Instagram: @briantleahy
Artwork: briantleahy.com
Brian T. Leahy
Artist / Historian
I don’t spend too much time thinking about shoes, which made it difficult to pick some that I feel strongly enough about to warrant writing something. But, in a sense similar to realizing a long-standing acquaintance is actually a close friend, these simple leather shoes fit the bill. I’ve had them most of the time I’ve lived in Chicago, and they have been re-soled, re-laced, basically re-everythinged. They’ve never asked for much; simple shoes, they go with almost anything, never standing out excessively. They are comfortable — also critical — and are my standard non-sneaker shoes I’ll go for.
All in all, they aren’t anything too exciting, but that’s exactly how most of life goes. If I have any particularly strong memories of these shoes, it will be this one, now: understanding just a bit better how to appreciate the parts of life that have supported us all along, in the simplest of ways.