Have been thinking a lot about getting rid of things lately, and the category I have the most difficulty investigating is the shoe.

Unfortunately, for aesthetic, professional and functional reasons, people realistically need to own multiple pairs of shoes to survive. Unfortunately, my twelve pairs (+?) is far too many to be reasonable, and feels unsustainable to continue to have to replace shoes year upon year. I have some criteria, and I don't think any shoe meets it, but:

Sustainably hand-manufactured

Machines are cool but will never replace the quality control of a pair of caring hands. Bootmakers know this, as do their consumers - they're just as loyal to the manufacturing process and the legacy of those who make their boots as the end product, because ultimately what they care about is a product that will protect them, that can be repaired, and that will last forever.

Hand-manufacturing, more important than the greater degree of precision it enables (which may not even be true for future footwear, looking at Kanye's completely 3D-printed shoes, etc), acts as a litmus test for repairability - if a human can assemble a project with relative ease after some training, another human should be able to do this, too. I should be able to fix something I own in my own home without considerable effort, purchasing lots of proprietary products, or otherwise undergoing lots of training.

Grows with you

This is an important trait for all items, but I think this holds for clothing and especially footwear: clothing should mean something to you, and the best way to develop a sort of symbiotic relationship with your items is to own things that learn to fit you or mold to you. Think of cast-iron pans, developing a seasoning and unique flavor as you cook with them; or selvedge denim, pure cotton that, to a degree, deliberately molds to you and becomes more comfortable the more you wear it. It's the best way of making a product personal aside from allowing you to manufacture the product yourself.

Boots have this characteristic - to "wear in" a boot is to force the boot to mold to your foot's shape, molding to your foot so that it becomes more comfortable to wear and fits you perfectly. Manufacturers of clothing can't make customized, one-size-fits-all clothing, but it's nonetheless important to have this manufacturing occur at scale because bespoke, custom tailoring isn't always affordable.

It's also worth noting that the hardwearing product should be a consequence of the choices of lasting, hard-wearing materials rather than explicitly designed; choosing materials that are designed to show wear quickly, or simulate rips or something similar really isn't a good idea.

Versatile

This thing should look good and function well everywhere. I should be able to dress up and attend a function with these things, then snag a bike and ride it to the gym and squat a couple hundred before date night and a hike. I spend most of my days out, and though this will change in practice, in principle I never want my clothing to be able to limit me. The role of my clothing is to enhance me and my abilities. Why would I want clothes to stand in my way?

Concretely, the shoe needs to feel streamlined, but be a bit chunky and have some width; this way, it can be worn with large, bulky coats just as easily as it'll fit with a t-shirt and slim jeans.

Lasting, hard-wearing materials

Most "pop" shoe manufacturers use the cheap shit. Most of my shoes from major manufacturers last for years, but after a few months the material wears terribly and loses much of its functionality. A pair of running shoes without considerable foam or grip on the bottom isn't worth much of anything. Comfort isn't nearly as important as sustainability here; if I have to bear a few weeks of "wearing in" to build a shoe that can be repaired for twenty years, that sacrifice is incredibly worthwhile to me.

How long?

When considering time scales of any sort of project or problem, asking the question "how long should this actually last?" is far more important. Prototypes are built to receive feedback for a few weeks before tossing them out. Racing shoes are build to be run in a race befor new innovations put out a shoe that tops them. Smartphones are literally manufactured to be thrown out (read: "recycled") every few years, despite containing perfectly fine chipsets, because the software running on them begins to outclass them entirely (I love JavaScript!).

Clothing could operate on different time scales, depending on the use case. FashionNova's wear once and sell it model is disgusting and out of the question, but in five years I don't know if I'll want to wear the same clothing or whether it will be "appropriate" for me or even fit. Do I want to be able to pass it to my children? Should the fabric wear out on me when I'm ten years into the project?

What's best now?

Nike x Stone Island Sock Darts

The shoes that come closest to meeting all of these criteria for me in my closet today are the Nike x Stone Island Sock Darts from a few years ago. They hug my foot without being uncomfortable, have a sillhouette similar to a dress shoe (perfect for dressing up; I've worn them to interviews without issue), and are flexible enough to let me wing it on a long bike ride or toss them around at the gym, while possessing some water resistant properties. Unfortunately, my shoes have a heavy amount of wear, and it's unclear whether I'll be able to repair them. They also don't use the best materials - the "stone island" coating has crumbled or worn off and the soles show significant wear and tear from years of walking around all over the world and wearing them as daily drivers.

They aren't as waterproof as I'd like - the very top of the shoe has lots of perforation, which is good for breathability but means that I can't step in any puddles (something very possible with gore-tex shoes). The lack of traction from the soles also means they aren't the best for the gym or in situations with lots of rain or snow. (I wonder how resoling with a Vibram bottom would go for these...)

Athletic: Nike Air Footscape Magista

These wore down far too much but used to be my favorite shoe to wear. A limited Nike release based on the Nike soccer cleat of the same name, these are running shoes that function super well as indoor soccer shoes or athletic shoes as well. Upper was insanely breathable - leveraging that crazy artificial yarn material that both Adidas and Nike were developing to make these crazy sock-like sneakers - but still water-resistant and incredibly flexible. These feel snug enough to be socks and fit the foot well enough to give you the confidence to run in them, anywhere and everywhere. I could pull up to soccer practice or track practice with these with no problem after a soccer game. Unfortunately, the way the soles are constructed (divided into lots of segments, each with their own air bubbles), though promoting flexibility, is not at all conducive to a long-lasting shoe; most of the bubbles in mine have definitely fragmented or popped.