One Shoe lighter & won’t darken with polish - Yohei Fukuda

[JohnMRobie]

This is one of my most often worn pairs. Several years old. They’ve seen rain, snow, salt, slush and god knows what walking on the street. They get brushed before and after each wear, cream polish as needed (every couple months or the heel gets worn from driving) and wax 1-2X a year. They’ve never seen renomat, renovateur or any of that other junk. Holding up just fine.

 

[Cartier_Joe]

This ^ 100% and especially the highlighted portion!

I see people on SF feeling that they need to polish, treat, etc. shoes even before the initial wear and after each and every wear.

NO!

Definitely would not have been the intent if I did not add conditioner while it was on a stretcher. However, there was never any intent to use a stretcher either.

Leather stiffeners took me by surprise.

 

[JohnMRobie]

Definitely would not have been the intent if I did not add conditioner while it was on a stretcher. However, there was never any intent to use a stretcher either.

Leather stiffeners took me by surprise.

If you ever have questions about the best practices you can reach out to the maker. I assume given you needed to make some modifications your pair is RTW/MTO. If that’s the case the toe puff is celastic. Heel stiffeners are leather. For future reference on minor stretching - cream/lotion etc isn’t really necessary for the uppers on the stretching. Just go slowly.

For more intense stretching though you’ll need some heat and moisture *inside* the shoe to soften up the toe puff (leather or celastic) enough to become malleable. About a half cup of near boiling water poured into your shoe and rolled around in the toe box does the trick but honestly if you need that much stretching best bet is sending them back to the maker for some modifications.

 

[TimothyF]

This ^ 100% and especially the highlighted portion!

I see people on SF feeling that they need to polish, treat, etc. shoes even before the initial wear and after each and every wear.

NO!

Exactly.

And isn't it the same with other items like jeans and workwear. A lot of denimheads and streetwear afficionados would have you believe there is are special, time-intensive ways to care for and preserve jeans, work shirts etc. They are jeans made of 10 oz + fabric lol, and were intended for rough handling! Just throw them in the machine once dirty, that's it

 

[TimothyF]

YF uses solid leather shoe stiffeners (like most all Bespoke), so he admittedly mentioned his shoes being stiffer at first, but softer in the the long run when compared to celastic (Edward green, G&G, almost every other RTW - not sure if G&G uses leather in their Besp). Also, for some reason I will never be able to get onboard with the crowd that thinks a tough break-in isn’t the way to a perfect fit.

pictured is a pretty rough cream & wax job to put my mind at ease, however, the closer one was the previously lighter.

Well there's a fine distinction between pain from breaking in, and pain from having a sub-optimal fit. I guess I was thrown off by the remark that you had to use a stretcher, which indicated to me potential bad fit.

Even so I am under the impression that bespoke should be much more comfortable to break in than Good year welt factory shoes; I could be wrong.

The stiffener's only on the toe and heel, and those parts should not move or bend anyway. In any case a leather toe piece should be softer and more malleable than hard plastic (which is basically what that celastic is).

 

[JohnMRobie]

The stiffener's only on the toe, and that part does not move or bend anyway. In any case a leather toe piece should be softer and more malleable than hard plastic (which is basically what that celastic is).

This is incorrect. Shoes have stiffeners in the heel and in the toe box, sometimes referred to as a toe puff.

Well there's a fine distinction between pain from breaking in, and pain from having a sub-optimal fit. I guess I was thrown off by the remark that you had to use a stretcher, which indicated to me potential bad fit.

This is correct on the sub-optimal fit. Fukuda does RTW and MTO. I assume this isn’t bespoke given the stretching. Your feet aren’t strong enough to reshape a toe box. Has nothing to do with leather being harder to break in.

 

[TimothyF]

This is incorrect. Shoes have stiffeners in the heel and in the toe box, sometimes referred to as a toe puff.

OK fine. I re-edited for completeness per your suggestion. I thought the focus was on the front of the shoe, so only discussed the toe.

 

[Cartier_Joe]

This is incorrect. Shoes have stiffeners in the heel and in the toe box, sometimes referred to as a toe puff.



This is correct on the sub-optimal fit. Fukuda does RTW and MTO. I assume this isn’t bespoke given the stretching. Your feet aren’t strong enough to reshape a toe box. Has nothing to do with leather being harder to break in.

Fit seems to be pretty good now. It was more so to widen the vamp right before it hits the toe-box (pretty sure that low profile that makes the shoe so special (stiffness) was the culprit), but I am at a point where I cant tell if I would have been good if I just continued the break in naturally, or if I should just go with an F on my next order. On a Brannock I measure right at the D/E (US) making it and E/F (UK). I tried an 8.5UK E from The Armory, but had quite a bit of length in the toebox. Also - this is my right foot only. Left is perfect. I have never had to order an F, so I am not sure the drastic change it would entail.

 

[Cartier_Joe]

Also - correct on it being RTW

 

[willyto]

If it were an old pair of Meermins or a vintage pair or something then sure mess around with it. For a pretty much brand new pair of Fukuda's, telling the guy who accidentally stripped a pair during routine maintenance to try and strip the other pair and match them? That's a terrible idea. Just send them off and pay the small fee and be done with it.

I wasn't telling him to strip the other shoe or anything but rather not spend $150 dollars to dye over the light area when if he wanted he could do it himself. That's all, then again I said I would personally leave them alone and just use shoe cream as he did.

I just warned against the use of Renomat with the example of those Meermin (Which I did on purpose). Stay clear of Renomat and Renovateur, nobody needs them unless you want to strip shoes for whatever reason and shoe cream is enough for conditioning purposes.

 

[Cartier_Joe]

MBshoedoc on instagram did a killer job with the restoration. Had them back for a couple of months, so deff need a new high shine. Fit gorg now - that was a tough break in.