Be Excellent To Each Other

I've just received a new pair of DM shoes (as I have worn for the past 20 years approx). But I was in for abit of a shock.

Got them from my usual supplier and the quality is shocking. They feel cheap, have nasty soles and don't feel like DM's to wear.

Anyone else purchased some DM's recently and found a shocking drop in quality? They look and feel like Chinese knock-off's frankly.

Oh, I was about to start looking at getting a new pair as my 10 year old boots are on the way out. Arse if it's true.

I learned to love my feet about 20 years ago and stopped buying shoes that require "breaking in". IOW I have no idea if they have dropped in quality as I shudder to remember thinking they made a good footwear choice at all.

Really horrid. The soles feel totally different.

Yes they are always a bitch to break in but they last well. The leather on these new ones feels much softer and won't last.

I've done some Googling and wiki reveals that up until a few years ago all the shoes were made in the UK. Now it's Thailand and China..........

Just spoke to their head office. They seem to think the changes are a perfectly normal evolution but conceed that my old shoes may have been made in the UK. So buyer beware!

I'll see how I get along with them.

So... new DMs are comfortable now?

You're bothered by this because your a Foot S&M fetishist Chinny?

Because they are. I discovered this a couple of years ago, after, like you, a good decade or so of reliable proper DM shoe use.

However! I discovered an alternative, which is British made, has very similar soles and style to the original DMs, and have been holding up very well since. So I will try to remember the make and where to get them.
They're only available in black though, I had brown DMses.

More or less the same thing happened with Converse All-Stars 7 or 8 years ago

I have black. I'll have to live these new ones for now but the replacements will almost certainly not be DM's unless these surprise me.

Why the fuck change stuff if it's not broken? I mean I know they were always buggers to wear in, but once they had they lasted better than any other shoe I've had.

My current pair were unspeakably evil to wear in. I hate having to do it but at least you know the shoes will last.

I remember the time I walked a mile in brand new DM's and then had to walk home again. My feet were red raw and bleeding!

Nah I wouldn't touch the new ones, on general principle as well as the product appearing to be rubbish.


All and any changes to your favorite shoe will have been done to reduce the cost to near zero and thus make the shareholders happy.

*rubs two fingers and thumb together*

C'mon guys move with the times...

Even the good DMs, which would hack great big sores into the bits above my heels during the 'breaking in' period, and even shaved off the tops of my toes once, tended to tear on me after a few months. I'd always get a 3cm rip just to the outside of where the laces end. Incidentally, this is exactly where shoes 'fold' when you kneel with your toes bent, so in retrospect it was probably my own stupid fault.

The last pair of DMs I owned ended up with a hole in the leather after a couple of months. Yes, a hole... On the surface above the toes. Now, it wasn't all that visibly noticeable if I wore black socks, but that wasn't the point. You don't expect that kind of crap from DMs. It's just like they are cheap knock-offs that just resemble DMs only visually, but are are made of thin imitation leather and shoddy materials.

Indeed it did. Haven't bought a pair since. I buy No Sweat sneakers now - about the same price, they look the same but they're ethically made.

Just looked up their website out of curiosity, and it seems they've discontinued their Converse clones.

Which ones are the Converse All-Stars? I bought a rather nice pair in America last year that have a red and silver Communist-esque star, and are black with red laces. I love them dearly. They seem alright quality too - so far.

I'm also rather chuffed with my Wolverines that I bought at the same time, chunky comfy hiking boots that also needed a fair bit of wearing in - and still do frankly. I found my previous Goretex not to last quite as long as hyped, for some reason.

Nooooooo! Bollocks bollocks bollocks.

HAHA!

You can still buy UK made original spec DM boots...... on the USA DM store

http://www.dmusastore.com/c-50-vintage.aspx

They go under the "Vintage Collection" tag and works out at £103.19 including shipping from the US (So there will be customs on top of that)

[edit]
And it appears this ebay seller also sells these vintage boots
http://stores.ebay.co.uk/Shoe-Solutions

The range of styles is quite limited. I wear mine as all purpose formal/informal shoe so the yellow stitching is a no no. That said, when I used to go to school we had to get the yellow stitching painted black.

Hmm, they don't. Guess they must be another type of Converse. Or ARE they? It seemed a respectable store I bought them from.

I looked and then saw the comedy pricetags.

Looking from the DM wikipdia page you might want to look at Tredair or Solovair shoes.

Does it say Converse anywhere on them at all? I think all Converse stuff has the Chuck signature. Although what with the current quality of Conny All-Stars, count yourself lucky if they're not genuine.

They say Converse on the lowest shoelace bridge.

I immediately became a converse fan after Amiga Power said that Nike were for little rubber people who hadn't learned to shave yet. Does that make me shallow?

I remember that!

Google for 'Tredair or Solovair' and look at the first result.
I conclude that you're a racist.

Hehe. Tredair boots are made by the White & Co. shoe company.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tredair
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Solovair