By now you have probably heard about the Father of the future professional basketball player who, in anticipation of the inevitable “greatness” of his son’s imminent Hall of Fame career, has come out with shoes that cost $495.   According to a report on the internet the first day that you could buy these shoes the number sold was somewhere over 250 pairs.

While I was still trying to grasp who and why anyone would spend $495 on a pair of athletic shoes, I stumbled across an even stranger story!  It appears that Neiman Marcus has a pair of “distressed” some would say pre-destroyed sneakers for the price of $1,425!! These little gems feature peeling leather uppers with the yellow stuffing peeking out from the “distressed” areas.  New shoes for five hundred bucks versus distressed shoes for fifteen hundred…I suppose value is determined in different ways.

They say a fool and his money is soon parted.  My question is how do so many fools get so much money to be parted with?

I remember the sales job I had to do with my Mom in the early 1970’s to convince her that a pair of $10 Chuck Taylor Converse All-Stars would actually last longer than the “two pair for $5” sneakers she had been buying for me. By the way, they really did last longer and were therefore more economical plus most of the other kids had them.  The really cool kids had Stan Smith Adidas, but I knew my sales skills would not close that deal.

After I started working and had more of my own disposable income my shoe taste moved up a little.  I never sprung for the Stan Smith Adidas, but I did have a few pair of some rather spiffy suede Pumas in blue and green while in college.  

These days, I am back to looking for value and will usually spend $20 – $30 on a pair of athletic shoes.  I typically buy a pair about every six months and have managed to run several marathons in sub $30 shoes with no ill effects to my feet.  When I purchase a pair of shoes I look for fit: on my foot and in my wallet.  $495 new shoes and $1,425 distressed shoes will never be a fit for me.