Vintage Dress shoe appreciation, tips, maintenance and advice

[chickene]

2 front burgundy color are shell.

The burgundy MacNeils in the front are also shell. The one pair of boots in the back could be shell, but the resolution on my phone isn't very good.

My instincts weren’t so bad after all left burgundy turned out to be bookbinder:

The other pair was shell though (as I suspected) and I’ll probably be reselling it to someone with 10EE sized feet.

 

[sam67]

My 1974 GH is finally showing it’s age. So sad. Maybe keeping the renovateur on it will hold it here. Any tips?

 

[mormonopoly]

Is there a hidden stitch on this FootJoy loafer or just a glue job? thanks
View attachment 1791716

Looks like it’s just glued. With that much wear, you’d see some stitches poking through.

 

[suitforcourt]

My 1974 GH is finally showing it’s age. So sad. Maybe keeping the renovateur on it will hold it here. Any tips?
View attachment 1791775

I had a vintage pair of AE boots with cracks like that. A lot of cracks all over the vamps.

So I did the wet sanding method. First I inserted the tightest fitting shoe trees. Then I used different sand papers to grind the cracks. I applied Bick 4 first and then sanded. I'd let it dry, and examine the crack.

I did this routine a few times over the course of a few days. And it was pretty successful. As long as the cracks don't go all the way through, this method should be fine.

Good luck!

 

[mormonopoly]

Lately, I've been wearing these 1988 Allen Edmonds MacNeils that I thrifted in unworn condition.

 

[memoriastoica]

Lately, I've been wearing these 1988 Allen Edmonds MacNeils that I thrifted in unworn condition. View attachment 1791797 View attachment 1791798 View attachment 1791799 View attachment 1791800

Shoes were just made better back in the day. My more modern MacNeils are garbage compared to these!

 

[smfdoc]

My instincts weren’t so bad after all left burgundy turned out to be bookbinder:

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The other pair was shell though (as I suspected) and I’ll probably be reselling it to someone with 10EE sized feet.

The burgundy MacNeils can be kind of tricky. The style number 9147 was used for both their shell and the polish cobbler versions. The style number shows up in lists of shell shoes, and this leads some Ebay flippers to just assume the style is always shell even when it is clear that many of them are the polished cobbler version.

 

[BlueMoonMonday]

Can anyone recommend a cobbler in the Houston, Texas area?

 

[JFWR]

Shoes were just made better back in the day. My more modern MacNeils are garbage compared to these!

The finest pair of shoes I own are a pair of 1988 Allen Edmonds Chesters in black calf. They are stunningly well made and beautiful. I mean, easily comparable to shoes in the ~1000 dollar range nowadays.

Thanks @smfdoc for telling me to buy them!

 

[isshinryu101]

Summer Shoe Switch Day! One of the most exciting days in a Vintage Shoe Man’s day.

 

[Quantum17]

I have some great Canadian friends, but there’s too much on the line tonight. GO BOLTS ⚡️

Presenting Worthmoore shells. Thank you @vestbash for the horse tips 🍻

 

[EdwardWilson]

It’s Commencement!

Allen Edmonds MacNeil from ~1966-1973.

It has the “owl eye slug” in the heel — AE’s own version of the v-cleat — which I’ve confirmed from catalogs from ‘68-72, but haven’t been able to find ‘66, ‘67 or ‘73 catalogs to put a definitive beginning and end date on that feature.

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View attachment 1791385

Spoiler: All the fanfare!

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Was the owl's eye rubber or plastic?

 

[isshinryu101]

The finest pair of shoes I own are a pair of 1988 Allen Edmonds Chesters in black calf. They are stunningly well made and beautiful. I mean, easily comparable to shoes in the ~1000 dollar range nowadays.

Thanks @smfdoc for telling me to buy them!

let’s not get crazy now. They were nice shoes. Nice. 1988 was late in the US shoemaking game. They are nowhere near the 1960’s and earlier US shoes that were definitely “$1000 shoes”. Solid? Absolutely.

 

[smfdoc]

Was the owl's eye rubber or plastic?

The appear to me to be a hard plastic slug. But I have only seen one pair and they may have also used other materials at some point in time.

 

[suitforcourt]

The appear to me to be a hard plastic slug. But I have only seen one pair and they may have also used other materials at some point in time.

I wonder if the rubber or plastic piece helped to slow down wear?