Buying shoes is an extremely difficult and often tedious task. It is important not only to choose a suitable model from a huge number of proposed options, but also not to run into a substandard counterfeit, which will fall apart the next day. Progress does not stand still and unscrupulous footwear manufacturers have mastered a mass of receptions to give out their "masterpieces" for works of real shoe art. Let's try to learn how to distinguish quality footwear from cheap consumer goods.
What to look for when buying shoes
Price
Manufacture of footwear is not easy, high-tech and quite expensive. To produce it you need high-quality materials, reliable accessories and a convenient calibrated shoe. Many items are made by hand, so good shoes can not cost less than $ 100. Shoes can visually look good, but after a week of socks you will feel all the charms of a substandard counterfeit.
Insole
It is worthwhile to carefully consider the insole. In good shoes, it is always leather, so that the legs do not sweat, and sewn along the entire length of the sole. If the insole is glued, sooner or later it will start to come off and stick to the foot, which will cause discomfort when walking and other troubles in the form of corns and calluses. Under the insoles, a cushion should be sewn around the heel. The presence of tags near the heel may not be tolerated legs.
Sole
Rubber outsole is the next important sign of bad shoes. If this is not a sporting option, then there is an obvious sign of savings on materials. It is necessary to carefully consider the seams with which the sole is attached to the top of the shoe. Often unscrupulous manufacturers use imitation of a seam, and the sole is "planted" on the glue. In this case, there is a high probability that soon the shoes will "request porridge" and will have to carry them to the shoemaker, and perhaps even throw it away.
Leather
Modern technologies have advanced so far that it is now very difficult to distinguish between genuine leather and artificial leather. First, you need to make sure that the shoe is supplied with a special label in the form of a shisha made of the same material as the selected pair. As a rule, manufacturers who value their reputation deliberately leave an open seam somewhere so that the buyer can be sure of the quality of the material (the strip under the zipper does not count, this trick is familiar to all negligent artisans). If all the seams are carefully sealed, and all the more hidden under the abundance of accessories - this should alert. Shoes should not be sewn from small pieces, the more heterogeneous structure. Also, the surplus of unnecessary seams and excess perforation looks suspicious. This is done in order to deliberately hide the uneven surface that characterizes the skin of poor quality. Sniffing shoes is useless, artificial materials are often impregnated with special additives that mimic the scent of natural leather.
Reinforced Sock
Sock is the most vulnerable place of shoes or shoes, if it is not specially strengthened, your fingers will sooner or later come out of the shoes like a wolf in the legendary Soviet cartoon "Well, wait!".
Lining
Need I say that the lining should be natural: leather, woolen or fur. To check the quality of fur or felt, you need to set it on fire. Natural material will emit a characteristic smell of "burnt chicken", artificial will start to melt and exude the aroma of burnt plastic.
Fitting shoes
If visually shoes are not in doubt, it's time to move on to fitting. Here, first of all, it is worth paying attention to:
- the shoe. After taking a few steps, you can immediately feel how much the shoe is calibrated. If you feel any discomfort, you can immediately return the pair to the seller. And no persuasion that it spreads, stretches or sits over time on the leg, should not knock you off the table.
- Heel. It must be stable and motionless. The slightest deviation of it from the vertical axis indicates the instability of the instep, which at any time can break. Also, the heel has the ability to quickly scratch, so pay attention to the material from which it is made, in order to avoid problems in the future.
- internal seams. Wearing shoes, you need to focus on the internal seams. They should not protrude, crush and scratch, so as not to damage your legs and nylon tights.
And, of course, buying shoes, you need to take care of her care. Suede and nubuck are cleaned with a special eraser with a brush and then processed with a tinting or colorless spray. Leather enough to wash, dry and lubricate with a special cream. To protect from reagents and moisture in winter, shoes must be treated with a water repellent.