Vintage Dress shoe appreciation, tips, maintenance and advice

[jayhuffel]

At this level of cracking, you may be able to use neetsfoot oil to moisturize it so much the cracking won't continue.

It seems like it is just some cracking along the very top edge of the shell. Can you take a much more zoomed in picture?

My one shell LWB that cracked had -deep fissures- where you could see the yellow inside of the shell through the black dyed outer part. This doesn't seem to be that.

Do you guys think that maybe some sanding of the shell could work here? If the crack is as superficial as I think, you could possibly sand that layer off entirely. @friendlygoz haven't you sanded down your shell shoes before? What do you think of that possibility?

Jay, you might also want to call up Horween tannery and speak with someone about your shell issue. I actually spoke with Mr. Horween himself and he was 100% willing to help me out, but told me that my LWBs were impossible to fix given his knowledge of cordovan (which is probably the best in the world).

Thank you all for your response! I don't know if it's that deep, after I tried to super glue it I sanded the super glue so that might have led to the color changes in the crack. I haven't tried neetsfoot oil even though I just bought it for my other shell boots...

 

[JFWR]

Thank you all for your response! I don't know if it's that deep, after I tried to super glue it I sanded the super glue so that might have led to the color changes in the crack. I haven't tried neetsfoot oil even though I just bought it for my other shell boots...

Super glue won't work. I tried. It failed miserably.

I don't know. I will wait to see if this could be potentially sanded away. The cracks look surface level to me. If you could shave that part off, you might be able to save stuff....

 

[friendlygoz]

Shell MacNeils from 1988 today. I wear these whenever I have important meetings.

At this level of cracking, you may be able to use neetsfoot oil to moisturize it so much the cracking won't continue.

It seems like it is just some cracking along the very top edge of the shell. Can you take a much more zoomed in picture?

My one shell LWB that cracked had -deep fissures- where you could see the yellow inside of the shell through the black dyed outer part. This doesn't seem to be that.

Do you guys think that maybe some sanding of the shell could work here? If the crack is as superficial as I think, you could possibly sand that layer off entirely. @friendlygoz haven't you sanded down your shell shoes before? What do you think of that possibility?

Jay, you might also want to call up Horween tannery and speak with someone about your shell issue. I actually spoke with Mr. Horween himself and he was 100% willing to help me out, but told me that my LWBs were impossible to fix given his knowledge of cordovan (which is probably the best in the world).

I’ve had success sanding out dings in shell but never cracks. I suppose if the cracks are superficial, you might be able to send them out. Start with 800 grit and go up to 3000.

 

[friendlygoz]

Shell MacNeils today…

 

[smfdoc]

Happy rainy Saturday forum pals.

 

[Vincent George]

Progress on the 1988? (CI) Imperials. I’m very happy with the uppers. Soles are trash. One foot bed has a noticeable spot of cracking…not horrible but not ideal. Probably still going to resole and hope for the best. Thoughts?

Also: Did someone here try a Vibram Londra? Any feedback?

Hope you’re all having wild Saturday nights.

 

[smfdoc]

Progress on the 1988? (CI) Imperials. I’m very happy with the uppers. Soles are trash. One foot bed has a noticeable spot of cracking…not horrible but not ideal. Probably still going to resole and hope for the best. Thoughts?

Also: Did someone here try a Vibram Londra? Any feedback?

Hope you’re all having wild Saturday nights.

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What a good job on the uppers. If they fit, they would certainly be a candidate for new soles. You mentioned cracked leather and it made me recall a crack I had in the uppers of the Florsheims I posted yesterday. It was about .75 to 1 inch in length. Before I trashed them I bought some leather glue at Michael's, applied it and then closed the crack to allow it to dry. It worked like a charm and the crack has never been an issue again. Since it worked well I sent them off for the new soles and welt stitching you see in the photos. YMMV.

 

[lullemans72]

Hi guys, I have a question about an uneven shine on my shoes.

I was trying to give the toe cap on one of my black pair of shoes a bit of a shine, so I gave both shoes a few coats of Saphir Medaille D'or neutral wax polish. After a few coats, the left shoe started shining more already, but the right shoe looked the same as before. I added several more coats of Saphir on the right shoe, but still no luck. I then resorted to more powerful tools by busting out my tin of Saphir mirror gloss. I added a few coats of that with a bit of the regular Medaille D'or polish and thought that would do the trick...but to my surprise, the right shoe hadn't changed a bit.

I've polished these shoes plenty of times in the past without issues, ranging from a few simple coats of wax polish all the way to mirror shines, so this is a first for me.

Does anyone know what the cause is of this and how I can fix it?

Hi everyone. I originally posted this in the shoe care thread but was kindly referred to this threat instead. I would highly appreciate some help on this ongoing issue I've been having with one of my black pair of shoes. FYI, since posting this the other day, I have added a few more coats to the tip of the shoe that didn't shine, but it's still the same result.

 

[suitforcourt]

Progress on the 1988? (CI) Imperials. I’m very happy with the uppers. Soles are trash. One foot bed has a noticeable spot of cracking…not horrible but not ideal. Probably still going to resole and hope for the best. Thoughts?

Also: Did someone here try a Vibram Londra? Any feedback?

Hope you’re all having wild Saturday nights.

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You were calling for me, sir?

Yes, I have the Londra sole on a pair of my Dacks. They are actually quite light and from a side profile, don't show much. As in, I think they're thin enough to maintain the dressy look. The first three pics are my shoes. The rest, are shoes from Wyatt and Dad's Facebook page. They seem to like to use this sole.

 

[Vincent George]

You were calling for me, sir?

Yes, I have the Londra sole on a pair of my Dacks. They are actually quite light and from a side profile, don't show much. As in, I think they're thin enough to maintain the dressy look. The first three pics are my shoes. The rest, are shoes from Wyatt and Dad's Facebook page. They seem to like to use this sole.

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I knew it was you! Thanks

 

[Bopper]

McHale Florsheim for church this morning. Mine say 77127, have a green Florsheim label in the right shoe only, and have no date code. Does that sound right? Is 77127 the model number?

There is another gent there who's church shoes are a pair 92604. He's worn the same pair every week since his tour in Viet Nam, and they look magnificent, like glove leather. All he does is brush-shine them with kiwi black "every so often". I take that to mean only if they might get dirty or a scuff, which might be years in between.

 

[suitforcourt]

McHale Florsheim for church this morning. Mine say 77127, have a green Florsheim label in the right shoe only, and have no date code. Does that sound right? Is 77127 the model number?

There is another gent there who's church shoes are a pair 92604. He's worn the same pair every week since his tour in Viet Nam, and they look magnificent, like glove leather. All he does is brush-shine them with kiwi black "every so often". I take that to mean only if they might get dirty or a scuff, which might be years in between.

77127 is indeed the model number. McHale used a separate numbering system, BUT they also made some 93602s and 92604s that are uber rare.

 

[smfdoc]

Hi everyone. I originally posted this in the shoe care thread but was kindly referred to this threat instead. I would highly appreciate some help on this ongoing issue I've been having with one of my black pair of shoes. FYI, since posting this the other day, I have added a few more coats to the tip of the shoe that didn't shine, but it's still the same result.

It may be easier to offer suggestions if you include some pictures. It does not matter if they are vintage or not, we usually will see someone offer some decent opinions.

 

[lullemans72]

It may be easier to offer suggestions if you include some pictures. It does not matter if they are vintage or not, we usually will see someone offer some decent opinions.

Hi, thanks for the reply. If you click on my user name in the quoted post it will take you to the original post where the original pictures are posted. For some reason they weren't included here.

 

[mormonopoly]

Recently I've been wearing these c.1950 Florsheim blue on blue spectators.