A. Yes. The restriction is only against leather shoes. This dates back before Payless and Famous Footwear. A good pair of shoes lasted a long time. And people walked around a whole lot more, and stood on their feet more hours of the day. The Talmud says we should sell the beams of our house to buy a good pair of shoes. Nowadays it is hard to earn a living repairing shoes. (Or repairing anything for that matter, it’s often cheaper to buy new in today’s throwaway culture).
