Shoes (especially the ones people buy for fashion value – think Louboutin stilettos vs. something more functional like New Balance sneakers) are a Veblen good. Their perceived value increases with their price. Like art.
Also, if a market is efficient, prices will closely track (marginal) use value. If a brand can demand a price premium, it's because their products are higher quality, and nobody has been able to produce a comparable product at a lower cost. Red Wing boots are more expensive than Timberland boots, for example, because they're made from full-grain leather and have good quality control, and they will last the rest of your life if you care for them properly. (They're more expensive than New Balance sneakers, too, but Nike sneakers are the same price as Red Wing boots without being of high quality, for the Veblen-good reasons you cite.)
That's why when I buy wine for my girlfriend I don't buy the cheapest brand. It's not that I think the wine market is efficient, particularly when I'm at a supermarket that can charge whatever price they want instead of comparing prices at https://1000corks.com/; it's that I think my ignorance of wine is deeper than the market's inefficiency.
That is not quite it - in a relatively efficient market with numerous transactions, price can be a good indicator of value. Basically: "This store is busy selling lots of shoes, and apparently a bunch of people are buying them, so they must be worth the price."
I do this sometimes with cheaper stuff that I don't know much about. E.g. A shovel or something. I don't know much about shovels, but I know I want a good one. So I will be biased toward the more expensive shovel on the rack, assuming I can afford it. If it wasn't better, then presumably all the people that really know about shovels wouldn't buy it, so then it wouldn't be for sale.
Anyway, the logic here isn't perfect obviously, but still makes reasonable sense and works out okay for stuff you can easily afford and don't know much about.
> WHY? We thought nobody would buy our 17.6lb, 3" tungsten cube. We were so, so wrong