or rolled up magazines in them.
Thanks for the tip! I’ll tell you what I love about you is that you are very brand and designer label savvy while still being thrift store chic. That’s my approach too. Dolce & Gabbana glasses and my Bulova watch with a four dollar skirt from Goodwill 🙂
Great minds! I love mixing high- and low-end pieces, and I love getting designer wares for a song 🙂
Thanks for the tip! I have a pair of shoes that I love and save them because I don’t want to wear them out– this way I can enjoy wearing them, I like the safety factor, too!
Yay! Now you can wear your shoes–and not take a spill.