Shoe Antiquing

[Gman67]

Nice Job!

 

[mikal]

The process is basically correct, although there is no need to thin out Feibings. Also, the quality of the shoe will greatly influence the result - the better the shoe, the better the result - so keep in mind the process on a 'cheap' shoe (don't know what you are working on) will be the same but the result much different on, say, an EG.

Also, the amount of color you want to effect will depend on the creams you are using. Simply using various Feibings dye will not provide any sharp contrast in colors - when you apply another coat to an original, you are, in effect, reactivating the previous and blending it. You have to use a mixed process of dye and pigmented creams to get a result. If you are using the Saphir MDO creams, you will get a lot of pigment penetration.....others, not so much (including Blue Label Saphir).

It's been awhile since I have seen this thread come back up, so it might be worth mentioning that my original posts were fairly straight forward, dark to light same color refinishing. Now, there are so many people doing it, and taking it to another level of color mixtures, that the process I described usually won't give the same effect. The addition of fashion colors and blending them into the refinishing work is always achieved now by the use of the resin self shine creams and quick color liquids that used to be marketed only to shoe repair shops, but now can be found on-line. These products come in tons of colors, and are a neat way to make a unique look, if only used in small segments.

Hi Ron,

Awesome thread - perfect work!
This thread was the reason I subscribed to styleforum.

I am about to start experimenting at an old (and cheap) pair of shoes using the method you described - in the beginning of this thread , using Feibings-dyes and Saphir-products. My target is to experiment on the cheap shoes before I do it on a more expensive pair.

Do you think that nowdays there are other ways/methods that may have the same or similar result , using the quick color liquids? ...
Do you have some products to suggest?

Thank you in advance
Mike

 

[mr monty]

C&J for RL picked up on ebay for $135

before

after

 

[al128]

very nice job!

 

[jungleroller]

No where near the level of some of you guys but my Rutledges were becoming a bit undefined so I worked with some black polish to bring back their original look a bit. In hind sight I wish I would've used the blue polish I have instead of the black but I'm happy with the results.

Original stock photo

Before

After

Next up, I think I'm going to mess around with my AE Strands. Any ideas?

 

[SimplyLime]

Bumping an old thread. Hopefully someone i still reading this. When I dye to a specific color lets say I want a combination antiquing of navy blue and black. Do i start applying the darker one in this case black then slowly make my way up to navy blue or is it the other way around?

 

[SoGent]

Bumping an old thread. Hopefully someone i still reading this. When I dye to a specific color lets say I want a combination antiquing of navy blue and black. Do i start applying the darker one in this case black then slowly make my way up to navy blue or is it the other way around?

it's the reverse. lighter to darker always

 

[SimplyLime]

it's the reverse. lighter to darker always

So if I started lets say from navy blue, wouldn't the last few coats of black cover up the navy blue?

EDIT: Can't ship dyes to CA?

How the hell am I supposed to get one?

 

[SoGent]

So if I started lets say from navy blue, wouldn't the last few coats of black cover up the navy blue?

EDIT: Can't ship dyes to CA?

How the hell am I supposed to get one?

not sure about shipping to CA but try Saphir dyes from Ron Rider or Kirby @ The Hanger Project
if you're trying to darken a true navy blue as opposed to Gaziano's Midnight Blue you can layer
Salphir blue over existing blue without darkening it that much & can follow that with black polish instead of dye
which I would recommend anyway . . . . the reason is, it provides a smoother coloring & finish

you can also regulate the depth of color by letting it dry for 10 - 15 minutes then rub it down to remove
some of it so you can take it where you want in steps which I think is better anyway . . . . gives you more control that way

 

[Chips]

I don't think I've posted here on SF for close to 6 years now. Shoes brought me to the forum initially and they brought me back again now. Anyways, I couldn't pass up on a screaming deal on some new Trickers Stow Brogue Derby Boots in Marron, and I knew I'd want to antique them, so I had to jump back on here to review the steps. Everywhere I see them online they're around $500-600. I paid $119 shipped for a new pair from Haberdash tonight in a rare stroke of luck that the size on sale was mine (13). At that kind of price, I figured I could really have fun with them and antique them the way I want them. I did a similar process with just cremes and polish on some AE's that were too light, that turned out great. I also had a leather guy here in San Francisco do a dye job on a Brooks Bros jacket I picked up here on the B&S back in the day. Like mentioned before, some leathers won't take dye the way we'd want them to, and will eventually chip and peel. This jacket doesn't get a lot of wear, but it looks spectacular. It was an unappealing rustic peanut butter looking color originally and basically sat unused.


Here's the Tricker's from the Haberdash site. I'll likely aim to darken the uppers more than the toe, but will pay attention to darkening the brogueing well. I'll definitely share the results.





After a lot of various colors of dye, it now looks pretty awesome. Sorry, it's not a full length shot.

 

[NorCal_1]

welcome back Chips

there's a guy in Italy that's doing some amazing patina work even with suede - Alexander Nurulaeff - check out his website and his videos on YouTube

I love the black and brown of the Venturi boot near the bottom...might be a good goal for your boots

http://www.dandyshoecare.it/

http://dandyshoecare.tumblr.com/archive



[VIDEO][/video]

 

[Chips]

Those are impressive! Thanks. More photo inspiration to use.

 

[Master-Classter]

pretty dang awesome

 

[Journeyman]

@Chips - That jacket really does look good. As you say, the colour wasn't too appealing originally, but now it's a really nice, rich colour that's both more wearable and that has more depth to it, too.

 

[patrickBOOTH]

My guess is all of those old polish tins are just that, old, vintage polish tins. I wonder what he's actually using.