Vintage Dress shoe appreciation, tips, maintenance and advice

sam67 said:

I was in Chicago this week and passed by a shop selling Alden. I went in and spoke with the owner. We discussed recrafting and he recommended Wyatt and Dad.

There you go!

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ccpl14 said:

Sean at Dashing?

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actionjbone said:

Today, I picked up my 93602's from Raul at Master Shoe Repair.

tl;dr version: This guy's a keeper.

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First: the heels themselves.

Top-of-the-line Vibram heels, as expected. Perfectly trimmed, perfectly flush. Nice thick pad, so it should last as long as the foresoles.

Unexpected bonus: he replaced the heel stack, too.

This pair had a plastic heel stack. I expected he'd reuse it. But no! He replaced it with a leather one. The new stack is shorter than the old one, but it's better & looks nicer. So I'm pleased.

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The shine is pretty brilliant. They look better than they probably ever have. This is one of the 93602 pairs with two slightly different leather colors - and now the contrast REALLY stands out.

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As you can see in these close-up shots, he shined them brilliantly, and he was careful to keep the factory patina.

Every tiny dark line between each pebble? Still there, still distinct. The very slight gradient across the medallion? The shine brings it out even more.

I'm extremely happy with how these came out. I'm trying to decide which pair to bring in for a full resole. He told me his house sole is oak bark (non-JR), so I might bring him one of my shell pairs.

Also, I might start buying polish from him. He uses Kelly, he says he thinks it's the most similar to old Meltonian. And he charges just $5 per jar.

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