How to buy a shoe that lasts
What luxury shoe shops won't tell you anymore
Stand up. Walk across the room with your shoes on.
Does your heel lift slightly with each step? Does the leather crease heavily across the top of your foot? Do you feel pressure where the shoe meets your ankle?
If you answered yes to any of these… your shoes do not fit!
This is why they look shabby after 6 months.
Why your feet hurt after a full day.
And why most think ‘dress shoes are just uncomfortable.’
They are not, but yours are…
What died with Hermans Schoenen
In 1906, two sisters in Utrecht could not find decent shoes anywhere in the city. Both wore size a 44, yet: the shops had nothing…
So they opened Hermans Schoenen…
And for 100+ years, it survived by solving one problem: fitting shoes that actually matched how feet were shaped.
Lawyers buying Crockett & Jones loafers and resoling them five times because they understand cost-per-wear. Architects owning the same Edward Green oxfords since 1987. Doctors knowing exactly why they preferred the Crockett & Jones 348 last over an Alden Barrie…
We fitted based on actual foot shape.
Not vanity sizing, or what happened to be in stock.
We measured their instep height, width at the ball, heel grip. And knew which English lasts ran narrow, which Italian makers built for low insteps, and what brands accommodated wide feet.
When the parent company collapsed in 2019, a bankruptcy buyer took over.
He filled the shop with flashy brands for aspirational buyers instead of proper shoes for the clients who knew what they were buying.
Within months, ~117 years of knowledge disappeared.
But this knowledge should not die entirely…
I spent 2 years at Hermans. And worked at Burberry, Zegna, Edward Green, and Zwartjes van 1883.
Thousands of shoes fitted across every price point and construction method.
And saw men who used to buy four pairs of expensive shoes in 2 years because they kept buying the wrong last for their foot shape.
Not because their shoe was of poor quality.
But because the fit was wrong.
No one ever told them about their foot shape. They had a high instep in a shoe built for average volume. Too wide feet forced into narrow lasts. Destroyed heels, excessive creasing, and shoes that looked shabby after months.
While other men bought €600 shoes that lasted 15 years because someone finally fitted them properly.
The retail infrastructure that taught this is gone:
Almost all the shops are bankrupt or closed…
The knowledgeable staff retired…
Their standards remain.
The construction methods that produce durability are the same as they were 50 years ago. The leather quality markers have not changed. The fit principles are identical.
Someone just needs to teach them again…
Here’s what you actually need to know…
4 things separate men who own good shoes from men who waste money every two years:
1. Your foot shape determines which shoes will physically work
You have an instep height: low, normal, or high.
You have a width: narrow, medium, wide, or extra-wide.
You have a foot length that varies by brand, by country, by individual model within the same brand.
95% men are wearing the wrong size. Not because they were measured incorrectly, but because size means nothing without understanding foot shape.
A €1,200 shoe in the wrong last will destroy itself in months.
2. You can see quality in 30 seconds once you know what to look for
Full-grain calfskin versus corrected grain. Goodyear welt versus Blake stitch versus cemented construction. These are not preferences. They are different materials and construction methods with different durability, ageing properties, and repairability.
You can verify construction quality in three minutes without asking the salesperson anything.
3. Shoes set the formality floor for your entire outfit
You can dress down a suit with casual shoes. You cannot dress up jeans with formal shoes. The shoes determine the lowest acceptable formality level of everything you wear.
This is why men in badly-fitted oxfords and jeans look confused. The shoes say boardroom, the trousers say weekend. The contradiction creates visual dissonance.
4. Good shoes require less maintenance than cheap shoes, not more
A properly constructed Goodyear welted shoe needs shoe trees, occasional brushing, and cream every few months. That is all.
The maintenance routine is 5 minutes per wear. A shoe maintained this way lasts 15 to 20 years.
I wrote all the knowledge down…
The Leusink Shoe Buying Guide is everything I learned at Hermans, Burberry, Zegna, Edward Green, and Zwartjes van 1883.
It is not a shopping list. Not brand recommendations based on affiliate links. And also not a ‘10 shoes every man should own.”
It is the fitting system luxury shoe stores used for 100+ years…
Here is what you get…
Chapter 1: Determine your true size
How to identify your instep type in 60 seconds (this determines which lasts will physically work for your foot)
The width test that prevents €900 shoes from destroying themselves in 6 months
Why ‘I am always a size 42’ is costing you hundreds of euros every year
The fitting process we used at Hermans
Which English lasts run narrow, which Italian makers build for low insteps, which American brands accommodate wide feet
Chapter 2: What to wear & when
The formality hierarchy from black cap-toe oxfords to suede chukkas
Why suede works with denim but shiny leather does not
The three colour combination rules that prevent expensive mistakes
Why double monks make most men look like they are trying too hard
Complete visual guides showing which shoes work with which fabrics
Chapter 3: Spot quality in 3 minutes
How to identify full-grain calfskin versus corrected grain by sight, touch, and smell
The construction tells that expose cemented soles pretending to be Goodyear welted
Why ‘genuine leather’ means nothing, and what to look for instead
The 3-minute quality check you can do in any shop without asking the salesperson anything
Photos showing the difference between proper and poor construction at identical price points
Chapter 4: Make them last decades
The exact maintenance routine for dress shoes and suede shoes
What products you actually need (and what you can skip)
How often to do each step
Common mistakes that damage shoes despite good intentions
Why proper care makes a €600 shoe cheaper than a €150 shoe over ten years
Chapter 5: Where to actually spend your money
Recommendations by budget tier: €300-450, €450-700, €700-1,500+
Which brands offer genuine value at each tier
Which makers accommodate specific foot shapes
Where to find proper width fittings
Sizing guidance across English, Italian, and American manufacturers
Which brands to avoid regardless of marketing claims
What this costs…
Only €32 for the first 20 buyers…
Less than you will waste on your next poorly-fitted pair…
Because most men spend €300 every two years on shoes designed to fail.
This guide teaches you to buy once and resole for decades.
The maths can make you uncomfortable, because it reveals how much money you have already wasted on things designed to fall apart.
You can buy it here
(This guide is FREE for my paid Substack subscribers.)
Most men will never own good shoes. They will buy whatever is convenient, wear it until it falls apart, and repeat the cycle every few years.
You are reading this, so you will not be most men.
Dutch heritage is not just windmills and tulips. It is family businesses like Hermans opening a shop in 1906, because they refused to accept that quality shoes did not exist in their size.
It is 117 years of craftsmen who understood that fit mattered more than brand. An apprenticeship systems that taught store clerks to help customers find the right shoes, instead of maximising their commissions.
That world is gone…
But its knowledge remains.
And someone needs to preserve it.
