Vintage Dress shoe appreciation, tips, maintenance and advice

[wasmisterfu]

I bought a used shine box that included some old tins of Kiwi paste polish. I'm not sure what they used as a solvent back then but it smells like straight-up gasoline or kerosene. Wow. I think there's a pink elephant in the room with me.

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I dunno man, the kiwi and AE waxes I have in my shine box all smell like an oil refinery, so I’m not sure much has changed. Or maybe I’m so old I don’t realize I haven’t bought new wax in a long time...

And don’t worry about the pink elephant, we’re old friends. He’s just checking your shoes out

 

[stook1]

Heads up 9.5D guys. Need new soles sometime soon but I don't see any cracks.
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I took a close look at that pair too. May need a resolve sooner than later given the separation at the toe. Hard to tell. Given the overall condition they seemed like a good deal to me for someone that’s prepared to do a resole if necessary.

 

[ccpl14]

Sir, I couldn’t keep track of the math. Just know I’m two years younger... and I have a 5 and 7 yo at home.

I’m 50 even. Got a note from a friend earlier this week who is a few years older than me that he and his wife will be expecting their first child in December. As of August, I’ll be an empty nester, so I’ll be done before he even starts. Blows my mind.

 

[CWOyaji]

Somebody took the plunge; was it one of us?

 

[Quantum17]

Somebody took the plunge; was it one of us?
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My size, but it wasn’t me. I was following it tho.

 

[Quantum17]

For Wingtip Wednesday how about a little Shark?

Florsheim Shortwing Bal in black Shark.

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I think shark is among the most resilient and toughest leather there is. I love them. In general, exotics are appealing because of the difference in texture, patterns, and appearance. I am with the camp of kudu wholecuts or at most camel PTB or PTD or shark saddle. The added brogue would make it a tad too busy for an already unique patterns of exotics, imho. But the shark wingtip are hard to find, no doubt. Great find ?

 

[wasmisterfu]

A high school friend is getting married next month. I, along with three others from our group of friends, am standing up for him. We're all wearing navy blue suits, and the groom has requested brown shoes. He sent a picture of his selected pair for reference.

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Of course I have a few at my disposal. I also sent some pictures back of possible pairs, to wit:

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Admittedly not brown enough. So there's these:

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Neither got a warm reception. I'll blame the bride-to-be. Women, right fellas? Well, hopefully these Alden captoes pass muster.

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They need a bit more work, like another application of polish and sole edge dressing. But I'm going to get my suit fitted and need to wear them, so they'll have to do for now.

You should stick with plan A. Specifically, I'd go for the green eyes. Forget those Alden's, they just don't pop.

 

[right_hook]

Please tell me I’m not the oldest in the group. That would be depressing.
kilowatts

Don't worry, we're in vintage appreciation thread after all

 

[vim147]

Dack’s kudu wholecuts courtesy of @gorebug came with me for my first day back in the office in 15 months. I also got to use the Dremel machine I found the on the sidewalk (it has a “free” sign on it) in my neighborhood. It’s brand new as far as I can tell. I feel pretty awesome with one of these in my office. Look at it go....
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Dremel ?

 

[happypebble]

Hanover Handsewn black loafers, deadstock. Only worn on carpet so far. When I tried them on with standard dress socks there was a bit of heel slippage going on, but a slightly thicker pair of socks seems to have taken care of it. Size: 13D.

 

[smfdoc]

I signed up for AARP as soon as they sent me an application. A few weeks later, I used that AARP card to save $1,000 on a summer vacation at the Westin Playa Conchal in Costa Rica. AARP rate blew away the AAA rate. I have no pride.

My father, 93, reveled in turning 65. He would approach any cashier in any store and loudly ask, “Hey, you have any old farts discounts?”

 

[happypebble]

My father, 93, reveled in turning 65. He would approach any cashier in any store and loudly ask, “Hey, you have any old farts discounts?”

When I was in my mid 40s, one day I went to McDonald's for lunch, ordering coffee with my meal. They give me this weird looking, small coffee cup, not a normal one. I look at the receipt and the clueless teen cashier had rung me up for a Free Senior Coffee! Seriously? Not even fifty at that point. Guess I must have looked ancient to the young kid. Oh, and @smfdoc: my dad, who lived to 89, had a baseball cap that said OLD FART. He would wear that whenever he went out for something. He said it got him discounts.

 

[suitforcourt]

These McHale u-wings were likely made in the 1940s, so maybe even before my parents were born.

@Jiqea hooked me up with this awesome pair. Also wearing Naked and Famous selvedge and their Super Guy cut is slim and fitting.

 

[smfdoc]

Some of the members of this thread occasionally wander off into denim land, especially extolling the virtue of selvedge material. I always thought selvedge described a person who would not share a box of chocolates with his friends. Nevertheless, I ran across this video of Roy making jeans. I find sewing machines mesmerizing, which is probably why I own 4 machines. Perhaps you will enjoy watching him working on sewing machines that are are clearly vintage in age.

 

[dissipate]

Hi everyone, I'm in the middle of dyeing a pair of shoes (monkstraps) for the first time, and have so far put on a first layer of Fiebing's Dark Brown.

Does anyone have tips on what combination of colours is needed to get something similar to Carlos Santos' Guimaraes (see example picture below)? I'm thinking maybe Fiebing's Mahogany and Black as well? There seems to be some red in there.