Vintage Dress shoe appreciation, tips, maintenance and advice

[Nealjpage]

It was a rainy day in my little corner of the world today so I figured I should pull out these ugly ducklings. WWII or Korea War era US Army issued GI boots.

Seiko 5 from 1969.

 

[mormonopoly]

These are the only woven pair in my collection. They're by Regal, c. 1960.

 

[mormonopoly]

Here's a unique pair in my collection. These are 1940s by C.H. Baker.

 

[mreams99]

 

[JFWR]

Here's a unique pair in my collection. These are 1940s by C.H. Baker. View attachment 1866872 View attachment 1866873 View attachment 1866874 View attachment 1866875

Those look like they may need a resole soon.

 

[friendlygoz]

AE Brewton

 

[sam67]

Field & Flint monk for Monday. Have a good week!

 

[eTrojan]

On a day with more rain forecast, I opted for CORFAM!! Though with a steel v-cleat, it may not be the ultimate rain shoe.

Bootmaker’s Guild by Freeman

 

[smfdoc]

On a day with more rain forecast, I opted for CORFAM!! Though with a steel v-cleat, it may not be the ultimate rain shoe.

Bootmaker’s Guild by Freeman

View attachment 1867249
View attachment 1867251

For all of its drawbacks, Corfam made for a good looking shoe.

 

[mormonopoly]

Those look like they may need a resole soon.

If I wore them often, they would, but I really only wear them a few times a year. What’s left of the sole is plenty for that.

 

[happypebble]

On a day with more rain forecast, I opted for CORFAM!! Though with a steel v-cleat, it may not be the ultimate rain shoe.

Bootmaker’s Guild by Freeman

View attachment 1867249
View attachment 1867251

Long live Corfam!

 

[friendlygoz]

Dack’s camel skin short wings today…

 

[suitforcourt]

Vintage Tuesday.

American made Totes rubber overshoes and Ritchie shoes of Canada from @mariusscott.

An old Seiko 5 that is still ticking away. Drew a tough panel for an appeal so decided I needed some inspiration. Today, I am Batman.

 

[smfdoc]

Vintage Tuesday.

American made Totes rubber overshoes and Ritchie shoes of Canada from @mariusscott.

An old Seiko 5 that is still ticking away. Drew a tough panel for an appeal so decided I needed some inspiration. Today, I am Batman.
View attachment 1867488 View attachment 1867489 View attachment 1867490 View attachment 1867491

Whew! I saw just the first picture and thought those overshoes were the actual pair of shoes. I instantly wondered what type of fresh hell was being worn. The actual shoes are terrific.

 

[VintageZealot]

I went thrifting yesterday and found an odd pair of vintage Florsheim shoes that I'm having trouble narrowing down the era of. Apologies for the lower quality pictures but I'm away right now and don't have my usual picture setup with me.

According to vcleat the 5 digit model codes began in the mid 50s and these have that, but they also lack date codes anywhere on them and almost all of the Florsheim shoes I've seen without date codes are older than the mid 50s.
They also seem to be missing a width or space for a width, but maybe the width was placed before the length and has smudged off. I can see a vague "B" before the length in one shoe so that may be it, they fit me perfectly as a 10.5 B would.





I did find a pair with the same model number of 20311 in the 1969 Florsheim catalog however that pair is slightly different since it is missing some stitching that mine have. I'm not sure whether that would make mine newer or older but I've attached the catalog image with a red line indicating the extra stitching mine have. I know the Eclipse last had been around since at least the 1930s.

If anyone has any thoughts on when these are from I'd appreciate it. They were very cheap and fit perfectly so if it turns out they are from the 1970s rather than the late 50s I wouldn't be disappointed, I'm just curious to know for sure.

Thanks!