I sent a small roll-on suitcase back to its maker this past August to have a wheel replaced, which repair was I thought going to involve pulling a cotter pin, replacing a $10 wheel and putting the cotter pin in again. Three months later I got back a new suitcase, which is some sort of statement about our times. Apparently, during the two years that I had had the bag the maker had redesigned the wheel housing and no longer had the ability to replace a wheel on the former design. And though you might think it difficult to complain about receiving a new bag, my old one was leather and had the most wonderful patina on it, courtesy of my friends at A Shine & Co who had worked on it more than once over those years.
You cannot check leather bags of course, at least not unless it is your intent to give full employment to the bag cleaning industry. Leather emerges from the bowels of an airport so dirty that it must be intentional, and checked bags need to be canvas or some other material that does not show the filth. I have three of those large canvas things, which is one more than I need for my usual travel since a single bag accommodates everything I need for a week. And that is why I was surprised to stumble over today's photograph, which purports to be Alan Flusser's packing for a trip in 1983. I have not had occasion to call Alan and ask how long he was planning to be away, but I count eight pairs of shoes. With shoe trees. And a pair of slippers. Enough shoes to warrant a dedicated shoe case and strain the backs of baggage handlers everywhere. Even four pair of treed shoes in a suitcase tends to put the thing's weight up to a hundred pounds, and if you will recall the airline counter personnel you saw on your most recent trip they would find that weight impossible to shift without assistance.
Household moves aside, the only kind of trip I was initially able to imagine that might require eight pairs of shoes is something like a six week cruise, where one's luggage is going to remain in place once six or eight strong porters have set it down in the cabin. But that does not appear to be the case in this instance, as there is only one suitcase in the photo and but a week's supply of clean shirts. Which gives me pause. Have I been overlooking something fundamental? Perhaps I should be carrying more than the three pair of shoes that usually accompany me. It could be done if I was to leave my briefcase behind and replace it with that leather roll-on to make more room for shoes. Two brown, two black and a pair of trainers would seem to suffice, but am I thinking big enough?
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8 comments:
Dear Will,
I notice the lovely ostrich leather oxfords on the picture above. I am finally beginning to look for exotic leather shoes, as my basic shoe wardrobe is almost finished.
Do you have any idea of where to start? What shoe brands should I watch out for? I'm interested in nice exotic leather shoes, be it ostrich, stingray or american alligator.
My sincere thanks for your reply.
//Andrew
I would hate to see what spills out of Flusser's suitcase these days.
It's the trees that are so darn heavy. Does anyone know of a good light-weight travel tree?
Are you sure that's not Imelda Marcos' bag?
Seriously, though, that's a lot of shoes. I think most men could edit their traveling shoe collection down quite a bit.
Depending on how long you're traveling, I can see needing one or two pairs of lace-ups for suits, one or two pairs of loafers for odd jackets/casual wear, athletic shoes for working out, slippers for the room, and opera pumps for black tie. That's five to seven pairs (though black wholecuts could be pressed into double duty, eliminating the opera pumps). But three pairs of slippers? Ignoring the fact that I would never own, much less wear, Mickey & Minnie Mouse footwear, three pairs of slippers seems effusive, even for Flusser.
What shoes, I wonder, go with the aloha shirt and the Schlitz shirt?
This is a mere weekend trip for Flusser.
why does flusser insist on wearing gucci slipons these days, often with formal suits .. the man is breaking his own bleedin rules?! & why doesnt he wear all these bespoke ostrich type shoes instead? dont understand it!
It depends on whether I travel north-south into different seasons and whether Country sojourns, resort stays, white tie or black tie functions are included, but five or six pairs of shoes are not unheard of in my case.
Anand Shah, I could not agree more. One pair of house slippers I put into the carry-on to be worn on the planes. Southern Doc, I sometimes use light plastic shoe trees that I get from some shoe shops - usually unacceptable as less sweat absorbing than that cedar trees, but much lighter for a trip.
@Southern Doc and Richard: I've been using those plastic shoe trees for years, readily available at shoe repair shops and many drugstores. They work very well in maintaining/restoring the shape of the shoes, and if you give each pair several days between wearings, they will dry just as sufficiently as with cedar trees. The wooden ones are just too damn heavy and cumbersome!!
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