Vintage Dress shoe appreciation, tips, maintenance and advice

[florent]

My entry into this world was through his blog,it showed me what could be achieved with a bit of knowledge and patience. As much as I dig the shoe Appreciation on this thread,the things I continue to learn about vintage shoes and their construction/restoration is an extremely satisfying activity

Related to that, I was wondering about opening a thread dedicated to shoes restoration. I feel restoration techniques and reports tend to be a bit lost here in the midst of shoe Appreciation. Any thoughts?

 

[vestbash]

Who at Hanover thought it was a good idea to put this seam on the outer-facing side of the shoe?

View attachment 1242078

This is one tactic used by manufacturers to increase their leather utilization %, you'll see it mainly on cordovan shoes such as the one in the photo. Many manufacturers had a higher end line with a "normal" pattern, and then a lower tier line, where they would have additional pieces in their ptb and lwb patterns. You'll find some Hanover cordovan shoes that have a corrected grain tongue, which was another fairly common tactic.

 

[mreams99]

I noticed a “like” from @suitforcourt for a post from a year ago and checked it out-I totally forgot about the lurker who took the Shoe Challenge as an opportunity to try and pick fights with everyone while not entering the contest himself-then vanished as suddenly as he appeared. Perhaps the best thing isn’t a contest at all but rather what @davidVC does on a semi regular basis,trying restoration techniques on various vintage shoes and documenting his methods. No schedule,no prize,no competition-My entry into this world was through his blog,it showed me what could be achieved with a bit of knowledge and patience. As much as I dig the shoe Appreciation on this thread,the things I continue to learn about vintage shoes and their construction/restoration is an extremely satisfying activity

That’s loser talk!

 

[Thomas Crown]

Related to that, I was wondering about opening a thread dedicated to shoes restoration. I feel restoration techniques and reports tend to be a bit lost here in the midst of shoe Appreciation. Any thoughts?

I would encourage those interested in doing restoration to go ahead and post here along with the standard(and awesome!) shoe Appreciation and general musings. Enough of us do it periodically anyway so may as well post as we do so. I’m sure the other folks on the thread would find it interesting as they do the other things here. Contests are fun and should continue but I encourage posting step by step projects year round for its own sake

 

[Thomas Crown]

That’s loser talk!

You’re right @mreams99 ,enough of my yammering-let’s make it John McHale triple sole gunboats at 10 paces!

 

[Jiqea]

Here are a few pictures of my oldest Dacks, and the pride of my Canadian footwear collection. These equestrian boots date prior to 1923, as they are labelled as having been made in Toronto. Dacks opened their Winnipeg and Montreal locations in 1922 and 1923 respectively, and began labelling their footwear as Made in Canada at that time. The "Civil and Military" marking is located on the front interior near the top of the boot, and suggest they might date as early as the First World War. They were incredibly well made with hidden welting, with the flap hiding the stitches cut from the side. While Dacks didn't open in Canada until 1834, they used the "for over 100 years" tag as Matthew Dack had his own shop in Ireland for over 30 years before immigrating to Canada.

 

[friendlygoz]

Keith Highlander today. Be well fellas.

 

[mreams99]

I noticed a “like” from @suitforcourt for a post from a year ago and checked it out-I totally forgot about the lurker who took the Shoe Challenge as an opportunity to try and pick fights with everyone while not entering the contest himself-then vanished as suddenly as he appeared. Perhaps the best thing isn’t a contest at all but rather what @davidVC does on a semi regular basis,trying restoration techniques on various vintage shoes and documenting his methods. No schedule,no prize,no competition-My entry into this world was through his blog,it showed me what could be achieved with a bit of knowledge and patience. As much as I dig the shoe Appreciation on this thread,the things I continue to learn about vintage shoes and their construction/restoration is an extremely satisfying activity

One thing that I like about the contest is that we are required to share the process. It’s not just a “before” and “after.”

You don’t see professionals sharing their techniques. So the contest is a good way to promote some innovation and sharing of the process. For me, that’s been the best part.

 

[suitforcourt]

Florsheim spectators, courtesy of @Shoonoob .

 

[Oshare]

I've had a revelation.
I can comfortably get my feet into a size 9 3E pair of shoes. Sorry @suitforcourt ... more competition in your size!

Allen Edmonds Dundee chukka boots in shell for the first time out today. Genuine Horween shell cordovan and JR leather soles. Very well made pair of boots! Just a couple rounds of Bick 4 and brushing so far. I need to give them a bit more work this weekend.

 

[friendlygoz]

I've had a revelation.
I can comfortably get my feet into a size 9 3E pair of shoes. Sorry @suitforcourt ... more competition in your size!

Allen Edmonds Dundee chukka boots in shell for the first time out today. Genuine Horween shell cordovan and JR leather soles. Very well made pair of boots! Just a couple rounds of Bick 4 and brushing so far. I need to give them a bit more work this weekend.

View attachment 1243730

I’m glad you grabbed those. They look fantastic.

 

[suitforcourt]

I've had a revelation.
I can comfortably get my feet into a size 9 3E pair of shoes. Sorry @suitforcourt ... more competition in your size!

Allen Edmonds Dundee chukka boots in shell for the first time out today. Genuine Horween shell cordovan and JR leather soles. Very well made pair of boots! Just a couple rounds of Bick 4 and brushing so far. I need to give them a bit more work this weekend.

View attachment 1243730

Amazing shoes.

I can fit into a number of sizes. Which is a good thing. There are more than enough shoes for everyone.

 

[Shoonoob]

Florsheim spectators, courtesy of @Shoonoob .

Nice! I really wish those had fit me.

 

[CWOyaji]

Great getting together for lunch today with @friendlygoz at a local august institution of higher learning. Shoe accumulation strategies were discussed, notes compared on various topics and quality footwear was worn. Goz brought the heat with the J&M Supertassels, while yours truly made do with a pair of thrifted Florsheim 97626s. Rock on, thread bros!

 

[HalfHuskyBite]

Great getting together for lunch today with @friendlygoz at a local august institution of higher learning. Shoe accumulation strategies were discussed, notes compared on various topics and quality footwear was worn. Goz brought the heat with the J&M supertassels, while yours truly made do with a pair of thrifted Florsheim 97626s. Rock on, thread bros! View attachment 1244048

I don't know what to look at, the tassels or the 97626s.
Combine your shoe collection and a horse can be a rebuilt from the ground up. Pun intended.