Vintage Dress shoe appreciation, tips, maintenance and advice

[Nobleprofessor]

Anybody wear 7.5D or E and interested in some Nettletons or Wright? Both LWB.

The Nettleton have a really interesting ROUND cleat.

Somebody mentioned smaller brands. How about a 9D Stafford in a pretty cool reddish brown.

 

[CWOyaji]

Heartbreak coming.

View attachment 1462567

Search in my prior posts, I've had some positive results from my cobbler reinforcing worse cracks than that on pairs of shell Leeds and J&M shortwings and they've been stable with lots of wear after the repairs. All is not lost.

 

[Nobleprofessor]

Found these old Nettleton. I’m totally jealous of the patina! Great color and depth. I have never seen a Round vcleat. I guess it wouldn’t be a V since it’s round. Either way, it’s cool.

They are available. I have no idea what they are worth. If they were my size, I would rock the heck out of them!

By the way, I didn’t polish these. I just used some VSC to clean off the gunk.

 

[slimjohnil6]

Anybody wear 7.5D or E and interested in some Nettletons or Wright? Both LWB.

The Nettleton have a really interesting ROUND cleat.

Somebody mentioned smaller brands. How about a 9D Stafford in a pretty cool reddish brown.

Any pics of the 9D Staffords?

 

[eTrojan]

Im saying most of the time I wear a C width. But, when I checked last, Rancourt didn’t sell C width. They only sold D, B, or E.

I didnt actually buy these. I did a trade/sale with @Centaurus3200 and these Rancourt were part of the trade. I wasn’t sure they would fit. But, they do except they are a little tight. In fact, now that I have worn them for several hours, they are sort of making my feet feel a little numb. Probably just a tad narrow for me.

by the way, @eTrojan what is the style number of your green LWB? I’m trying to look up the style number to see if I can find another pair.

Florsheim Varsity 30678. The same model that @davidVC a write up on.

Florsheim 30678 Weathered Moss | vcleat

vcleat.com

My version is greener than his, but that’s the nature of Weathered Moss. Some years were more brown; some were more green.

 

[Nealjpage]

Found these old Nettleton. I’m totally jealous of the patina! Great color and depth. I have never seen a Round vcleat. I guess it wouldn’t be a V since it’s round. Either way, it’s cool.

They are available. I have no idea what they are worth. If they were my size, I would rock the heck out of them!

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By the way, I didn’t polish these. I just used some VSC to clean off the gunk.

Those are beautiful. I wish that I had experience with Nettleton lasts and sizing to know if that size would fit me.

 

[suitforcourt]

Those are beautiful. I wish that I had experience with Nettleton lasts and sizing to know if that size would fit me.

I have 2 pairs of vintage Nettleton. I find they fit generous in the vamp and toe box area. Even more generous than vintage Florsheim.

My 9eee pair is very wide, and the 9.5D one is perfect width wise.

 

[Nobleprofessor]

Any pics of the 9D Staffords?

not yet. I’ll take some.

 

[woofmang]

Wore my vintage AE Black Cherry Shell Bristols today:

 

[Joe Wohkittel]

Working from home often means very few chances to wear 90% of my collection. I usually end up in Flip Flops or Sperry or something equally casual. I wore the Sperry A/O Topsider when I was in middle school (it was the 80’s). But, I never really liked the flat sole and lack of support.

Quoddy and Rancourt are very well regarded and they use a similar vibram flat sole, but I THINK they have more support.

I’m not convinced I like either of these. I like the brown leather on the Quoddy, but I like the style of the Rancourt better (which are blue by the way).

Im pretty sure I would not pay retail prices for these. But, with the quality construction and vibram sole, I’m sure they will last for a LONG time.

I have also heard complaints about Rancourt sizing. But, now I know what my size is for their shoes 10.5B (they are a tiny bit narrow, but they should stretch a tad). I think they only sell B, D, and E width.

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I like the look and flexibility of the camp moc sole, but they sure aren't "made for walking", to use Nancy's words. Yuketen is easier on my feet then Quoddy or Rancourt. The AE Eastport is better still, but I don't like the look as well, and I'm not sure about the current lot, as they are now made in the DR.

 

[Oshare]

End of a long 4-day weekend in Tokyo. It was nice weather for a stroll.

 

[meister]

Tell me these are not disguised Golden Harvests...

 

[Nobleprofessor]

End of a long 4-day weekend in Tokyo. It was nice weather for a stroll.

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WHAT? Shell Cordovan YUMA??? The Holy Grail. It is like seeing a Yeti riding a Unicorn. Okay, maybe not that rare. These do exist. But, not very often.

Tell me these are not disguised Golden Harvests...

View attachment 1462996

Don’t leave us in suspense? Are they 93631?

 

[Nobleprofessor]

Any pics of the 9D Staffords?

Here you go. Made in the USA Stafford LWB 9D. It is amazing now to compare this shoe to anything sold at JCPenney now. In fact, I could argue these shoes are higher quality and better made than almost any department store shoes sold currently— with the possible exception of a few brands sold at higher end department stores like AE.

Real GY Welt, pretty tight well done stitching, thick leather soles, etc. They are heavy!

Nice color too! I didn’t polish these because I didn’t want to change the color. I only used some Bick 4 to condition them.

No idea what these are worth. Probably not as much as they should be. If anyone wants them, make me an offer. I’m reasonable.

 

[jpm1]

1969 Florsheim 93615 Imperial Kenmoor Norwegian Front Blucher