Quarterly Shoe Report and Amateur Edwardian

[norcaltransplant]

Prior to starting my day this weekend, I've been working on my Ebay sales and shoes. In the spirit of the "shoe p0rn" threads, I decided to make my own contribution, as well as a few instructional photos courtesy of Marc Guyot's do-it-yourself antiquing tip.

With the recent flood of shoe deals on Ebay, the Asprey sample sale, Ralph Lauren sample sale, Barney's closeout, Bennie's, Santoni, and Testoni store in late January, I couldn't go unscathed. I haven't bought a pair of casual sneakers to wear outside the gym since college, for less than $100 for two pairs I couldn't resist these:

I promised myself that I wouldn't break the 40 shoe barrier, so I sold some Aldens and still have a bargain basement pair of Mantellassi I should Ebay. Anyways, promises are meant to be broken, and so, here, with some guilt are the results of my indiscretions:

From Right to Left:
1) RL Benchmade "Alton," brown suede wingtip
2) RLPL McKay (Edward Green) Last 888, Edwardian Antique
3) Crockett & Jones for Barney's Last 341 Shell Cordovan blucher
4) a. testoni Chocolate Brown Captoe

Not pictured: Brown Pebble Grain Wingtips, Poulsen Skone for Dunhill (Crockett and Jones, last 240)

Comments: The brown shell cordovan bluchers are identical to the pair Mr. Checks purchased on his visit to New York. I was actually inspired by his post, and headed to Barney's after my last set of exams, and found them sitting on the shelf, all alone, and priced less than Allen Edmonds calfskins

They werent a complete steal, but I rationalized my purchase since discounted shell is hard to find and my preference for the elongated 341, which is, in more opinion, more attractive than the Alden Barrie or C&J 325. The creasing is prominent after limited wear, but I find that my shells tend to crease a lot. I dunno, I dont mind it--it emphasizes the difference between calfskin and cordo wear.

For Spring/Summer Wear, I really wanted another English Tan or Tan Shoe to wear with linen pants, jeans, and lighter colored cotton pants. I have a pair of Lidforts that are showing some wear after three years, and I guess I could wear the McKays, but why not find something else... And then Grapevinehill received its most recent shipment:

Stock Photo - For Benecios and Tiger02 on budget antique jobs

I sniped these from Grapevinehill. I won the auction by $2 and change... literally. The double monks in their virgin state are pictured above.

I decided to snap photos only after I started messing with the toe cap. I found the 50/50 isopropol/water mix works well as a solvent to distribute the pigment from paste wax. An added bonus, was the paste and alcohol method required less application than the cream technique. The coloration looks much more permanent than my previous efforts. Total time invested: Approximately 2-3 hours with periodic photography breaks.

And here is the final product:

Comments: The right shoe has a darker toe cap than the left, and the antiquing isnt quite uniform. From about 6" away, the differences are not very noticeable. The closeup photos highlight the differences. In all honesty, my efforts were not that different from the professionals--EG actually has some inconsistencies in their finishes, just look at a macro finish of an Edwardian shoe.

Keeping that in mind, I decided to compare my own "Norcaltransplantian" finish to "Edwardian." The heel cap in the second pic is probably most comparable to the actual EG finish:

Alright, time to be productive for the rest of the day....

 

[coatandthai]

Beeyootiful! So the grapevinehill pic shows an almost yellow shoe -- is that inaccurate or did you change the color? Also, what brand of paste do you use and do you think it matters?

BTW, this IS being productive -- providing R&R so you can be refreshed and ready to work next week.

 

[CaptChaos]

Fantastic work on the cap toe antiquing!

 

[norcaltransplant]

I'm headed out for a run. Sorry, I forgot to add product information:
1) Dark Brown Kiwi wax for highlighting
(toe cap and heel counter)
2) Cole Haan (carnuba wax) in Tan; used to antique the monk and blend the toe cap and the remainder of the vamp.
3) Weston/Saphir and Cole Haan wax for mirror finishing

Comment: I forgot to add a mix of burgundy wax to the initial antiquing phase. I like the red highlights appearing in a few of the Soulier pictures. I also plan on purchasing a tin of Red Kiwi paste--the stuff usually reserved for women's shoes--for the sole purpose of antiquing in the future.

EDIT: The white balance on my digital ELPH isn't that accurate and my indoor photos tend to appear somewhat orange, even with a little photoshop assistance. The stock photo of the double monks is actually closest to tan and not as jaundice as the GVH photos.

 

[kronik]

Awesome, awesome antiquing. GJ.

 

[designprofessor]

I like them all! 1,2 & especially 4! Those Testonis are gorgeous.

 

[thinman]

Beautiful shoes and great antiquing!! FWIW, your suede Altons are C&J Handgrades on the 337 last.

 

[Mr. Checks]

Aha, I see you could not resist the $259 shell cordovan CJs from Barneys! Neither could I.

Love the antiquing effect. My first effort was not so great on a pair of JM loafers.

 

[skalogre]

Very nice work there!

Ngrh. Now I am starting to look in to those monkstraps. Resist Stelio...resist!

 

[benecios]

Excellent work,I am already wrapping some of my shoes to send to you for the
"norcaltransplantian".

 

[Ed355]

After seeing your shoes, I have now decided to buy a pair of the C&J Polo monkstrap. A quick question - do they run big compared to the purple label Mackay? I wear size 9 in the Mackay. Thanks.

 

[norcaltransplant]

The Chawner (double monk), Tellman, and Alton (suede wingtip) are all built on the same elongated last some members insist is the 337.

The Benton, another captoe, is built on a different last with more standard proportions. This might, in fact, be the 330.

The MacKay and Chawner are both narrow, though I recommend going a half size down from your normal 888 size if you are buying the double monk.

 

[thinman]

norcal, you're right about that 341 last. Your CJ cordovan shoe is definitely more elegant than any comparable Alden shoe I've seen or the CJ cordovan shoes made on the 325 last (I own the wingtip Darltons and love them anyway).

FWIW, my insistence that the Polo Alton is a CJ Handgrade on the 337 last is based on email from CJ.

 

[sho'nuff]

nice job on the double monkstraps.
looks just like the edward green factory finish