Vintage Dress shoe appreciation, tips, maintenance and advice

[friendlygoz]

Your pair have a cool Banana Cream color (on my monitor), and appear to have smooth polished toe caps. I like 'em a lot. Thanks for the inspiration.

When I cleaned and attempted to strip the darker brown from mine, it stripped some of the color (as intended) but seems to have exposed greyish-brown raw hide in the low spots of the grain, edges of the pinking, etc. Florsheim used dark brown stitching and piping which tend toward a "dirty" look. If I could mix up a banana cream dye, that might work, but I could go in a different direction.

You can try. @smfdoc turned some 93602s into GH and did an amazing job.

GH come in lots of different shades. Some also included a factory burnish. The particular pair that I have is among the lighter I’ve seen. They came this way.

 

[Hotel Cali]

Someone got a steal of a deal on two NOS Florsheim Golden Harvests:

https://poshmark.com/listing/Florsheim-Imperial-Quality-Mens-Kenmoor-Oxford-6456e0d7f8c5dadc74045161

https://poshmark.com/listing/Florsheim-Imperial-Quality-Mens-Kenmoor-wingtip-oxford-6456c99d04166d7b41256c32

Nice. Browsing her store was worth the extra click.

 

[Hotel Cali]

My 1950s-era Allen Edmonds Empire spectators made Bedo's Facebook feed today. I dropped them off for some repair work when I was recently in DC for a conference. The lacing had separated from the vamp on one of the shoes, so he sewed a patch in behind it to reinforce and connect the pieces. Looking forward to finally being able to wear them after looking at them for the last 5 years.

Super. I think this is the most vintage AE ownership we have seen on here.

 

[suitforcourt]

Super. I think this is the most vintage AE ownership we have seen on here.

I thought @mormonopoly has a pair from the 30s?

 

[smfdoc]

Happy Friday fiorum pals. Some LB Shepperd Hanovers today.

 

[smfdoc]

You can try. @smfdoc turned some 93602s into GH and did an amazing job.

GH come in lots of different shades. Some also included a factory burnish. The particular pair that I have is among the lighter I’ve seen. They came this way.

I followed the instructions seen in this post.

Vintage Dress shoe appreciation, tips, maintenance and advice

So while I was doing some shoe work today, I decide to touch up my previous olive dyed 93602. Before: lite olive. Now: Dark olive. Which shade do you prefer?

www.styleforum.net

 

[Hotel Cali]

I thought @mormonopoly has a pair from the 30s?

For Allen Edmonds?

 

[mormonopoly]

I thought @mormonopoly has a pair from the 30s?

Not Allen Edmonds. The oldest Allen Edmonds I have are from the 50s. I haven’t seen any older than that.

 

[friendlygoz]

Shell AE MacNeils today. The color variation on the shell of amazing on these.

 

[Leftenant1]

Hi

Maiden voyage for those Hart Zébu U-Wings. I acquired these a bit over a year. Great looking shoes I wanted these in a lighter burgundy so that the Zebu skin would be better in display I tried, Renomat, I wasn't able to lighten the shade. it is a dark browning Burgundy...
So I am wearing it today. Built like a tank, very heavy, yet soft like a glove, very comfortable; the inside is luxurious, the pair wasn't much worn... Pleased.
Next I will clean it up more, Lexol, then Bick 4 , followed by Saphir BDC cream, then Saphir Renovateur, then Collonil 1909 neutral.
I waited so long to wear them, I was going to send them to Wyatt and Sons or some good cobbler to have them clear them out. It would have cost me substantially for two-way international shipping plus actual cost of work ... So they are to remain in their dark-brownish Burgundy. They will be promoted ,when properly cleaned-up, to the rotation..

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Thanks People for your guidance.

Peace.

Nice set of Dack’s U-wings. I just picked up a nice set of ‘60’s brown U-wings from jiqea. They had some old polish on them which had browned. I conditioned the shoes with Bick4 first and then used Renomat with decent success. The 1st photo shows the left shoe before Renomat and the right shoe after using Renomat. I’m quite satisfied with “de-browning” them. The 2nd photo is them both done. I believe conditioning the U-wings softening up the leather before applying the Renomat was the key to bringing out their original reddish hue.

They’re a great set of shoes. Extremely confortable, solid as a rock. There’s no reason they couldn’t last 100 years, though with proper care they will last indefinitely. The Zebu leather is quite strong and seems thicker and heavier than calf leather.

 

[suitforcourt]

For Allen Edmonds?

Yeah, I thought he has a pair

 

[JFWR]

Shell AE MacNeils today. The color variation on the shell of amazing on these. View attachment 1956689 View attachment 1956691 View attachment 1956693

I have a pair from Hanover/Bostonian like these and this colour is so ******* phenomenal.

 

[Satoman1]

So the shoes arrived today. Still in great condition and the size is 10.5 C/A fit my 9.5D feets quite well

 

[smfdoc]

Hanover black shell for a Saturday.

 

[mormonopoly]

So the shoes arrived today. Still in great condition and the size is 10.5 C/A fit my 9.5D feets quite well

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Stunning, that is a grail pair for me.