It happens to shoes. Gradually they move down the line, until they end up as shoes you wear for messy jobs like gardening or painting. Richard McKenzie's unremarkable-looking brown suede pair was given to him by his father-in-law, when he and his wife were leaving Beverly Hills to live in England in the 1970s. Their original plan to buy a house and settle outside London changed when they fell in love with a house in west Cork, and ended up buying it. That was 25 years ago.

Richard is a painter, and he and his wife spend much of their time outdoors. "I'm the vegetable gardener; she's the flower gardener," he says. His gardening clothes are, he says, "old and very comfortable". As are his gardening shoes. But Richard's gardening shoes have a more interesting life than most. They spent many years with their nose down in the soil of west Cork, unrecognised for what they were. Then, five years ago, he and his wife were watching a film on television. The film was Funny Face, the star was Fred Astaire - and he was wearing Richard's shoes.

Ava, Richard's wife, is Fred Astaire's daughter. "Fred gave me the shoes when we were leaving for London 25 years ago," recalls Richard. "My feet are the same size as his." Astaire also gave his son-in-law a mink-collared coat, which Astaire wore when he danced to A Fine Romance with Ginger Rogers. It is now in a museum.

And the shoes? When he saw the film, Richard had a pang of conscience. "I've stopped wearing them, although they're pretty beaten up now." And, he adds, they did get a special cleaning for the photograph.