Vintage Dress shoe appreciation, tips, maintenance and advice

[wasmisterfu]

I think you run to extremes here.
Of course we shouldnt let our shoes dry out. At the same time, over-moisturizing leather isn't good as well. It will bring different problems which ruin your shoes. Not immediately, but in mid/long term.
This issue was subject of disscussion on shoe care thread few years back.
As with most in our life, you'd better to find right balance, and shoe care isn't exception.

What type of issues? I’d assume if you keep them over saturated you will be wearing them essentially wet, thus wearing them while the leather is weakened. But as long as you don’t keep them perpetually over moisturized, they’ll be fine.

That said, IMHO, a shoe that’s been allowed to completely dry out (e.g. 20+ years without any maintenance, left in a dry closet) will need significant rehydration and will likely need more frequent maintenance as the heavier and more persistent oils from the tanning process are gone.

 

[davidVC]

WOW - beautiful shoes David! 11.5D?

Yes, 11.5 D. FootJoy made some fine shoes. Usually.

New York is a great place. Hot!

 

[Lmrjfud]

Yes, 11.5 D. FootJoy made some fine shoes. Usually.

New York is a great place. Hot!

Welcome to the big city! Don't let the locals fool you. They are sort of like a tootsey pop, soft and gooey on the inside, crunchy on the outside.

 

[aero25]

I hate to be the barer of bad news, but they aren’t sitting in the desert any more, they shredded all but 11 of them to prevent parts sales to Iran. It’s very cool that you got to work on one of the most iconic aircraft of all time (though the thought of leaking hydraulic fluid on an aircraft is not a happy one).

As for the F-18, the standard Hornet was kind of a dog early on, though it got better with upgrades. The SuperHornet, which is essentially a totally different (much larger in all dimensions) airframe past the cockpit, is a pretty outstanding aircraft. My understanding is it’s only considered part of the F-18 family as a slight of hand by Boeing and the Department of the Navy to get around having to designate it as a new program by rather speciously claiming it to be an evolution of the original hornet program. That’s like claiming the 747 is an evolution of the 707... true, but false at the same time. In certain respects, the SuperHornet has more in common, aerodynamically, with the F-15 (e.g. high lift body fuselage). That said, congress got wise to the game so it’s unlikely you’ll see what are really two different aircraft grouped like that again.

Okay, I’ll get back on topic... really I will.

Sorry to carry on the topic stray, but Congress didn't get wiser to this scenario, or turned a blind eye. Have you heard of the F-35? It has three variants billed as having only slight differences. They are as similar as the F-18 hornet and super hornet.

 

[Lmrjfud]

Sorry to carry on the topic stray, but Congress didn't get wiser to this scenario, or turned a blind eye. Have you heard of the F-35? It has three variants billed as having only slight differences. They are as similar as the F-18 hornet and super hornet.

Decorum shall prevent me from commenting on that program...

 

[wasmisterfu]

Sorry to carry on the topic stray, but Congress didn't get wiser to this scenario, or turned a blind eye. Have you heard of the F-35? It has three variants billed as having only slight differences. They are as similar as the F-18 hornet and super hornet.

Aero25 makes a good point. Because I love talking about planes, I had half a post written evaluating the JSF variant differentials versus the Hornet and SuperHornet programs. But then I applied some self discipline and decided I would not continue off topic. Smfdoc should be proud of me for not taking this thread into AE Appreciation Thread levels of off-topic’ness.

 

[wasmisterfu]

Yes, 11.5 D. FootJoy made some fine shoes. Usually.

New York is a great place. Hot!

Today isn’t that hot... just super-gross humid. That’s said, if you’d like to really experience the joy of the NYC commuter in the summer, spend 30 minutes waiting for a B/D/F/M train at Harold Sq... in a suit. It’s a great weight loss method. Even today, it’ll be over 110 degrees with a permanent state of 100% humidity. Keep in mind, the NQRW platform doesn’t count, you must descend to the depths of the BDFM platform which is closer to earths molten core (I assume that’s what warms the station, since it’s usually 90 down there in the middle of winter).

 

[davidVC]

Today isn’t that hot... just super-gross humid. That’s said, if you’d like to really experience the joy of the NYC commuter in the summer, spend 30 minutes waiting for a B/D/F/M train at Harold Sq... in a suit. It’s a great weight loss method. Even today, it’ll be over 110 degrees with a permanent state of 100% humidity. Keep in mind, the NQRW platform doesn’t count, you must descend to the depths of the BDFM platform which is closer to earths molten core (I assume that’s what warms the station, since it’s usually 90 down there in the middle of winter).

I am not losing any weight. Too much good food

 

[Thomas Crown]

Well, having restored a few very dried out shoes, over moisturizing isn’t really too big a problem. In fact, I prefer to really saturate the leather. However, I do like to let them sit and dry for a bit (minimum few days), you don’t want to wear them “wet” as you want the evaporative solvents (alcohol, which should evaporate very quickly, and water which takes longer) to dissipate, leaving behind just the oils.

Once dry, you’ll probably notice that the first time (or two) you wear them, they’ll express some oils, making them dull and “foggy”. What I do is brush them right after wearing (which I think everyone should do anyway), then the next day I’ll lightly repolish them with a little bit of cream polish and after the second wearing, if they’re going into weekly rotation, I’ll put a layer or two of wax on them to help protect them (and look nice and shiny).

After that, it’s just regular maintenance.

These 19.99 BIN ‘Bay AE MacNeil’s 9117 (circa 1993) specials were amoung the most ill-maintained and dried out I’d ever worked on, but saturation moisturizing brought them back beautifully (they didn’t even have that much wear on them and are now one of my favorite pairs!):

As much as I love the Florsheim gunboats and tank-like LWBs,the AE MacNeil with its sleek silhouette is a truly beautiful shoe,always lookin good!

 

[suitforcourt]

As much as I love the Florsheim gunboats and tank-like LWBs,the AE MacNeil with its sleek silhouette is a truly beautiful shoe,always lookin good!

For once, I have to readily and ably disagree with a respected and longtime member.

I only have one pair of AE MacNeil (burgundy shell). Compared to any of my LWBs, I find them overly bulky and not sleek at all. I find AE attention to detailing is lower than all of the major US brands.

My opinion and $0.05 might get you a pair of vintage shoes.

 

[suitforcourt]

I am not losing any weight. Too much good food

Any time to do some thrifting? Anything in 8.5 or 9 eee size should be on your radar.

 

[dddggjj]

Well, having restored a few very dried out shoes, over moisturizing isn’t really too big a problem. In fact, I prefer to really saturate the leather. However, I do like to let them sit and dry for a bit (minimum few days), you don’t want to wear them “wet” as you want the evaporative solvents (alcohol, which should evaporate very quickly, and water which takes longer) to dissipate, leaving behind just the oils.

Once dry, you’ll probably notice that the first time (or two) you wear them, they’ll express some oils, making them dull and “foggy”. What I do is brush them right after wearing (which I think everyone should do anyway), then the next day I’ll lightly repolish them with a little bit of cream polish and after the second wearing, if they’re going into weekly rotation, I’ll put a layer or two of wax on them to help protect them (and look nice and shiny).

After that, it’s just regular maintenance.

These 19.99 BIN ‘Bay AE MacNeil’s 9117 (circa 1993) specials were amoung the most ill-maintained and dried out I’d ever worked on, but saturation moisturizing brought them back beautifully (they didn’t even have that much wear on them and are now one of my favorite pairs!):

The transformation between the before and after photos is amazing! Your shoes look almost brand new! That shoe is a very sharp looking shoe.

 

[Shoonoob]

This weeks project. Not much to do here since the uppers are in GREAT shape. Soles are super solid...like I could drive nails with them solid. The heels however are rotting around the nails. So they need a cobbler for new heels. My question for y'all. Can a cobbler restitch the welts and leave the existing soles or would i have to get rid of the awesome soles to get a contrast welt stitching? I wanted to steal from @smfdoc because I covet his black and tans.

 

[smfdoc]

This weeks project. Not much to do here since the uppers are in GREAT shape. Soles are super solid...like I could drive nails with them solid. The heels however are rotting around the nails. So they need a cobbler for new heels. My question for y'all. Can a cobbler restitch the welts and leave the existing soles or would i have to get rid of the awesome soles to get a contrast welt stitching? I wanted to steal from @smfdoc because I covet his black and tans.
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Interesting question that one of the qualified people will have to answer. I would think that the old welt stitching would have to be removed first. Perhaps that means removing the original sole, removing the welt stitching and then reusing the old sole? Does not seem practical. But I have been wrong before. It happened once in 1968 and I was not feeling well at the time.

 

[wasmisterfu]

This weeks project. Not much to do here since the uppers are in GREAT shape. Soles are super solid...like I could drive nails with them solid. The heels however are rotting around the nails. So they need a cobbler for new heels. My question for y'all. Can a cobbler restitch the welts and leave the existing soles or would i have to get rid of the awesome soles to get a contrast welt stitching? I wanted to steal from @smfdoc because I covet his black and tans.
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So, generally speaking, to remove the stitching, as it’s lock sitched, you’d have to cut the stitches during sole removal. So, essentially it’s the same operation as resoling. The old sole, in order to be reused, would have to re-prepped and then perfectly realigned with the welt so the stitch could hit the existing holes. Chances of all this coming together and looking the way you want it to are pretty low. I wouldn’t do it.