Vintage Dress shoe appreciation, tips, maintenance and advice

[Oshare]

I've been wearing these 1960s Bostonians lately while there's still some summer left. View attachment 1221731

Nice!

Definitely something to be said for lighter weight and breathable shoes in the summer.

Although, -these- may be the ultimate breathable summer dress shoes.

And the maker is...

 

[stook1]

That’s a ridiculous transformation. You should probably delete the whole 21 cent purchase price picture before selling them for hundreds of dollars (IMHO).

I agree completely. However, not to be a stickler but that was his change.

 

[Oshare]

Does anyone have experience with dating Heinrich Dinkelacker shoes?
They've been around for 140 years, but still make shoes by hand in Hungary... and I can't find anything that hints at how to date a pair.

I'm eyeing this pair in Japan that is slightly mislabeled and reasonably priced... especially because I don't have anything like this in my collection right now. Possibly half a size large, but goyser welt stitching is really cool and the nail work on those soles -- I'm just drooling all over my keyboard!

 

[stook1]

Nice!

Definitely something to be said for lighter weight and breathable shoes in the summer.

Although, -these- may be the ultimate breathable summer shoes.

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And the maker is...

View attachment 1221888

Before I say anything that might impact the durability of our friendship... are those JLs yours?

 

[suitforcourt]

I own Leeds and they fit true to size. I had 93606s and they had more volume in the forefoot, so I sold them.

Thank goodness. I will need 9eee for Leeds.

 

[Oshare]

Before I say anything that might impact the durability of our friendship... are those JLs yours?

Hehe. No, they are not. Someone is selling them on auction in Japan right now.

They had a starting bid of $1 and are currently up to $100 with 21 bids. Ending in a day.
Sadly, UK size 8E, so too small for me.

Calling @suitforcourt ... Interested?

 

[wasmisterfu]

From what I know, AE won't touch the shoes if worked on by another cobbler.

Honestly, lots of skilled cobblers in North America. Where do you live? Lots of our thread brothers will have a referral. Also, most cobblers will do mail in service.

AE has no issue with 3rd party resoles, heels, etc, so long as they were done properly. What will get your shoes rejected are the following:

• Glued on soles;
• Heel stack nailed through the insole;
• Outsole stitched through the insole (I’m not kidding, this really happens when a cobbler only has a Blake stitcher);
• Any modification of the insole structure;
• Patched uppers.

Basically, if the shoe no longer comes apart the way they expect it to, or if they think it will fail relasting, they’ll reject it. Any decent cobbler should understand the minor difference in AE construction (e.g. nailless construction), and not create a problem for recrafting.

I sent in a pair with sketchy 3rd party soles and top-lift, without any issues. Generally you want to get a couple of resoles out of the welt before sending for recrafting, as that maximizes longevity (rewelting is hard on the shoe, so you generally only get 3-4 recrafts).

Below is the actual official statement from AE, on their recraft FAQ:

“Q: I've already had a pair of shoes repaired by another cobbler. Can they still be recrafted?”

“A: Depends. Because the recrafting process is exclusive to Allen Edmonds, many cobblers do not have the correct tools to reconstruct our shoes, therefore they resort to using alternative methods of resoling (such as stitching through the insoles, or driving nails through the insoles) which prevents us from being able to disassemble the shoes. Our shoes are crafted with care, that's why there is no one better to care for them than an Allen Edmonds cobbler.”

Basically, if your cobbler isn’t a clown, you’ll be fine.

 

[suitforcourt]

Hehe. No, they are not. Someone is selling them on auction in Japan right now.

They had a starting bid of $1 and are currently up to $100 with 21 bids. Ending in a day.
Sadly, UK size 8E, so too small for me.

Calling @suitforcourt ... Interested?

Too small. I need 8.5eee, at least.

 

[wasmisterfu]

Nice!

Definitely something to be said for lighter weight and breathable shoes in the summer.

Although, -these- may be the ultimate breathable summer dress shoes.

View attachment 1221887

View attachment 1221886


And the maker is...

View attachment 1221888

Sorry to say, I’m not feeling those.

 

[ccpl14]

Me, goad? Perish the thought. Oh by the way, here's a last picture of the Leeds, before they hit the web tonight:
View attachment 1221854

Spoiler: Before

View attachment 1221855

So, um, those look amazing. Would you mind sharing your process?

 

[wasmisterfu]

Does anyone have experience with dating Heinrich Dinkelacker shoes?
They've been around for 140 years, but still make shoes by hand in Hungary... and I can't find anything that hints at how to date a pair.

I'm eyeing this pair in Japan that is slightly mislabeled and reasonably priced... especially because I don't have anything like this in my collection right now. Possibly half a size large, but goyser welt stitching is really cool and the nail work on those soles -- I'm just drooling all over my keyboard!

View attachment 1221902

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View attachment 1221906

Those are freakin cool.

 

[stook1]

Hehe. No, they are not. Someone is selling them on auction in Japan right now.

They had a starting bid of $1 and are currently up to $100 with 21 bids. Ending in a day.
Sadly, UK size 8E, so too small for me.

Calling @suitforcourt ... Interested?

Oh good. In that case...

I have a pair of old Cole Haans in great shape that I was thinking about converting into lawn mowing shoes. If any of you guys are interested just let me know. Cut the tongue and you'll have 90% of the JL for a bargain price. Ok maybe less than 90% due to the fake welt.

 

[wasmisterfu]

Oh good. In that case...

I have a pair of old Cole Haans in great shape that I was thinking about converting into lawn mowing shoes. If any of you guys are interested just let me know. Cut the tongue and you'll have 90% of the JL for a bargain price. Ok maybe less than 90% due to the fake welt.
View attachment 1221937

 

[stook1]

From what I know, AE won't touch the shoes if worked on by another cobbler.

Honestly, lots of skilled cobblers in North America. Where do you live? Lots of our thread brothers will have a referral. Also, most cobblers will do mail in service.

Ooops, missed this earlier. Thanks for replying. I am pretty sure AE will recraft these and I just might do it when the time comes since I like them. These were seconds or closeouts or something from around 6 or so years ago. I've got this mental thing about spending as much on a resole as I paid for the shoe. However, I actually really like these shoes and obviously I am preaching to the wrong choir here, lol. I've got some other issues with this pair as well. Some of the stitching on one of the heel counters is eventually going to give up the ghost. Ah well... anyway...

This is what they looked like before the cobbler *********** pooch on the work, in case anyone is curious. Please try your best to ignore the mismatched trees and the bad bow. I took all kinds of crap about it last time I posted this photo.

Elgin

 

[stook1]

Does anyone have experience with dating Heinrich Dinkelacker shoes?
They've been around for 140 years, but still make shoes by hand in Hungary... and I can't find anything that hints at how to date a pair.

I'm eyeing this pair in Japan that is slightly mislabeled and reasonably priced... especially because I don't have anything like this in my collection right now. Possibly half a size large, but goyser welt stitching is really cool and the nail work on those soles -- I'm just drooling all over my keyboard!

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Now these are pretty cool. HD shoes are pretty wild. I find some of them to be just a bit too busy (for me) since they are often really heavily brogued with the norwegian welt. I do think they are unique and interesting though. No idea how old they are or how to date them but, if I recall correctly, the soles look fairly consistent with how they currently look. My guess is that they are not all that old but I could be wrong.