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My fiancée Xanthe surprised me last Christmas with a pair of boots from R.M. Williams, the iconic Australian outfitter. I was flabbergasted as I opened that big brown box. Where did these come from? I’d have been content with a paperback and some candy.
She knew they were on my “buy someday” list, she explained, and she decided to bring them into my life ahead of schedule. They’re not cheap (usually hovering under $600), but she’d gotten a bunch of my future in-laws to chip in.
Now I was moved. I gave everyone a hug and put them to work immediately. As much as it killed me to dilute that glorious new-boot smell, R.M.s are built to be worn outside. I stomped around her cousins’ makeshift cricket pitch, sipping a Victoria Bitter, giving the soles their first taste of dirt and dew. We were only 30 miles outside Melbourne, far from the outback mining towns where the shoes first made their name. But I felt like an honorary Aussie.
I should note that, these days, R.M.s are a hit with white-collar Aussies. When I visited the Australian Embassy in D.C. last year, a diplomat friend of mine was dressed in a rolled-up Oxford, classic navy chinos and a pair of these boots. I personally wear mine to dinners, parties and IH HQ in Midtown Manhattan. They are stylish and comfy, my pride and joy. I could’ve bought them in a few years, but I feel lucky I got to skip the line.
I’m a huge proponent of keeping a “buy someday” list. I think it encourages a more thoughtful relationship with shopping, as opposed to scooping up Instagram-suggested fast fashion that’s liable to literally combust near an open flame.
This way, you get to zero in on a few well-made, big-ticket items, and whatever it takes to finally bring them home — whether they’re a reward for yourself after a promotion, or perhaps a lovely, unexpected gift — owning the thing comes with real fanfare instead of the usual dopamine wash cycle.
Need some ideas to get your list going? At the risk of looking like I’m fishing (I’m content this year! Books and chocolate are fine!), here are some other products I’m keeping a long-term eye on.
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