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During my college years, I spent my summers in southeast Minnesota working in factories in order to earn money for tuition and books. The jobs paid poorly, as you might expect, but there was always something available and I was usually able to work as much overtime as I could handle, which really added up over the course of three months. The factories that I worked at of course had strict safety guidelines that had to be followed. One of the most common rules was that everyone had to wear steel-toed boots or shoes. Since the city of Red Wing was just a couple hours away from where I lived, I decided to try a pair of those famous Red Wing boots that I had heard so much about.

Almost every shoe store in the area carried huge selections of Red Wing gear, so I had no trouble finding a pair that I liked. Unlike a lot of safety boots on the market, the offerings from Red Wing were actually stylish and attractive. They didn't look big and clunky, and they also came in many more colors than just black. Overall, I was impressed with the boots right from the start. The only thing that had me a bit concerned was the hefty $125 price tag. That might not seem like much now, but I'm talking about nearly 15 years ago. At that time my Red Wings were definitely the most expensive clothing item I had ever bought.

The boots were hard to break in at first. It took at least 3 days before I could feel the stiff leather loosening up a bit. I won't lie: my feet were in agony during that time. It was all I could do to stand at my machine for the 8 hours of my shift. But once the boots were broken in, they became as comfortable as any other pair of shoes that I had. I could now see why everyone I worked with absolutely raved about Red Wings. And of course the steel plates in the toes and the non-slip soles worked exactly as they were supposed to. As I mentioned above, the boots I bought were very cool-looking. So once I had them broken in, I started wearing them even when I wasn't working. They looked great when paired with jeans.

The boots were very durable, as well. They held up for a good five years of both work and casual use, and probably could have been used for a couple more years. But I finally just got tired of them and wanted to change colors and styles. Overall, I would say that I got an excellent return on that initial investment, and am certainly glad that I took a chance on this brand that I had never tried before.

If you are looking for a pair of safety boots or shoes for work, then I whole-heartedly recommend Red Wings. They offer great protection in a comfortable, stylish, and durable package, which is everything you could ever ask for from a work boot.