Vintage Dress shoe appreciation, tips, maintenance and advice

[kilowatts]

finally finished my contest pair, 1960s Dack's whole cut brown water bison oxfords View attachment 1014846 View attachment 1014848 View attachment 1014849

Hi Guys:

Dack's whole-cuts sure are hard to beat, eh?

kilowatts

 

[CWOyaji]

Have you ever recrafted shoes with an independent cobbler? If so, who do you use/prefer? And how would you compare cobbler Vs factory recraft?

I have only used Church's refurbishment service, in terms of manufacturing original. Never again. Way overpriced. I am lucky I have found a few very skilled cobblers in Canada who know what they are doing.

Well yes, actually I did within the last week pick up a pair from my local shoemaker and then took delivery on these AE Hinsdales. Local guy charged me $120 for these thrifted $8 Alan McAfee wingtips; I posted about them a few days ago. I'm delighted with them:

Almost a spade sole, am I right?

Then I stumbled on these Hinsdale shell cordovan loafers; they had already been recrafted. I have never paid to use AE's service myself, but as I understand it they use JR soles for shell cordovan recrafting and charge $125. Not sure about that. But the results are great.

I think they stopped making these shoes quite a while ago. If anyone knows how to date them, please let me know.

 

[suitforcourt]

@saskatoonjay - you were looking for a cobbler in your city?

This guy is well reviewed by other cobblers:

https://m.facebook.com/ambrosshoerepair/

 

[suitforcourt]

Well yes, actually I did within the last week pick up a pair from my local shoemaker and then took delivery on these AE Hinsdales. Local guy charged me $120 for these thrifted $8 Alan McAfee wingtips; I posted about them a few days ago. I'm delighted with them:
View attachment 1015172
Almost a spade sole, am I right?
View attachment 1015174
Then I stumbled on these Hinsdale shell cordovan loafers; they had already been recrafted. I have never paid to use AE's service myself, but as I understand it they use JR soles for shell cordovan recrafting and charge $125. Not sure about that. But the results are great.
View attachment 1015188
I think they stopped making these shoes quite a while ago. If anyone knows how to date them, please let me know.

Can you PM me your cobbler info? Always looking to try new ones!

 

[CWOyaji]

Nice! For the cracked and missing bits of piping along the topline, do you just use some leather dye to make it less noticeable or is there anything else you can do to repair it?

What really stuck out visually was the black piping that had cracked and peeled versus the white base layer. I used nail clippers to trim down the fragments of piping that were sticking up, then rubbed in fingertip amounts of black shoe polish to make the color contrast less noticeable. It still feels rough around the collar, but better than before and the shell is in great shape. For $15.75 I'm happy.

 

[CWOyaji]

Can you PM me your cobbler info? Always looking to try new ones!

Spoiler: Steve from Odessa

Great guy and a real craftsman. Cash or check only though.

 

[tocohillsguy]

Had to clean up my Leeds and post another picture next to the Stuart McGuires. Had to use flash due to poor lighting. Measuring the widest area of the outsole the AE's are 4 3/8" whereas the SM's are 4 3/4". Visually that's a fairly significant difference.

 

[tocohillsguy]

I have seen some horrendous results from AE's recraft service via the Facebook AE group.

But I do agree this pair was done properly.

Here's what they did to my Bradleys....

 

[ORLThrifter]

Anyone recognize the maker on these boots? No insole or interior markings. Vintage vibes and sole seems too dressy with taps for a modern boot, right?

 

[tmethecat]

Cross post from the Shoe Challenge thread.

I think I'm finished with the Shoe Challenge MacNeils. I'm not sure of the year on these, but would guess 1980's most likely. Turned out similar to the Haig & Dunn I did earlier for the challenge, but I'm an Allen Edmonds guy at heart so very excited about this pair. Still can't believe I got these for $15 plus shipping!

Before:

More after:

Outstanding!

 

[tmethecat]

Well that changes everything. I was about to figure out how to get new pairs past Spousal Customs.

“Spousal Customs”. I’m gonna borrow that.

 

[wasmisterfu]

So the Ebay sourced Stuart McGuire shell PTBs arrived today. Although they fit TTS, they are significantly wider than my Leeds of the same size. I suspect the SM last is closer to Alden’s barrie last. The SMs are super dark; almost black. Probably dyed by SM. They also look like an acrylic finish was applied, much like Alden. I'm guessing SM was trying to replicate Alden's PTB. I haven't tried to strip or clean them inasmuch as I haven't decided if I'm going to keep them. Looks like the welt is some plastic, man made material. Here's a picture next to my AE Leeds that need to be conditioned and shined.
View attachment 1015152

Why would they use a vinyl welt on a cordovan shoe? That’s like setting a multi-karat diamond on a ring made of tin.

 

[Vinilo1969]

I might have something for all of you! I’ll look tomorrow. I know I found 6-8 pairs of 7.5 and 8.5 Eee about 4 years ago and I sold a few. But, I think I have more. That has to be a hard size to find. I’m 11.5C (sometimes B and sometimes D) so it’s not nearly as hard to find as yours.

Thanks for letting us know! PM sent.

 

[well-kept]

Well yes, actually I did within the last week pick up a pair from my local shoemaker and then took delivery on these AE Hinsdales. Local guy charged me $120 for these thrifted $8 Alan McAfee wingtips; I posted about them a few days ago. I'm delighted with them:
View attachment 1015172
Almost a spade sole, am I right?
View attachment 1015174
Then I stumbled on these Hinsdale shell cordovan loafers; they had already been recrafted. I have never paid to use AE's service myself, but as I understand it they use JR soles for shell cordovan recrafting and charge $125. Not sure about that. But the results are great.
View attachment 1015188
I think they stopped making these shoes quite a while ago. If anyone knows how to date them, please let me know.

The Hinsdale was made from the mid-late 90s until the early 200s. In my view they were the best-designed loafers AE has ever made. I have a pair in shell, purchased in 1997, which have been worn to an extraordinary degree and are still good. They were made on the old number 4 last, which is no longer used, a fact lamented by many. If your pair are a good fit for you it's a lucky find.

 

[suitforcourt]

Sporting my Canadian made Florsheim. Likely manufactured at the John McHale factory as I have seen JM branded shoes that are a mirror image.

I got these in near NOS condition from @mariusscott . A cobbler installed topy and new cat paw heels, and now I use as my rain shoes or for casual "no suit" days at office.