These are my favourite shoes. The fact that they're falling to pieces makes me love them even more. The backstay of the left shoe has broken down - I've patched it with leather from an old wallet where the lining has come adrift. Elsewhere the stitching is coming apart and you can probably see the end of some sellotape which is keeping the sole together. The right shoe is not much better. My feet seem to have abandoned normal anatomy in their old age, but the shoes have softly accommodated the changes - as if they had each developed different characters. They seem to talk to one another. They're my old friends. So I'll keep repairing them - much to my family's despair. Embarrassing dad. |