text: In my job I do a lot of welding and over the years I've had to replace countless  shoe laces after being burned through from welding sparks.  I eventually just got tired of replacing laces so often that I started buying Velcro shoes.  I no longer worry about burning up laces but most of the shoes I found made my feet hurt by the end of the day.  Usually I would have to get a longer shoe in order to keep them from squeezing the sides of my feet.  After a couple years of wearing shoes like that it got so bad that it hurt to walk long after I took the shoes off.  I found these sketchers available in sizes wide enough that I don't have to buy a longer shoe.  This is now the second time I've purchased these shoes and I no longer have foot pain, they lasted more than twice as long as others, and the all leather design(including the tongue) protects my feet from welding burns.