Shoe idea, you think it would have good results?

[DGP]

Originally Posted by PG2G

Out of curiosity, what do you mean when you say beat the crap out of them. Just wearing them for a while, or doing something more deliberate?

I mean just wearing them for everything at first, not using shoe trees, and not taking pains to keep them from getting dirty/scuffed/scratched. As it is, when I'm wearing my dress shoes, I'm very careful with them (some of them are quite expensive), but I'd wear these more like I wear my Chucks.

 

[PG2G]

Oh, okay, I assumed you meant doing crazy stuff to them

If you haven't taken a look at it already, there's a thread over on superfuture called "Shoes that look better with age," could be useful. It's pretty damn long though

http://supertalk.superfuture.com/showthread.php?t=13257

 

[drizzt3117]

Originally Posted by DGP

In WAYWN, I've seen some of your shots that include some Zara shoes/boots (which I've seen at pretty low prices), how have those worn in? I think what I will look for is a pair of JM shoes, I've seen some my dad has had for 15yrs+, and the uppers have held up well (better than other crappy mall shoes). I see those at the Rack for $100 all the time.

They've worn in nicely. They're surprisingly high quality. All the Zara stuff I have are boots though, not shoes.

The J&M shoes you can buy now are not even close to the same thing that your dad bought 15 years ago. They're chinese-made glued garbage now, unfortunately. They used to be a nice American made quality shoe like AE, but unfortunately, no longer.

 

[VMan]

I think you should spend $250-300 on a pair of $400-$500 shoes (good quality, nicely styled) and just wear them hard, break them in naturally. Good shoes are like good jeans in that they bounce back from abuse due to their build quality, and are meant to improve with age.

 

[DGP]

Thanks drizzt and VMan. I think I'm going to hit the Rack, sometimes they have very nice Itlaian shoes for under $200. I've always ignored them because they seem a bit scratched up (which I don't want for dress, but don't mind for this). Also, boots wouldn't be so bad, I just want ones that look like a dress shoe when covered by m pants. The only thing I want to avoid is a slip-on, for some reason the jeans/loafers look has gotten old, IMO, and doesn't work at all for a vintagy-inspired look.

 

[stickonatree]

i've actually done this myself. results were not great though...

 

[DGP]

Went to Zara today, and found the perfect shoe, for $99. However, a 42 was a bit big, and a 41 a bit small. I was wearing thin socks today, so maybe I'll go back tomorrow wearing the thickest I own, seeing as I won't need to be able to wear these with dress socks.

 

[amlai]

Originally Posted by robbie

Also,
i've always wondered what would happen if you rarely pollished your shoes but used a different color polish each time you polished them. would it just **** them up, or ?

Polishing a lighter shoe with a darker color can create an interesting patina effect. Similarly, polishing a black shoe with brown will give the shoes a greater depth of color.

If you polish with only neutral shoe polish, then eventually you'll get that bleached out look.