Vintage Dress shoe appreciation, tips, maintenance and advice

[suitforcourt]

Maiden voyage for my N Hess Sons pebble grain PTB NOS.

A lesser known player on the east coast. Made in USA. Went out of business in the early 90's

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I love the pebbled grain PTB look. Now I'll have to match you for tomorrow!

 

[smfdoc]

Maiden voyage for my N Hess Sons pebble grain PTB NOS.

A lesser known player on the east coast. Made in USA. Went out of business in the early 90's

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Ah, the pebble PTB. I still am looking for a pair from nearly any vintage maker. Some day....some day.

 

[smfdoc]

Maiden voyage for my N Hess Sons pebble grain PTB NOS.

A lesser known player on the east coast. Made in USA. Went out of business in the early 90's

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Well my searching for a pebble PTB may have borne fruit! I picked these up on the bay today and took a chance based on the sole measurements alone. Why? They are bespoke and no size is listed. They are made by the Oliver Moore in NYC. They opened in 1878 and are still making shoes. Now, let's see if they fit.

 

[Lmrjfud]

Well my searching for a pebble PTB may have borne fruit! I picked these up on the bay today and took a chance based on the sole measurements alone. Why? They are bespoke and no size is listed. They are made by the Oliver Moore in NYC. They opened in 1878 and are still making shoes. Now, let's see if they fit.

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[wasmisterfu]

Not sure if you were active when I got these.

A seller on ebay had picked up 5 of the same. All NOS condition and likely never left the box/bag. Clearly a custom order as they have a specific name inside, and the heels are cat paws. Even the size is special - 8.5 eeeee. I am normally 8.5 eee and sometimes 9 eee depending on the shoe. So these fit wide.

The quintuplets were on @davidVC 's watch list, so I bid $200. They were listed at $600. The seller offered me a second pair at $150. And I thought to myself, who needs another pair of NOS Florsheim Imperial shell cordovans? I'll find another pair! For an even better price!

Fast forward 1 day after the offer, all are sold off. And now I hate myself for that stupid move.

But yes, incredible look, comfort, and quality. I sincerely doubt these shoes can ever be replicated.

The Alden 975 would be a close modern day match... for 750 bucks. I'd also say the contemporary MacNeil in Cordovan is pretty damn nice (having seen an example on Saturday, they put a lot of effort into the Cordovan model)... but again, nearly 700 bucks (550-600 if it's ever on sale). I'd say you got an incredible deal on one of the great pairs of shoes of all time.

And not to make you feel bad, but you should have bought the extra pair for $150. I mean 150 bucks for ****** shell is still a good deal. 150 for a shoe, of which a contemporary equivalent from one of the two surviving shoe companies, would cost 4+ times as much (and might not be as good and certainly wouldn't have the vintage cred). Should have bought that second pair. For 150. One hundred fifty bucks man. NOS shell Florsheim longwings for 150. And you didn't buy them? Were you high? Seriously, you done f'd my man. Don't feel too bad though... it was just a once in a lifetime opportunity.

 

[wasmisterfu]

Too hot to take this photo in the sun (when wearing a blazer and such).

Man, wearing a pair of vintage shoes that never were "high-end" makes you realize how much better the average shoe used to be (these aren't vintage Imperials or AE's). These are the weird Wolverine Hy-Test "safety" shoes I bought a few weeks ago (for $19.95 BIN). Initially I feared these would be uncomfortable, especially given the "boot" like materials. They were pretty good the first day, but after walking miles in these today, I gotta say that they took almost no time to break-in (as these had only been worn once by me and at most, one or two times prior). These are, as of right now, nearly as comfortable as the average AE pair in my collection. A genuinely good and honest pair of shoes.

These were, most likely, equivalent to a ~$150 MSRP shoe in today's money. They are so much better than the modern day equivalent, it blows my mind. The reasons are simple, the shoe is built properly, with a nice (thick) leather sole, cork interlayer (almost certainly) and properly welted construction. Todays spongy glued wonders, with all their synthetic materials simply don't work as well and whereas these fit better as you wear them, spongy glued shoes start out okay, but actually degrade pretty rapidly from a comfort standpoint. To get a shoe roughly like this today (and a safety shoe like this doesn't even exist anymore) you have to quite a bit more than what these probably originally cost.

You can still buy very nice shoes from AE, Rancourt and Alden (and non-US producers); it's the low and mid-range that has been gutted. The average consumer is wearing disposable and uncomfortable garbage. It's a damn shame, because the average consumer used to get much better shoes for their money.

 

[Vinilo1969]

“The average consumer is wearing disposable and uncomfortable garbage. It's a damn shame, because the average consumer used to get much better shoes for their money.”

The exchange is ‘fast fashion’ that expire in desirability faster than their poor materials do.

 

[Vinilo1969]

Does anyone here know what the things put on the heels are called?

 

[smfdoc]

Does anyone here know what the things put on the heels are called?

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Heel taps. The ones on the toe are called toe taps. They are nailed on and can be popped off and/or replaced.

 

[Vinilo1969]

Heel taps. The ones on the toe are called toe taps. They are nailed on and can be popped off and/or replaced.

Thank you, smfdoc. Perhaps this might be a solution for preserving original v-cleat construction, but offering a safer way to wear them on slippery ground.

And what if they made these in clear plastic? Then the vcleat could be visible and they could preserve wear and tear.

Good idea or poor one?

 

[smfdoc]

Thank you, smfdoc. Perhaps this might be a solution for preserving original v-cleat construction, but offering a safer way to wear them on slippery ground.

And what if they made these in clear plastic? Then the vcleat could be visible and they could preserve wear and tear.

Good idea or poor one?

Live your dream. They actually make them in clear plastic. Get them at Amazon.

 

[Vinilo1969]

Live your dream. They actually make them in clear plastic. Get them at Amazon.

Sweet! Thanks again, smfdoc!

 

[instigateur]

Well my searching for a pebble PTB may have borne fruit! I picked these up on the bay today and took a chance based on the sole measurements alone. Why? They are bespoke and no size is listed. They are made by the Oliver Moore in NYC. They opened in 1878 and are still making shoes. Now, let's see if they fit.

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Nice!

 

[kilowatts]

Does anyone here know what the things put on the heels are called?

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Hi Guys:

In England they are called "segs"! I don't know why. When I was at school we had them fitted to our shoes so we could make a big racket walking down the hallways and annoy the masters!

kilowatts

 

[instigateur]

Maiden voyage for my N Hess Sons pebble grain PTB NOS.

A lesser known player on the east coast. Made in USA. Went out of business in the early 90's

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Success. Super comfortable. Loosened up as the day went on. The lacing gap on both shoes decreased. Started to develop some rolls.

Very pleased.