It is often said that a man's shoes are his most important item of clothing. They are. An otherwise perfect appearance is destroyed, irreparably and at a stroke, if a man has an ugly pair of shoes on his feet. It would be better to go through life barefoot or just wearing socks, citing religious reasons or the theft of one's luggage, than to lose face by wearing cheap shoes... 

Some may find this a little extreme, but it is just an exaggerated way of conveying how important shoes are. Anyone who is not in the fortunate position of being able to choose the best for every detail of his apparel should allocate his budget so that a generous chunk of it is earmarked for the purchase of good shoes. If a trainee or student has $600 a year to spend on clothes, he should plan to spend half of it on a pair of shoes. Better still, it should all be invested in shoes: he will need at least two pairs, for shoes ought to have at least a day or two to recover every time they are worn...

-Bernhard Roetzel, Gentleman: A Timeless Guide to Fashion