Vintage Dress shoe appreciation, tips, maintenance and advice

[suitforcourt]

Vintage violation.
Picked this pair of Florsheim Duckie Brown today. Fine replacement for 93633 I think.
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I count these as vintage. They're no longer made. Plus from what I've seen, they're very well constructed. Totally vintage and appropriate.

 

[suitforcourt]

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Alan McAfee for Aquascutum made in England
Alas, not my size
Who's the maker if these? The font looks awfully familiar

Alan McAfee is the maker.

Aquascutum is a luxury clothing retailer.

Edit to add: What did you do with goatamous #1??

Made by Church's i think, in the 73 last.

The writing looks like Church's to me.

 

[suitforcourt]

Very rainy day so the corrected grain Masons came out to play. I know these are tier 2/3 but the last fits me so well.

 

[actionjbone]

Thanks - the font looked a little too neat for what i'm used to seeing from Church's hahah
I do know that McAfee was bought by them, but before that there was a connection to Crockett & Jones




McAfee was the store front, but I wasn't sure if they made any of their own shoes vs. them being made by another established shoemaker with their branding

goatamous #1 has a forgotten password and is unable to recover it from Styleforum

I'm always happy to learn the limits is my knowledge & update my understanding

 

[actionjbone]

As part of my footwear hobby, I also like to send off my stuff to get rebuilt. I used to strictly use SSIA award winners but have found others who do excellent work as well.

Let us know how it goes! Always happy to add more cobblers to my list for future purposes.

Raul is the real deal! I brought in my 93602's, and we got talking about shoes for like 20 minutes. Once he realized I'm a shoe person, he got pretty chatty.

Turns out he's a 4th-generation shoemaker. When he came to the U.S. years ago, he planned to make shoes - but I don't need to tell YOU folks what was going on in the American shoe industry. So he started working as a cobbler.

He told me he's a competitive person. He clearly enjoys competing for awards (of which he's won several). He also tries to keep his prices competitive, while still charging what he knows his work is worth. He showed me some of his other work, too. Especially for crap like Ecco, it looked better than factory.

I asked him what rubber heels he carried. He said he only carries the best Vibram heel. $60 for new heels and a good cleaning. They'll be ready in only a week.

(We joked about how Bedo's would take several months, and also cost more.)

A full resole with his house leather starts at $130. He said some folks ask for JR, and he can do that for $260 - but he doesn't think JR is worth the price premium. (It looks like Sunny charges less for JR, so I'd probably drive up to him for those.)

We talked about how vintage shoes were made so much better, and made of better leather. I was wearing a pair of AE's, and he commented they're the last good, big American shoe maker. He seems disappointed that J&M has gone to ****.

I'll post photos once I pick up the shoes.

 

[memoriastoica]

https://poshmark.com/listing/Florsheim-Imperial-Shell-Cordovan-97626-66180eccc479b8a5228bdb6a

Florsheim Shell 97626s in 12 E for $90 bucks!

 

[friendlygoz]

C&J half strap penny loafers in shell today…

 

[friendlygoz]

Florsheim NSTs today. I used dark brown and a little black cream and polish to achieve a subtle burnish on the toe and seams.

 

[dougc33]

Raul is the real deal! I brought in my 93602's, and we got talking about shoes for like 20 minutes. Once he realized I'm a shoe person, he got pretty chatty.

Turns out he's a 4th-generation shoemaker. When he came to the U.S. years ago, he planned to make shoes - but I don't need to tell YOU folks what was going on in the American shoe industry. So he started working as a cobbler.

He told me he's a competitive person. He clearly enjoys competing for awards (of which he's won several). He also tries to keep his prices competitive, while still charging what he knows his work is worth. He showed me some of his other work, too. Especially for crap like Ecco, it looked better than factory.

I asked him what rubber heels he carried. He said he only carries the best Vibram heel. $60 for new heels and a good cleaning. They'll be ready in only a week.

(We joked about how Bedo's would take several months, and also cost more.)

A full resole with his house leather starts at $130. He said some folks ask for JR, and he can do that for $260 - but he doesn't think JR is worth the price premium. (It looks like Sunny charges less for JR, so I'd probably drive up to him for those.)

We talked about how vintage shoes were made so much better, and made of better leather. I was wearing a pair of AE's, and he commented they're the last good, big American shoe maker. He seems disappointed that J&M has gone to ****.

I'll post photos once I pick up the shoes.

My guy does full soles/heels for $100 - think he's underpriced - does great work.

I asked him for Black Forest soles and that was $10 extra. Have you seen this article on Black Forest sole manufacturer? Fascinating read...

Report - Gerberei Martin, traditional oak bark sole leather tannery - Shoegazing.com

Gerberei Martin is perhaps the oldest still existing tannery in the world, founded in 1645, and run by the same family ever since. They make the most

shoegazing.com

 

[actionjbone]

My guy does full soles/heels for $100 - think he's underpriced - does great work.

I asked him for Black Forest soles and that was $10 extra. Have you seen this article on Black Forest sole manufacturer? Fascinating read...

Report - Gerberei Martin, traditional oak bark sole leather tannery - Shoegazing.com

Gerberei Martin is perhaps the oldest still existing tannery in the world, founded in 1645, and run by the same family ever since. They make the most

shoegazing.com

I had not. That's all really good info!

The details about skin quality also kind of make me sad

Happier, better-kept animals make for better meat and skin. To hear they're being rushed to fatten up and kill? That doesn't sound like happy animals.

 

[suitforcourt]

Raul is the real deal! I brought in my 93602's, and we got talking about shoes for like 20 minutes. Once he realized I'm a shoe person, he got pretty chatty.

Turns out he's a 4th-generation shoemaker. When he came to the U.S. years ago, he planned to make shoes - but I don't need to tell YOU folks what was going on in the American shoe industry. So he started working as a cobbler.

He told me he's a competitive person. He clearly enjoys competing for awards (of which he's won several). He also tries to keep his prices competitive, while still charging what he knows his work is worth. He showed me some of his other work, too. Especially for crap like Ecco, it looked better than factory.

I asked him what rubber heels he carried. He said he only carries the best Vibram heel. $60 for new heels and a good cleaning. They'll be ready in only a week.

(We joked about how Bedo's would take several months, and also cost more.)

A full resole with his house leather starts at $130. He said some folks ask for JR, and he can do that for $260 - but he doesn't think JR is worth the price premium. (It looks like Sunny charges less for JR, so I'd probably drive up to him for those.)

We talked about how vintage shoes were made so much better, and made of better leather. I was wearing a pair of AE's, and he commented they're the last good, big American shoe maker. He seems disappointed that J&M has gone to ****.

I'll post photos once I pick up the shoes.

Wow, double price for JR???

There are other oak tanned soles that would cost less than JR. Whether JR is worth the price premium is in the eye of the beholder.

Sunny also does great work from pics I've seen.

Can't wait to see your shoes fixed up.

 

[actionjbone]

Wow, double price for JR???

There are other oak tanned soles that would cost less than JR. Whether JR is worth the price premium is in the eye of the beholder.

Sunny also does great work from pics I've seen.

Can't wait to see your shoes fixed up.

Wyatt & Dad charge $245 for JR soles + heels, so in that light $260 didn't shock me.

 

[friendlygoz]

92604s today…

 

[suitforcourt]

Wyatt & Dad charge $245 for JR soles + heels, so in that light $260 didn't shock me.

Fair point. I'd just assume the 130 package price can be raised to 200. But I guess it's a different clientele with different expectations.

 

[smfdoc]

Happy Sunday forum pals.