I’ve noticed a frustrating corollary to Vime’s Boots Theory, which is that you supposedly get the quality you (can afford to) pay for, but in practice it’s the mid-priced items that really do you in.

Mid-range boots are expensive enough you think you’re at least getting something that will last, but I find quite often they cost at least twice as much, sometimes three times as much, as the cheapest ones, while only lasting one-and-a-half times as long; so that really if you can afford the mid-range brand, you’re actually better off buying two pairs of the cheap brand and switching them out as needed. In theory the Really Expensive Brand might actually last long enough to be worth the price tag, but it’s too expensive to find out, especially if you’ve already wasted your money on the Medium Brand.

I don’t know if it was ever thus, or if this is the result of companies with a good reputation based on past performance falling under new management who decide to coast on the name while cutting corners in the actual manufacture (probably then selling off the stock before anyone notices the drop in quality, paying themselves a dividend, declaring bankruptcy, and moving on to the next previously-reputable company).