Vintage Dress shoe appreciation, tips, maintenance and advice

[StanleyWingtip]

Man vintage shoe hunting at the thrifts ain’t what it used to be! Only pairs I’ve picked up recently…sorry for poor quality basement pics.

picked These mystery brogues up awhile back. Under that coat of dust is some surprisingly supple skin. Might it be Buffalo? Interesting repairs and the laces take the cake.



Then I got these weathered moss varsity’s that the vCleat tells me are rare. Nice shoes should find a happy owner in no time.

 

[ccpl14]

Friends, I have been remiss in posting as of late - sometimes life gets in the way…

As a token of redemption, here is a recent thrift find: Canadian made Florsheim 93602.

 

[ccpl14]

Recent estate sale find:

Florsheim 92604, 93605, 93603

Recent thrift find:

NIB vintage Florsheim shoe trees.

 

[suitforcourt]

Friends, I have been remiss in posting as of late - sometimes life gets in the way…

As a token of redemption, here is a recent thrift find: Canadian made Florsheim 93602.
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Those are super rare. Nice find, brother!

 

[ojaw]

Stellar all ‘round!

 

[friendlygoz]

AE sharkskin Warton today.

 

[mormonopoly]

Here's another pair I wore recently. These are 1940s Footjoy. I believe they're on the same last as the alligator pair that I have, which is possibly my favorite last ever.

 

[ojaw]

Here's another pair I wore recently. These are 1940s Footjoy. I believe they're on the same last as the alligator pair that I have, which is possibly my favorite last ever.
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So swish

 

[friendlygoz]

Shoe change for dinner out with my wife. Alden NST with lug soles.

 

[JFWR]

Here's another pair I wore recently. These are 1940s Footjoy. I believe they're on the same last as the alligator pair that I have, which is possibly my favorite last ever.
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Love the spade soles on these babies. The only thing strange about them is that they didn't do that much of a channel on the stitching, but with that tight of stitching I wouldn't be too worried.

I hate that your feet are a size that makes buying shoes from the 40s possible. I would kill to have some of those old models available for my fat feet.

 

[mormonopoly]

Love the spade soles on these babies. The only thing strange about them is that they didn't do that much of a channel on the stitching, but with that tight of stitching I wouldn't be too worried.

I hate that your feet are a size that makes buying shoes from the 40s possible. I would kill to have some of those old models available for my fat feet.

Oddly, doing the stitching that way seems to have been the norm at the time. Almost every pre-1960s pair that I’ve seen has had the stitching either this way, or blind stitched. Not sure why they didn’t do deeper channels, but I haven’t ever had the stitching fail on one of these old pairs.

 

[JFWR]

Oddly, doing the stitching that way seems to have been the norm at the time. Almost every pre-1960s pair that I’ve seen has had the stitching either this way, or blind stitched. Not sure why they didn’t do deeper channels, but I haven’t ever had the stitching fail on one of these old pairs.

Huh, that's interesting. Why do current shoes tend to show a lot of thread wear, then? Hmm.

 

[mormonopoly]

Here's another pair from recently. These can be seen in the 1951 Freeman catalog on Vcleat, model number 1322. The double welt stitch is a nice touch.

 

[friendlygoz]

Wore these Edwin Clapps today.

 

[VintageZealot]

I'm still trying to figure out when this pair of Slater Custom Imperial shoes would be from? They seem like they are from the 60s or 70s but I'm not really sure. They aren't my size but they would fit a friend of mine who is interested in them, and I'd like to be able to say how old they are if I sell them to him. Maybe @Jiqea would have some insight on this pair?

Any help is appreciated. Thanks!

My original post with images:

Cross posting from the Canadian shoes topic:

I recently found these Slater Custom Imperial shoes at a thrift store but I don't know very much about them or the brand, which I believe is Canadian.

They appear to be fairly old but I'm not sure when exactly they would be from? If anybody has insight on that I would appreciate it!

I'm also not sure what type of leather they are, is it some kind of exotic like Prairie Oxhide or just regular pebbled leather?

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The soles and heels appear to have been replaced at some point.
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There was also a fabric tag inside that has since been removed.
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Any information would be appreciated, thanks!