save a shoe, call a cobbler
As we are amidst this holiday season, I’ve been seeing the horrendous act of “shop ‘til you drop” carried out and the curse of capitalism continuing. When it comes to the consumption of goods, Americans are incredibly successful and unmatched in this regard. We (apologies to the readers who are not American) are fundamentally driven by dissatisfaction. What makes us so unhappy? What needs have not been met?
Personally, my biggest downfall is that I love a bargain. Some may think that is a positive attribute, but I am here to tell you that it is most definitely not. When you are constantly hunting for the next good deal, you miss whether or not the item would be useful to you, which has often led me to purchase more than I need (BOGO) and resulted in major decision fatigue. Obviously, this is not a unique downfall by any means, and in fact can be seen as a common character trait across many cultures. In the markets of the Middle East, India, etc. it’s expected that you’ll haggle for the best deal, so the vendors set their initial prices higher. In America, we call this Black Friday.
What can we do to combat this? To be honest, I wrote this to complain and leave a review for some local repair shops in Phoenix. I love cobblers. They can add extra holes to your belts, fix heel tips that have fallen off (a common trait in thrifted boots), replace the sole, fill in scuffs, etc. My lovely friend in NYC has an odd way of walking; she walks almost entirely on the outer part of her feet, wearing it down until her platform boots (lesbian) make a triangle. She went to a cobbler and he slapped a new platform on them for $50 total. They are the saviors of the leather shoe and boot community.
Nicki Kissil (@sk4nk.sinatra) in the boots mentioned above.
Besides that, what’s happening to local artisan crafts? I say bring back apprenticeships. I fear that everyday we lose a little bit more of our humanity and our creativity. Everyone codes nowadays, but not many can cobble. The highly skilled cobblers are retiring by the dozens and selling their shops (and listen, I’m happy for them, enjoy your retirement. Never touch a shoe again. Not my local cobbler though, y’all stay safe). Central Shoe Repair is a third generation family owned shop run by a husband-wife duo from Uzbekistan, Bella and Nerick. I yelped them thoroughly before visiting.
Fun Fact: the founder of Club Rambutan is a Yelp Elite.
I took a pair of suede, square toe mid-calf heeled boots (not relevant) whose insoles had basically fallen out (relevant). I additionally brought some belts to get extra holes added and various clothes since they offer tailoring services as well. I sew a little but frankly there’s much to learn, and sometimes, you don’t want to test the waters on an object of value.
Anyways, I’ll preemptively say that I love this place. I haven’t even gotten my shoes back since I told them there was no rush, but they put extra holes in all my belts for free. I tried to pay, and Nerick said dismissively, “No, we don’t charge for that.” (Thanks Nerick!!) Then he told me I should probably get one of the belts shortened to balance it out, which makes sense, but I was already so grateful for the free belt holes that I didn’t process it until I was out the door and in my car. I’ll be back for my boots once they call me. You’ll hear from me soon.
