Sigh. My husband, for some reason, has a terrible time with shoes. He walks a lot in his daily commute and his shoes take a beating, but for the last couple of years it seems like we just can't find a decent pair that is affordable but durable.

As a bonus, he really, really, really hates shopping. As in, he will only go under extreme duress, and usually has a major panic attack in the process. He wore shoes with a hole in the bottom for months because he couldn't bring himself to go to a shoe store and try on another pair.

In the last few months he finally bought himself a pair of Clarks, on which the leather immediately started peeling. I exchanged them for another pair in a different style, with the same result, so I am going to take them back again when I get a chance. I bought him a pair from Asda that had really good reviews, but after a couple of weeks he says the elastic holding them together is failing. Over the summer his casual shoes he was wearing while we were en route to visit my family in the states literally fell apart in the airport -- we ended up holding them onto his feet with elastic hair bands so that he could walk to the gate for the flight.

Has anyone had particular luck with an affordable (less than 50 pounds) pair of decent men's shoes? I thought about getting him some of those Doc Martens that are guaranteed for 100 years or whatever it is, but he doesn't like the big lug sole on Docs. He also doesn't like anything that is flashy or pointy-toed, nor ankle boots -- he is a pretty conservative dresser and wears a charcoal suit with a shirt and tie almost every day.