• Hi, I am the owner and main administrator of Styleforum. If you find the forum useful and fun, please help support it by buying through the posted links on the forum. Our main, very popular sales thread, where the latest and best sales are listed, are posted HERE

    Purchases made through some of our links earns a commission for the forum and allows us to do the work of maintaining and improving it. Finally, thanks for being a part of this community. We realize that there are many choices today on the internet, and we have all of you to thank for making Styleforum the foremost destination for discussions of menswear.
  • This site contains affiliate links for which Styleforum may be compensated.
  • We would like to welcome House of Huntington as an official Affiliate Vendor. Shop past season Drake's, Nigel Cabourn, Private White V.C. and other menswear luxury brands at exceptional prices below retail. Please visit the Houise of Huntington thread and welcome them to the forum.

  • STYLE. COMMUNITY. GREAT CLOTHING.

    Bored of counting likes on social networks? At Styleforum, you’ll find rousing discussions that go beyond strings of emojis.

    Click Here to join Styleforum's thousands of style enthusiasts today!

    Styleforum is supported in part by commission earning affiliate links sitewide. Please support us by using them. You may learn more here.

Foxtrot82

Member
Joined
Sep 15, 2013
Messages
5
Reaction score
0
Hi all,
I just got a pair of these shoes and I am a bit unsure about which color polish I should use for them. Here they are:

700

Other pics are available here: http://www.ilgergo.it/uomo/brogue/supervisor-19422.html

The color has hints of lighter cherry but overall it's quite dark.

Should I go for neutral or something else? I usually use saphir creams but didn't find something quite right. If not neutral I could go for:

-burgundy: don't know if it might hide the cherry hues
400


-or something lighter like this (this il called hermes red): maybe too light?
400



Any advice?

Thanks a lot!
 

kentyman

Senior Member
Joined
Oct 1, 2012
Messages
761
Reaction score
85
Hi all,
I just got a pair of these shoes and I am a bit unsure about which color polish I should use for them. Here they are:


Other pics are available here: http://www.ilgergo.it/uomo/brogue/supervisor-19422.html

The color has hints of lighter cherry but overall it's quite dark.

Should I go for neutral or something else? I usually use saphir creams but didn't find something quite right. If not neutral I could go for:

-burgundy: don't know if it might hide the cherry hues


-or something lighter like this (this il called hermes red): maybe too light?



Any advice?

Thanks a lot!

It might be worth buying -- or at least printing on a good, calibrated printer -- this: http://www.hangerproject.com/saphir-nuancier-color-chart.html
 

patrickBOOTH

Stylish Dinosaur
Dubiously Honored
Joined
Oct 16, 2006
Messages
38,393
Reaction score
13,643
Alternating. Then again it doesn't really matter. Use one until you are a "feeling" another. Another way to look at it is the waxes and oils in polishes inherently make leather darker so sometimes choosing a color slightly lighter offsets this a bit.
 

patrickBOOTH

Stylish Dinosaur
Dubiously Honored
Joined
Oct 16, 2006
Messages
38,393
Reaction score
13,643

molecular question- is there at temperture at which it is not advisable to wear leather shoes? anyone warm them up before wearing? (because cold leather can crack easily)


this was discussed briefly in the leather qualities and properties thread, maybe search in there a bit, but I remember DW bring up how a lot of oils and sun get quite volatile and break down at high temps I believe over ~130 degrees F. Dry cool weather certainly plays a part and adds to the necessity of conditioning.
 

DWFII

Bespoke Boot and Shoemaker
Dubiously Honored
Joined
Jan 8, 2008
Messages
10,132
Reaction score
5,714

molecular question- is there at temperture at which it is not advisable to wear leather shoes? anyone warm them up before wearing? (because cold leather can crack easily)


Not sure that's true...or not universally true. Maybe it depends on how cold you're talking about. It's worth remembering that Hillary climbed Everest in leather boots. At one point in time (in my memory) all ski boots and the harness, was leather. In fact, once upon a time all shoes were leather. Most mittens, ice skates, sleigh harness, and high altitude aviator clothing (think WWII bomber pilots) are/were leather.
 
Last edited:

David Copeland

Senior Member
Joined
Apr 6, 2013
Messages
905
Reaction score
76
Hi, bit late in the game, and I'm not sure if this has been posted yet (apologies if it has), but this fellow has some useful shinning tutorials on his interesting blog -

http://www.theshoesnobblog.com/polish-your-shoes-properly

Basically very similar to Lear's first post, but it's good to hear it from a different source.

(Sorta passed SF muster - http://www.styleforum.net/t/171528/shoe-snob-new-blog-about-shoes/0_100)

Loving this thread, thanks to all contributors!
Thanks for your contribution! Another link now added to My Favorites.

May you have a Merry Christmas,

David
 
Last edited:

HKflaneur

Member
Joined
Jun 28, 2013
Messages
11
Reaction score
2
Hi, bit late in the game, and I'm not sure if this has been posted yet (apologies if it has), but this fellow has some useful shinning tutorials on his interesting blog -

http://www.theshoesnobblog.com/polish-your-shoes-properly

Basically very similar to Lear's first post, but it's good to hear it from a different source.

(Sorta passed SF muster - http://www.styleforum.net/t/171528/shoe-snob-new-blog-about-shoes/0_100)

Loving this thread, thanks to all contributors!
Thanks for your contribution! Another link now added to My Favorites.

May you have a Merry Christmas,

David

I followed this guide from the Shoe Snob Blog and it was excellent. I still need to try his method for getting the mirror shine on the toe/heel, but my shoes looked great after following the polishing instructions he laid out. I'll try to post pictures if I can reproduce his mirror shine.
 

mezentius

Senior Member
Joined
Jul 3, 2013
Messages
204
Reaction score
80
Hi chaps;

Just purchased a shipment of saphir creams, renovateur and reno'mat. I'm planning to switch to using these to take care of my shoes, on which I had previously used Meltonian creams only. Is there a sort of reboot procedure I should do when switching polishes?

Thanks!
 

patrickBOOTH

Stylish Dinosaur
Dubiously Honored
Joined
Oct 16, 2006
Messages
38,393
Reaction score
13,643
Well, there is a debate about this. Some people assert that when switching from the silicone based creams like Meltonian to Saphir, which is "natural" you have to remove the silicone that is bulit up using Renomat and re-build the finish using the Saphir products. Honestly, I don't think you have to do this, I would only personally use Renomat if you are recoloring your shoes, or maybe a touch if you have bad, persistent salt stain on your shoes. It is acetone based and pretty damn harsh. In my opinion using that stuff as some do is like taking three steps back only take 2 steps forward using the Renovateur to condition. I would think using the Renovateur on your shoes, buffing, then using either the Saphir cream or wax will be fine. Over time this process should be enough to gradually remove the silicone product and redeposit with the ingredients in the Saphir product.

Also, despite it starting a **** show on here some time ago, I suggest you get a proper conditioner for the vamps (where the shoe flexes) such as Lexol, or Bickmore's Bick4. They are better suited for conditioning and not just an "all-in-one" product like Renovateur which has solvents and is under debate for simply being a neutral cream polish.
 

David Copeland

Senior Member
Joined
Apr 6, 2013
Messages
905
Reaction score
76

umbrella613

Active Member
Joined
Feb 17, 2009
Messages
28
Reaction score
0

Thanks for your contribution!  Another link now added to My Favorites.

May you have a Merry Christmas,


David



I followed this guide from the Shoe Snob Blog and it was excellent. I still need to try his method for getting the mirror shine on the toe/heel, but my shoes looked great after following the polishing instructions he laid out. I'll try to post pictures if I can reproduce his mirror shine.


Thanks! My pleasure.

Now, and it may depend on the quality of the shoe, but using old t-shirts (which may be relatively rough) can wear out the finish. I have a pair of Bostonian wingtips whose toes definitely got lighter after using old t-shirts and the multiple-wax-coat procedure. Or perhaps I was buffing too hard. Just saying - be careful when applying and buffing multiple coats, it could take a toll...
 

chatre

Member
Joined
Sep 10, 2013
Messages
11
Reaction score
0
I recently bought a pair of shoes (dark brown calf leather, leather soles) that I intend to use solely for nights out. The idea is that this will give my other shoes a chance to last longer, as they will not suffer from being drenched in alcoholic beverages, etc.

Having said that, I would still like for these shoes to look good for as long as possible, and thus, I now need some advice on how to care for these shoes. For my other shoes I use something called "leather balsam" every now and then, and also this stuff whenever the shoes begin to look a bit scuffed. Is there anything else I can do for shoes that will take some heavy beatings? Maybe some kind of repellent?

Many thanks,
 

Featured Sponsor

How important is full vs half canvas to you for heavier sport jackets?

  • Definitely full canvas only

    Votes: 55 35.5%
  • Half canvas is fine

    Votes: 60 38.7%
  • Really don't care

    Votes: 17 11.0%
  • Depends on fabric

    Votes: 27 17.4%
  • Depends on price

    Votes: 28 18.1%

Forum statistics

Threads
505,180
Messages
10,579,211
Members
223,888
Latest member
alitamartin07
Top