Shoe Damage - Fixable?

[raley]

Hey guys -

Unfortunately I have three pairs of shoes that have accumulated damage over the last year or so. Is it possible to fix this damage? If so, where should I take them and how much will it cost? I live in NYC, but I'm also willing to ship them out if I can get a better result / value somewhere else in the country.

#1 - These are actually the original, $150 Grensons that someone posted about here what now must have been 6+ years ago. As you can see, these have a gash in the leather and have started to crack a bit around the same spot. I also need to get these resoled (goodyear welts).

#2 / 3 - This is a pair of Lobbs that I bought here in the buying and selling forum. I'm not quite sure what happened here. I imagine some trademark NYC "street juice" fell from the sky and ruined the finish on these things. Is there any way to fix this? I would love to get these back to like new form while retaining all the great antiquing. I also have another pair of Loake wingtips (my "rain shoes") with similar damage. I'd like to get them fixed as well, but if this is an expensive procedure then I'd just trash the Loakes.

#4 - No pics, but another pair of Lobbs that I bought here. I stupidly gave them to a hotel to shine before a wedding. They used brown instead of tan and completely changed the color. Some of the color is fading off and they just don't look right any more. I imagine this can be fixed, but who can I trust to give these to that knows how to strip the brown, getting them back to the original tan/light brown while retaining the original antiquing?

Thanks!

 

[chogall]

1. No. But it can be colored and covered up with dubbin, cream, and wax.

2. Yes, just need to cleanse and cream.

3. Yes, just need to strip that layer of wax, recolor and it should be fine. Original "antiquing" will be gone for sure. Not sure how Lobb misty calf leather is made, so can't comment. But Berluti/EG/C&J style antiquing will be partially stripped away as well.

 

[MyOtherLife]



1. No. But it can be colored and covered up with dubbin, cream, and wax.

NEVER use dubbin on dress shoes EVER.
Take them to a cobbler. A small patch of leather can be glued from inside to hold that crack on the side. The finish has to be stripped off altogether with acetone. Again, see a cobbler if you have no experience with this.

 

[raley]

Is this worth it? Or is it just obvious, like patching a pair of pants?

Any other thoughts on saving the shoes with the damaged finish?

And finally, does anyone have recommendations on where in New York to get these fixed?

 

[rebel222]

Take them to B. Nelson Shoes.