Christmas of 1996 I walked very briefly on my child's stilts that Grandpa made... I made the mistake of being barefoot.  For 10 years my feet were never quite the same.  In about 2007 I switched to this shoe and after a while, no more foot problems.  Not only that, but these shoes LAST.  Because they are black and casual, they are basically the only shoe I wear.  About once a year I buy a new pair and relegate the previous pair to work shoes and wear them for another year when doing maintenance work (I am currently a motel manager and do everything from bathrooms to pools). My shoe life is simple... a drawer full of black socks and two pair of Dunham's 8000BK. The newer pair work fine for suits and casual dress. I keep one pair of boots for really wet applications (but these Dunhams are waterproof up to the first lace holes), and a pair of white athletic shoes because black shoes and black socks just look too geeky for riding the bike (too bad).  I am just now replacing my current pair that has gone 18 months.