Vintage Dress shoe appreciation, tips, maintenance and advice

[John Doe]

I have been ruminating lately about the v-cleat suicide heel. I can foresee me one day doing the classic slip on a banana peel move and landing on my hind end, and understandably, I wish to avoid this. I don't really want to replace the original heel on my 93605's right now; so how easy would it be to remove the actual cleat from the heel and replace it with a plug of rubber or leather? Or just cover the cleat with one of those banana shaped polyurethane heel protectors? Has anyone here done this before? What is the consensus on this?

 

[CWOyaji]

I have been ruminating lately about the v-cleat suicide heel. I can foresee me one day doing the classic slip on a banana peel move and landing on my hind end, and understandably, I wish to avoid this. I don't really want to replace the original heel on my 93605's right now; so how easy would it be to remove the actual cleat from the heel and replace it with a plug of rubber or leather? Or just cover the cleat with one of those banana shaped polyurethane heel protectors? Has anyone here done this before? What is the consensus on this?

I put heel taps on all but one of my shoes with v-cleat heels. When it starts raining here the other pair will get them too. One near wipeout on a marble floor was enough to make the decision an easy one for me.

 

[2Deuce2]

Damn, just damn.

Ok @smfdoc i agree on those Golden Harvest, damn those are great. It’s hard not being in the shoe size sweet spot of the roughly 8 thru 10 ish. I am lucky in being a D width, so you wide E, EE,EEE guys must really suffer with a lack of options.

 

[2Deuce2]

I have been ruminating lately about the v-cleat suicide heel. I can foresee me one day doing the classic slip on a banana peel move and landing on my hind end, and understandably, I wish to avoid this. I don't really want to replace the original heel on my 93605's right now; so how easy would it be to remove the actual cleat from the heel and replace it with a plug of rubber or leather? Or just cover the cleat with one of those banana shaped polyurethane heel protectors? Has anyone here done this before? What is the consensus on this?

Funny you ask @John Doe , because this week I went to the cobbler with Nettleton shells to replace the vinyl 1/2 insole . He said, whoa, nearly new V Cleat heels there Boy-o. We spoke about best options, and he said, don’t mess around, replace them with rubber. Will get them back this week and will post pics on the new heels.

 

[wasmisterfu]

Your contributions to this community are incalculable. Thank you for the detailed post.

I will pay attention to this potential. It is sad.

Thanks; it really all stemmed from my OCD driven desire to unravel the mysteries or Corrected Grain. I had a feeling Corrected Grain, while certainly not ideal, was getting a bad rap as being the same stuff that cracks and peels off. If my old, heavily worn CG wasn’t cracking and peeling, why wasn’t it? What was this stuff that was cracking and peeling? There’s a lot of confusion out there, with shoe companies further confusing things (hey people at Church’s, are you aware calling your CG “Polished Binder” is a bad thing?). The stuff bookbinders have been using (when not using regular old grain leather) is this bonded crap - it was (according to a site I can’t seem locate again) first developed for the book binding industry, as a low cost leather substitute in mass book production. Thus the term “bookbinder leather”.

So I went off and read about all these different leathers, what’s used for what... and after a long while, stumbled upon a discussion of bonded leather in a leather sofa discussion on a forum somewhere about restoring leather furniture. There it was, the same damn stuff those cracking peeling Florsheim’s were made of.

See, if you’re talking about full grain, top grain, split, etc., you’re probably not going to ever see a discussion about bonded leather for the same reason wood-workers don’t discuss particle board (except to hate on it). Over time, CG and bonded leather got lumped together, when in reality, suede and CG have more in common that either of those have with bonded leather.

Poor old CG has been getting blamed for stuff that wasn’t it’s shiny, plasticy looking fault. The reason I wanted to perform a hands on with some real bonded leather shoes, was to confirm that these things were getting labeled as leather (with no disclosures) and to see what they looked like in person. As you can see, it can look more like genuine leather than CG generally does (when it’s not disintegrating). You can also be fairly confident that any company using this stuff is probably not labeling it as anything other than leather.

(Also, if you’re buying furniture, watch out, because this bonded stuff is all over the place in that business.)

 

[smfdoc]

Ok @smfdoc i agree on those Golden Harvest, damn those are great. It’s hard not being in the shoe size sweet spot of the roughly 8 thru 10 ish. I am lucky in being a D width, so you wide E, EE,EEE guys must really suffer with a lack of options.

Being a EEE is a burden when it comes to Florsheims. Many styles, such as the Golden Harvest, maxed out at E. Fortunately, they did the shells, and the black and brown LWBs in EEE. I am still hunting for the elusive black shell LWB in 12 EEE.

 

[suitforcourt]

Is this the sort of straight talk advice you give your clients?

Absolutely.

Without breaching client solicitor privilege, here are some of the stories that clients presented to me, and the advice I gave:

Drugs found in client's pants. Client said he was wearing his brother's pants (a known drug user). I told client his story was the stupidest one I have ever heard. Better for me to argue illegal search. Judge acquitted after I argued the police violated my client's rights.

Client was seen with his schlong exposed in front of old age home while the old folk were eating dinner. Client's story was that it fell out while walking and he did not notice. I told client his story could not convince an amoeba. I advised him not to testify. The old folk were not good witnesses and none could positively identify him. Judge found client not guilty. After 10 years, I have yet to lose a trial on the charge of indecent act or exposure. It's my niche area.

So yes, I give the straight goods. And then figure out a way to do it without having my clients testify. Most couldn't punch their way out of a paper bag, let alone preserve their freedom.

 

[well-kept]

I have been ruminating lately about the v-cleat suicide heel. I can foresee me one day doing the classic slip on a banana peel move and landing on my hind end, and understandably, I wish to avoid this. I don't really want to replace the original heel on my 93605's right now; so how easy would it be to remove the actual cleat from the heel and replace it with a plug of rubber or leather? Or just cover the cleat with one of those banana shaped polyurethane heel protectors? Has anyone here done this before? What is the consensus on this?

It is not the v-cleat by itself which creates the slipperiness of the heel, but the sum total of the metal, including and especially the nails. This is particularly true in the older vintage Imperials where the nail count is extremely high - much higher than in later v-cleat heels. Just counted on a pair of original 1960s Imperial heels - 120 nails per heel, plus the cleat. 1980s models have about half that number, but still. I once had a cobbler replace a comparable pair of original heels with an all leather toplift, and a new v-cleat, but with very few nails - 6 or 8, all that are needed, holding the heel to the stack. Voila, no slippage at all.

 

[davidVC]

Absolutely.

Without breaching client solicitor privilege, here are some of the stories that clients presented to me, and the advice I gave:

Drugs found in client's pants. Client said he was wearing his brother's pants (a known drug user). I told client his story was the stupidest one I have ever heard. Better for me to argue illegal search. Judge acquitted after I argued the police violated my client's rights.

Client was seen with his schlong exposed in front of old age home while the old folk were eating dinner. Client's story was that it fell out while walking and he did not notice. I told client his story could not convince an amoeba. I advised him not to testify. The old folk were not good witnesses and none could positively identify him. Judge found client not guilty. After 10 years, I have yet to lose a trial on the charge of indecent act or exposure. It's my niche area.

So yes, I give the straight goods. And then figure out a way to do it without having my clients testify. Most couldn't punch their way out of a paper bag, let alone preserve their freedom.

Those stories made me laugh. Gold.

I don't remember a Law & Order episode covering exposure at an old folks home.

 

[suitforcourt]

Those stories made me laugh. Gold.

I don't remember a Law & Order episode covering exposure at an old folks home.

Fact is always stranger than fiction. If Law and Order bought the rights to my cases, they would blow out any Netflix series in 2 episodes.

 

[davidVC]

Thanks; it really all stemmed from my OCD driven desire to unravel the mysteries or Corrected Grain. I had a feeling Corrected Grain, while certainly not ideal, was getting a bad rap as being the same stuff that cracks and peels off. If my old, heavily worn CG wasn’t cracking and peeling, why wasn’t it? What was this stuff that was cracking and peeling? There’s a lot of confusion out there, with shoe companies further confusing things (hey people at Church’s, are you aware calling your CG “Polished Binder” is a bad thing?). The stuff bookbinders have been using (when not using regular old grain leather) is this bonded crap - it was (according to a site I can’t seem locate again) first developed for the book binding industry, as a low cost leather substitute in mass book production. Thus the term “bookbinder leather”.

So I went off and read about all these different leathers, what’s used for what... and after a long while, stumbled upon a discussion of bonded leather in a leather sofa discussion on a forum somewhere about restoring leather furniture. There it was, the same damn stuff those cracking peeling Florsheim’s were made of.

See, if you’re talking about full grain, top grain, split, etc., you’re probably not going to ever see a discussion about bonded leather for the same reason wood-workers don’t discuss particle board (except to hate on it). Over time, CG and bonded leather got lumped together, when in reality, suede and CG have more in common that either of those have with bonded leather.

Poor old CG has been getting blamed for stuff that wasn’t it’s shiny, plasticy looking fault. The reason I wanted to perform a hands on with some real bonded leather shoes, was to confirm that these things were getting labeled as leather (with no disclosures) and to see what they looked like in person. As you can see, it can look more like genuine leather than CG generally does (when it’s not disintegrating). You can also be fairly confident that any company using this stuff is probably not labeling it as anything other than leather.

(Also, if you’re buying furniture, watch out, because this bonded stuff is all over the place in that business.)

Excellent info. I need to do some updates on my site to clarify.

 

[colorvision]

Long time no post. Testing. Alan McAfee bespoke grade if photo attached properly.

 

[suitforcourt]

Long time no post. Testing. Alan McAfee bespoke grade if photo attached properly.

View attachment 1025656

I am too lazy to Google the answer. When did AM stop making shoes? Quality relative to Florsheim Imperial/Hanover/Dexter?

 

[suitforcourt]

Being a EEE is a burden when it comes to Florsheims. Many styles, such as the Golden Harvest, maxed out at E. Fortunately, they did the shells, and the black and brown LWBs in EEE. I am still hunting for the elusive black shell LWB in 12 EEE.

Can you fit into 13e? My brother is 13eee in most lasts, but can do 14e as well.

 

[wasmisterfu]

Excellent info. I need to do some updates on my site to clarify.

I'm happy to write a poorly edited, rambling article on all this crap about crap, if you're interested in having a guest "contributor" to your blog.