They say, the first thing a person notice when they look at you is your shoe. I definitely agree with that. My passion for shoes started back in college, I always love wearing nice kicks to pair with my denim jeans. Wearing a nice shoe for the day also makes me feel confident. When I started working and making money, I made it a goal to own more pair of shoes, so I began buying more till I got to the point where I already owned 15 pairs. It became an addiction. The brand I liked the most was Nike, I love the classic styles better than the new ones in the market. The model of Nike that I like the most was the Free Run – its durability and fantastic style makes it a very comfortable shoe to wear all through out the day.

Fast forward – after a few years,  I started hating the way I look with my pair of Nikes, sometimes my Dad would ask me if I am going to the gym or to work, because my usual outfit at the time always looked like I’m heading to the gym – he meant that as a joke but it really made me feel terrible. So I wanted to change that, I wanted to look more professional, so I began exploring other fassion styles. While walking at the market, I saw this pair of used boots, it was up for sale for only 10 dollars so I decided to test it – it felt OK so I bought it. It was a black Red Wing 8165 Round Toe, my very first pair of Red Wing boots!

Red Wing boots takes a while to break in, my feet were used to wearing nice and super comfortable Nike shoes, so it took a while for my feet to adjust to wearing Red Wing boots. After a few months, I bought another pair of Red Wing boots, it was a 8130 Moc Toe – this is the one that really changed the way I dress. I used to think that Moc Toe boots are ugly, but that was because I only see old people wearing them on their old fassion way. But after doing some research, I started liking them more, I learned how to properly pair them with jeans in a modern way. I also joined a Facebook group called Red Wing Philippines which is where I learned more about other models and how people wear them.

A few months later, I became unsatisfied with just having 2 pairs of boots for daily work, so I began buying more. The models that I bought next were: 9013, 9111, 8138, 8173, 8174, 1907, and three variations of 875. These boots were bought 2 weeks – 1 month apart, not all at once. Yep I only bought Red Wing boots because to me they are the best. Red Wing boots aren’t cheap, one pair of new Red Wing boots costs for 275 dollars minimum but I always go with used ones because most of the ones I found were as good as new and they cost way cheaper.

After having all these boots, I was still not satisfied, because there’s this famous Red Wing model called the “Iron Ranger” which I’ve been wanting for several months, but it’s really hard to find someone who is selling it here in the Philippines. I looked on ebay and other online stores but they are all selling it way too expensive which to me isn’t very practical. Aside from being too pricy, it’s also hard to find one with my size. Red Wing recommends 1/2 – whole size down, I am size US 9 so my Red Wing size is US 8.

Red Wing 8111 Iron Ranger in Amber Harness

So my craving for this so called “Iron Ranger” grew over the months, until one night I finally hit the jackpot – I found a guy selling it for a very good price. It was in very good condition and it was also my size! I was very happy, I finally own all the Red Wing boots of my dreams. I own over 10 pairs of Red Wing boots now and I might stop looking for a while. I am satisfied with all models I got and happy to have owned them. If you’re wondering where all my Nike shoes went – I gave most of them to my Dad and 2 brothers.