Context: I noticed I have some clothes from 10 years ago that are still good to wear, and some newer things I have barely worn yet. I wondered if I reached a point where all the clothes I own would be enough to last for the rest of my life. There is a dresser and a closet worth of things.
For the sake of this question, let’s say you can’t buy, borrow, steal, receive as a gift, find, or make anything new to wear. All you get is what you have now. Is it enough?
I have wide feet, and I can’t stand having my toes squeezed. What you want to look for is a boot with stitchdown construction. Your most common decent boots have either a storm welt or a Goodyear welt (basically the same thing, but storm welt is better in wet conditions). This involves the upper material wrapping most of the way around your foot and stitching it to the welt (a strip of material around the perimeter of the boot) and the midsole. The welt is then stitched to the outsole. Replacing the outsole then just involves popping those stitches. A cross section of the boot turned sideways looks like a “þ”.
Stitchdown, on the other hand, rather than wrapping in on your feet, turns outward before being stitched down to the midsole and outsole. This results in more of a “D” shape, which is nicer for wide feet.
Not to shill a particular brand, but Jim Green has a lot of good boots (of the work and casual variety) as well as shoes that have a nice, wide toe box, and would be repairable/resolable by any cobbler.