Looking for comfortable footwear and hose.

[MacCathail]

In almost half a century, I have never worn a pair of brogues that were comfortable right out of the box. All of them needed a period of breaking-in, some a longer period than others. But there were still achy feet at the end of the day. The only thing that ever worked for me in making ghillie brogues comfortable for all-day wear was buying a pair a size larger and have custom-made orthotics fitted. That made a world of difference.

Can't help with the hose. I've never had a problem with any of the ones I've had. Well, except this one:
http://www.jhiggins.net/sf_proddetai...EDK4SDPWH1CMQL
The knitting on the soles was not smooth and after a short bit of walking it was like walking on small pebbles. Not pleasant. Even so, I suppose if you weren't doing a lot of walking they'd do in a pinch.
(Actual hand-knit hose, however, were not a problem. The soles were smooth and all the knobbly decoration was on the leg part where it belonged.)

Cheers,

-John-