Thursday 29 September 2022

IF THE SHOE FITS, WEAR IT...


The year was 1978, the month and day are lost to history.  It was, as they say, 'chucking it down', and by the time I arrived at my place of employment, I was drenched to such an extent that it looked as if I'd been for a swim in the sea fully dressed.  I worked in the warehouse of a large department store, so the display dressers gave me some dry clothes to change into, plus a pair of moccasin-style shoes from a store dummy.  (From one dummy to another you're thinking, right?  Cheek!)  I was allowed to keep the shoes, which I mainly used as slippers back home as they were so comfortable, though I occasionally wore them outside.

Sometime in the mid-'80s I had them resoled and reheeled, but when that was done and even before I got to wear them again, I noticed that the stitching which gave them a moccasin-style appearance (and kept the tops on) was a little the worse for wear, so I removed it with the intention of redoing it myself.  Trouble was, I couldn't find a suitable replacement for the original stitching and the shoes were consigned to the back of my wardrobe until such time as I could find a thread, cord, or lace which would do the job.  Every so often I would remember the shoes, but my attempts to source a suitable stitching material remained unfulfilled.

36-odd years passed - faster than a fart from The Flash (to use my patented catchphrase) - until a couple of nights ago I decided that, more than half my life later, it was time to restore my 'moccasins' to somewhere approaching their former glory.  I decided just to use ordinary string and, a couple of hours later, my shoes were whole once more.  Then I saturated the string with brown shoe polish, gave the shoes a good buffing, sprayed them with a shoe protector and then rested from my labours.  And Kid saw the result of his work and it was good.

As you can see in the photo below, the new soles and heels from 36 or so years back have no wear on them, so this is likely the first time I've actually worn them since 1985/'86 or thereabouts.  It doesn't feel that long to me, so I've essentially wiped nearly four decades off my personal life clock and returned to an earlier time, at least in my mind.  Honestly, it feels like only around a week or so since I last wore them in their slipper capacity around the house and I'm filled with such a sense of accomplishment in finally managing to complete an unfinished task from so long ago.

So, here's a question for the rest of you Crivvies.  What's the longest it's taken you to finish something after you started it?  Days, weeks, months, or years?  And what was it, and why the reason for the delay?  Tell all in our comments section now (if you'd be so mad good).  Update: Since first publishing this post I've bought a darker polish to apply to the stitching as, on reflection, I thought the medium brown I used was too light.  However, you'll just have to imagine what the shoes look like now as I can't be bothered taking new photos.

6 comments:

Anonymous said...

I have lived in our property since 88 and have yet to finish painting inside window trims and and entire child's bedroom...the child is now 27 and married!

TG

Kid said...

You lazy buggah, TG. I've been back in this house since '87 and have yet to finish decorating my back room. Still got a few window and door frames to paint as well. And it was my bath night in 1990 and I still haven't got around to it yet. (Where's that horrible pong coming from, I wonder?)

Colin Jones said...

Kid, today is the 50th anniversary of MWOM #1 so where's your special celebratory post??

Kid said...

The day's not over yet, CJ.

Colin Jones said...

Ah, I'll keep waiting then, Kid. Have you seen the pictures of the new 50p with King Charles's head on? Apparently they'll be in circulation towards Christmas and I assume you'll want one for your collection. I haven't used cash for nearly 18 months so I'm unlikely to encounter the new 50p but if I do see one I'll definitely keep it. Despite being technically cashless I do still own two coins - a half-penny dated 1967 and a penny dated 2012 from the Bailiwick Of Jersey (I didn't actually go to Jersey - I found the penny in my change from Tesco).

Kid said...

I'm really only interested (mainly) in coins from my childhood and early teenage years, CJ, so I doubt I'll be making a point of getting the new 50p coin. I have Royal Mint Proof Sets of pre-decimal and early decimal coins (plus some banknotes from the '60s), and, with the odd exception, they'll probably do me for now as regards coin (and note) collecting.



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