Vintage Dress shoe appreciation, tips, maintenance and advice

[suitforcourt]

I don't have in made in Italy shoes in the collection, but a non-vintage classic offering for this morning. Have a good one fellas!

Spoiler: Allen Edmonds MacNeil

I do not have a single pair of shoes made in Italy to show today. The closest are a pair of AE with a spaghetti sauce stain on the vamp.

There is only one remedy. Both of you must buy Italian made shoes. Pronto.

 

[suitforcourt]

Seems advertisers think Sicilians use the term gravy and others go with sauce. Not being from Jersey, I go with sauce. Gravy (cream of course) is for chicken fried steaks.

View attachment 1067977 View attachment 1067978

I really enjoy Caribbean cuisine, and especially the Jamaican variety.

They definitely use the word "gravy" to mean "sauce."

 

[Shoonoob]

I have no italian shoes. I used to have some italian made motorcycle racing boots for the mosh pits. I also dated some italian girls in high school. One had a family recipe for a lobster marinara that I would trade a child for. They would share the sauce but not the recipe.
I associate italy with red wine. So I wore some red shoes. They were virgins, but I am not overly impressed with them. Just practicing for next weeks sacrifice with a pair I like very much. I think I will have some Sangiovese tonight.
Cheers

 

[Paul902]

Hi guys, while hunting for vintage jazz records I found these handsome Dack's Bond Street longwing brogues. As they are a wonderful fit, and, somehow, I didn't own any brown brogues (!), for $8 they needed to come home with me. They have some nice variations in the colour that remind me of curly maple (a dark-light kind of wave). They are marked "Made in England" "C/D 7512 95 4451" and "341-344Z", and have a "Phillips Cushion No Mark" sole. It looks like they have a 270deg welt.

What can you tell me about them? How old would they be? To my untrained eye, they are similar to these:
http://www.derbyshiredoula.co.uk/Da...Churchs-85D-Custom-Grade-EUC-Deadstoc/p_3474/

Most importantly, they need some TLC. What products/procedures should I be throwing their way to get them looking their best?

 

[smfdoc]

I need advise from the experts in this thread. So, got these Florsheim Royal Imperial PTBs from shopGoodwill. I love the hand stained look, with the raised grain slightly darker than the unraised grain. They are in great shape. I was very keen to reveal the white contrast stitching in the welt, and so I cleaned the welt with a toothbrush and saddle soap. Mission accomplished on that front. The white sticking is stunning and structurally intact. HOWEVER, when wiping off the saddle soap, I didn’t realize I was wiping off the hand stained brown look that I love so much. So, what I ended up with is what you see in the pix. I tried some medium brown Saphir cream polish, but it just darkened everything, so I wiped it off. I’m going to go over it w/ Saphir light brown cream polish first and see if I can get some color back. Any advice? I’m kicking myself for not being more careful... View attachment 1068071

I have done the EXACT same thing, except mine was worse. I just used multiple applications of AE brown polish in that area and gradually darkened it some. I finally decided no one will notice except me. I, too, will be more careful.

 

[friendlygoz]

I have done the EXACT same thing, except mine was worse. I just used multiple applications of AE brown polish in that area and gradually darkened it some. I finally decided no one will notice except me. I, too, will be more careful.

Thanks for that. Always feels better when others make the same mistake. Somehow shared misery is much better than misery alone. I applied some dark polish, and it helped a lot. I achieved an inverse of the color pattern on the original shoe, such that the raised grain is light, and the recessed part of the grain is dark. It's hard to decipher a difference unless you look really closely. Here is the before (as in when I got them) and after (of both the color correction and overall results). The process: wiped them down; saddle soap all over; saddle soap and toothbrush on welt to reveal contrast stitching under a ton of yuck; wipe inside w/ Lysol wipes and spray 10-second shoe sanitizer; direct sunlight for 6 hours (lots in the Bay Area - it was 80 yesterday) to get rid of musty, grandpa's basement smell; 2 rounds of Bick 4; 1 round of Saphir renovatour; sand the edges; Feibing's brown edge dressing; dark brown cream polish on the edges; new laces (might go w/ blue later). Love them...

 

[friendlygoz]

Hi guys, while hunting for vintage jazz records I found these handsome Dack's Bond Street longwing brogues. As they are a wonderful fit, and, somehow, I didn't own any brown brogues (!), for $8 they needed to come home with me. They have some nice variations in the colour that remind me of curly maple (a dark-light kind of wave). They are marked "Made in England" "C/D 7512 95 4451" and "341-344Z", and have a "Phillips Cushion No Mark" sole. It looks like they have a 270deg welt.

What can you tell me about them? How old would they be? To my untrained eye, they are similar to these:
http://www.derbyshiredoula.co.uk/Da...Churchs-85D-Custom-Grade-EUC-Deadstoc/p_3474/

Most importantly, they need some TLC. What products/procedures should I be throwing their way to get them looking their best?

View attachment 1068158 View attachment 1068159 View attachment 1068160 View attachment 1068161 View attachment 1068162 View attachment 1068163 View attachment 1068165 View attachment 1068166

I just got some Dack's camel skin wingtips in walnut (paid a tad more than $8 on eBay). The grain looks a lot like the grain in my camel skins, which I love, BTW. So, I'd guess camel.

 

[smfdoc]

Thanks for that. Always feels better when others make the same mistake. Somehow shared misery is much better than misery alone. I applied some dark polish, and it helped a lot. I achieved an inverse of the color pattern on the original shoe, such that the raised grain is light, and the recessed part of the grain is dark. It's hard to decipher a difference unless you look really closely. Here is the before (as in when I got them) and after (of both the color correction and overall results). The process: wiped them down; saddle soap all over; saddle soap and toothbrush on welt to reveal contrast stitching under a ton of yuck; wipe inside w/ Lysol wipes and spray 10-second shoe sanitizer; direct sunlight for 6 hours (lots in the Bay Area - it was 80 yesterday) to get rid of musty, grandpa's basement smell; 2 rounds of Bick 4; 1 round of Saphir renovatour; sand the edges; Feibing's brown edge dressing; dark brown cream polish on the edges; new laces (might go w/ blue later). Love them... View attachment 1068267 View attachment 1068268 View attachment 1068269

They look terrific now. Good job.

 

[Lmrjfud]

Am I the only one who contemplates taking a day off from work when I have a shoe delivery incoming?
I had a life when I was young. Really. I mean it.

 

[suitforcourt]

Hi guys, while hunting for vintage jazz records I found these handsome Dack's Bond Street longwing brogues. As they are a wonderful fit, and, somehow, I didn't own any brown brogues (!), for $8 they needed to come home with me. They have some nice variations in the colour that remind me of curly maple (a dark-light kind of wave). They are marked "Made in England" "C/D 7512 95 4451" and "341-344Z", and have a "Phillips Cushion No Mark" sole. It looks like they have a 270deg welt.

What can you tell me about them? How old would they be? To my untrained eye, they are similar to these:
http://www.derbyshiredoula.co.uk/Da...Churchs-85D-Custom-Grade-EUC-Deadstoc/p_3474/

Most importantly, they need some TLC. What products/procedures should I be throwing their way to get them looking their best?

View attachment 1068158 View attachment 1068159 View attachment 1068160 View attachment 1068161 View attachment 1068162 View attachment 1068163 View attachment 1068165 View attachment 1068166

@mariusscott is your man. He knows more about Canadian vintage shoes than I know about... criminal law.

 

[suitforcourt]

Am I the only one who contemplates taking a day off from work when I have a shoe delivery incoming?
I had a life when I was young. Really. I mean it.

So most of my stuff now goes to my US mailing address, and then to my pick up point near my home.

Once ebay confirms item has been dropped off, I check my pick up account several times a day. Sometimes several times an hour.

 

[friendlygoz]

Am I the only one who contemplates taking a day off from work when I have a shoe delivery incoming?
I had a life when I was young. Really. I mean it.

I did mine (above) while "working from home." Try it!

 

[eTrojan]

Any thoughts on a 2000 AE Shelton in calf? Not sure I need more saddle oxfords, but since these are the calf and not the polished cobbler, I can be swayed. The 511 isn't a favorite last, but I can make it work.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/Allen-Edmo...ss-Shoe-Brown-Size-13A-Pre-Owned/202496131189

 

[2Deuce2]

Any thoughts on a 2000 AE Shelton in calf? Not sure I need more saddle oxfords, but since these are the calf and not the polished cobbler, I can be swayed. The 511 isn't a favorite last, but I can make it work.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/Allen-Edmo...ss-Shoe-Brown-Size-13A-Pre-Owned/202496131189

View attachment 1068335

The color is quite nice - pull the trigger @eTrojan. This is a very nice look vis a vis the black/red saddle Shelton/Polo.

 

[mariusscott]

Hi guys, while hunting for vintage jazz records I found these handsome Dack's Bond Street longwing brogues. As they are a wonderful fit, and, somehow, I didn't own any brown brogues (!), for $8 they needed to come home with me. They have some nice variations in the colour that remind me of curly maple (a dark-light kind of wave). They are marked "Made in England" "C/D 7512 95 4451" and "341-344Z", and have a "Phillips Cushion No Mark" sole. It looks like they have a 270deg welt.

What can you tell me about them? How old would they be? To my untrained eye, they are similar to these:
http://www.derbyshiredoula.co.uk/Da...Churchs-85D-Custom-Grade-EUC-Deadstoc/p_3474/

Most importantly, they need some TLC. What products/procedures should I be throwing their way to get them looking their best?

View attachment 1068158 View attachment 1068159 View attachment 1068160 View attachment 1068161 View attachment 1068162 View attachment 1068163 View attachment 1068165 View attachment 1068166

Lovely shoes, would say either camel or perhaps antelope, dacks had some wild looking antelope back then. Those are from the Dack's Bond Street period, made by cheaney/church in the UK in the late 50s and 60s. The highest quality line dack's had, and original soles and heels. Great find. They are labelled a standard 9.5D but from this period in time its hit or miss on sizing.