Anything I can do with these?

[swiego]

The pictures are not the best - the overhead light is somewhat yellow in the first shot, a bit less so in the second. These are tan with perhaps a light brown dusting. Brand was Cole Haan "Collection" shoes with Made in Italy stamped on them. I bought them quite a few years ago around the time I was first seeing people take tan shoes and self-antique them. They were cheap and still appear to be quite well made - stitching is excellent, they have rather nice interior lining, and the leather has held up well considering I left these on a shelf for about four years. They cost me very little for new shoes - some $50 - so I'm not going to lose sleep if these are deemed junk, but:

1. What could one wear a "slightly darker tan" pair of shoes like this with? They've generally been too bright for me, hence the closet, but I was wearing black or very dark gray pants during this time. Could someone describe outfits that work with a shoe like this? I feel like the bit of yellow or orange they have kind of kills them, but...

2. I was in over my head when I bought this thinking I'd use them to practice hand-antiquing shoes. Six years later, I'm better versed at taking care of shoes. Should I put some brown polish on them and see what happens?

3. Is this the sort of shoe that looks better with some wear, scuffs and good old fashioned patina on them? When I bought them, they looked like bright tan blinders that I immediately regretted buying, but looking at them in front of me now, with some storage scuffs and smudges and some darkness, they look better.

4. My sense is that these are fairly well made shoes. The leather strikes me as a couple of cuts below my new C&Js etc., but the construction seems quite good. Does anyone know what 'Cole Haan Collection' Italy-made shoes were like? I wore Nordstrom Rack Cole Haan cap-toes for quite a few years and these are definitely several notches above those shoes which I now realize to be horrible, but there doesn't seem to be much information about lineage.

Again, apologies for the poor lighting.

 

[MyOtherLife]

Wear them casual ofcourse. There are endless combinations. Wear pants with colours such as forest green, olive, nantucket red, denim, taupe, brown, Wear them with cords, denim or wool pants. I see no limitations in casualwear to match these shoes with.
Pants with patterns would also work very well.

 

[jrd617]

Not horrible, but I don't care for the last or tan/burnt orange color

 

[swiego]

Any thoughts as to whether I should try to darken them with some brown or burgundy polish?

 

[dorolf07]

maybe add a brown polish to liven up the color.

 

[MyOtherLife]

My antiquing method is to take some creme polish and add a tad of leather conditioner. Mixing it together to create a 'leather lotion polish'.
This allows me to add the antiquing gradually. The lotion in the polish gives you more time to work with but you still have to work quickly. Try this method on a pair of beater shoes first. After an hour I brush and then add some KIWI medium brown wax polish sparingly again, with a finger. Let dry 30 min, lightly brush. Let dry another hour, brush then buff with a soft cotton cloth or a nylon stocking. For these shoes, using brown polish will dull down the original colour. Burgundy will tone down the colour and I feel would work better. Either way, it is all reversible if you don't like the outcome you can strip off the polish and try again.

 

[cptjeff]

The made in Italy Cole Haan stuff is decent, even with SF standards. And I like the styling for more casual wear.

Light tan can be tricky, but it can be used quite nicely. Olive, browns, Lighter blues (those would be great with a pair of somewhat worn in jeans), so on. To darken 'em up, I would just polish them as usual, just with darker polish than you might otherwise. Cream polishes will absorb more, so they're probably going to be better for actually staining the leather rather than just affecting the finish. I would recommend brown, taking the color down a few notches while not moving it any further toward red like the cordovan would. They're already on the orangy side, you don't need to encourage that.

 

[Gdot]

Condition first and foremost. At least twice and with 24 hours in between.

If you like, do as Man of Lint has suggested and mix some darker cream polish into the conditioner. Beware though that with this method a certain amount of the pigment from the cream will absorb into the leather and you will not be able to easily reverse the darkening. Test a small area of the tongue before you start.

Or after conditioning I would simply apply brown cream polish, buff and wear. After 3 - 4 wearings condition, cream polish, buff and wear. Repeat as long as necessary to reach the desired color. With this treatment they will darken fairly considerably over time.

Do be aware that this will also darken the stitching.

 

[Aqualung]

Any thoughts as to whether I should try to darken them with some brown or burgundy polish?

Using darker polish on shoes will many times make the natural creases look lighter (not good)

Just rub some mink oil or something like it in every once in awhile and the colour will darken on light shoes and look natural.And also keep them soft and well preserved.