2018 shoe revival challenge - submit entries HERE

[JohnAAG]

Gentlemen (and any ladies present), I hereby submit my entry: Florshieim Imperials 20870s from (I am assuming) 1965. I would first like to give my sincere thanks to @suitforcourt for organizing this great contest and providing the worst aspects of my OCD with the opportunity to manifest themselves. In the end, for the sake of my sanity, I started to repeat the phrase "Perfection is the enemy of character" as my mantra.

Before

A note about the receipt: I actually purchased these shoes from a thrift store for about $2.50 in May. As I explained on page 3 of the other contest related thread, I picked these up as a pair for experimentation. Long story short, I asked if it was acceptable to use this pair for the contest and got the okay. The receipt below is included to show their condition on the day I started working on them for the contest.

Spoiler: More Before pics of sad shoes ....

Some midway point photos in case anyone is interested

Spoiler: Failed attempts ...

This is after conditioning and soaking the shoes; the pics show the extent of the cracking. Some were pretty nasty

After sanding, conditioning, sanding, conditioning, I failed brutally trying to recolor the shoes ...

So I stripped them again and tried a different approach with better results ...

Then I decided it would be cool to sand the edges and go natural. Unfortunately, the soles were so old and damaged by water, mold and who the hell knows what else, that they came out a sick grey color ...

So I treated the edges with a very light amount of cordovan cream to add some life. But, of course, after adding the color,I didn't think there was enough contrast between the leather and the edges. So I decided to go a lot darker with the leather.

The final result

Some more after pics ...

Spoiler: Edges and heel and stuff

Best of luck to everyone that entered! Your work and the amazing results you've produced certainly motivated me!

John

 

[suitforcourt]

Thanks to all participants so far. What a great learning process for everyone.

I've been thinking of adding twists to future contests and how to make them interesting:

1. Live and let dye - objective is to change the colour of the shoes;
2. Rollin. Rollin. Rollin on the river - removing rolls;
3. This world is made for you and me - participants purchase shoes, and then we swap with other participants. We must revive the pair we receive.

Just spit balling a few ideas. I look forward to the conclusion of the first ever SF shoe revival challenge.

 

[Mbaldinger]

Thanks to all participants so far. What a great learning process for everyone.

I've been thinking of adding twists to future contests and how to make them interesting:

1. Live and let dye - objective is to change the colour of the shoes;
2. Rollin. Rollin. Rollin on the river - removing rolls;
3. This world is made for you and me - participants purchase shoes, and then we swap with other participants. We must revive the pair we receive.

Just spit balling a few ideas. I look forward to the conclusion of the first ever SF shoe revival challenge.

I'm a dye guy, so love first idea Make it a totally separate challenge

 

[suitforcourt]

I'm a dye guy, so love first idea Make it a totally separate challenge

Maybe for next year!

 

[mreams99]

I found a great pair of shoes for the challenge. By great, I mean that they would be a great challenge for refinishing. But I could not negotiate the price below $15.95, so I looked for another pair.

What I found was something quite unusual. From the pictures I could not tell if they were darkened from their original color with lots of polish, or if they were dyed this color. They were not as rough as that original pair — I could not walk away from this shoe’s unique design. This pair deserved to be restored to its original glory.

Wow!
A longwing shoe
No toe medallion
Grained leather (ranch oxhide?)
Oversized brogueing
Moccasin-style closure

What else could you possibly add?

When the shoes arrived, there were two surprises. First, they were size 11D instead of 12D. Also, I found that they were “Bootmakers Guild” by Freeman, not “Bostonian.” Even though they weren’t going to fit me or my son, I decided to continue with the project.

I stripped the shoes with acetone and found that this was the natural color. I believe that it’s called “antique bronze.” I soaked them with water and let them dry with trees to remove the wrinkles.

There were some rough edges where the finish had worn off, and some pretty good scuffs on the toes. Overall, they were already looking better. The wrinkles were gone and the shape was much improved.

I touched up the worn spots with a mix of leather dye. After that, they got conditioner and Allen Edmonds chili cream polish. The lines of brogueing got a little black wax, and the toes got several coats of wax, mostly neutral with a touch of brown and black on the tip.

I sanded the sole edges to remove the scuffs. I debated whether to finish with a natural edge or go with the original black. In the end, I decided that a shoe this unique should have the original design maintained rather than changed. So I redyed them black, sanded the rough spots and gave them another coat of black dye. Then I gave them two coats of black edge dressing, lightly sanding between coats.

The final touch included the addition of tassels to the laces. I’m not sure if they originally had tassels, but they definitely look like the right thing for a pair like this.

Overall, this was a fun project. Many times I’ve greatly changed the color of a pair of shoes when refinishing them. It was interesting to do these with the goal of restoring them to the original design intent.

Finally, to answer my earlier question of “what more could you add?” to this shoe design, I think it’s rather obvious that the only possible answer is tasseled laces.

 

[Thomas Crown]

Hello all,and thanks to @suitforcourt for making this happen! My official entry for the 2018 shoe revival challenge is this pair of 1972 Florsheim Imperial NST MTO customs with double welt stitch and alot of miles!—

 

[mariusscott]

Again thanks to suitforcourt for arranging this, great to see so many works of art brought back. Hats off to those in particular in the dye group, that is too a whole other level.

Finally finished my pair this morning and plan to wear them for my first day of work and training tomorrow. My process for restoring and fixing all pairs are fairly similar.

Step 1 clean off when I get home with a damp cloth throughout.
Step 2 put in shoe trees and 1 or 2 round of saddle soap
Step 3 allow time to dry, then a few rounds of mineral spirits to the outers as well as the soles (if made of leather). The mineral spirits are pretty toxic but I find do a good job of removing layers of polish. If very old, hard and cracked polish have used a heat gun on a low setting as well but this is a bit delicate.
Step 4 on any tough areas or stitching use a toothbrush, particularly on the welts.
Step 5 a few rounds of conditioner, depending on dryness, usually like to leave it for at least a day to soak in
Step 6 for this pair i did some softer wax to cover up a few scuffs, then a round of Saphir hard wax followed by some vintage dark kiwi on the toes
Step 7 more sit in the trees and wipe the inside out, sometimes depending on the vintage have used mineral spirits inside

I have since added these the roster and have been complemented a fair amount at my new job based on my footwear and style choices

 

[FibroblastsMakeLeather]

Thank you to @suitforcourt for organizing this. My wife and I had a great time participating.

1. Isopropanol inside and outside
2. Glycerine water 3 hr
3. 3 days dry
4. acetone
5. bick 4
6. Venetian shoe cream
7. Saphir dark brown shoe polish

Here is the official entry:

 

[photo41]

Amazing - Love them

 

[suitforcourt]

Ok gents, all entries are in. 19 contestants. A quick eyeballing tells me this will be an exciting and tight competition!

Another thread will be set up for voting. Everyone and anyone gets 3 votes.

Top 3 contenders will receive prizes. In the event of ties, I will set up a run off where everyone gets a single vote. Stay tuned!

 

[Shoonoob]

So much fantastically great work here. This is really going to be a pain *********** choosing. #ThomasCrownsCat

 

[Mbaldinger]

Wow, some amazing results. Great job gents!! Thanks again suitforcourt for doing this!

 

[suitforcourt]

Ok gents, the voting thread should be ready to go on Monday. It will be up for 7 days.

SF administration is assembling a collage to assist with the voting.

 

[mreams99]

Ok gents, the voting thread should be ready to go on Monday. It will be up for 7 days.

SF administration is assembling a collage to assist with the voting.

Thank you.
The collage is a great idea.

 

[Woofa]

Suit of court.

This has been an amazing contest and I believe that most of have been watching closely. Some unbelievable work being done and the transformations are amazing. I can't wait to vote this week.
I have read that you plan to have other challenges in the future. Just a suggestion if you don't mind my sharing.
Similar type challenge but all the shoes are then donated to SF.
You then auction them off in combination with the other SF charity holiday auction or with one of the many resellers that are members here.
Money goes to a great cause, shoe guys get to showcase their talent every year with plenty of time to find shoes and do their thing. We could still vote but also see what pair brings in the most. I bet some of these would bring in good money.
Just an idea and again thanks for organizing this.