Vintage Dress shoe appreciation, tips, maintenance and advice

[CWOyaji]

Will try if I am in area. Though I suspect @CWOyaji leads on this front.

Huh? Wut? What is this Panda of which you speak? Oh the restaurant. Where I live, south of San Francisco, there are a whole lot of chinese restaurants. And from what I've read it's tough to replicate the authentic flavors (or flavours, if you're Canadian) in a chain restaurant formula. But I hear PE and PF Changs do it better than others, though I haven't experienced either place. And BTW I'm not chinese either, but I do eat the food all the time and like it a lot. And I'll be happy to host a thrift/bins/dim sum Saturday morning adventure for out of town thread regulars who can make it to SFO and give me advance notice.

 

[Nealjpage]

1980s AE saddles. I can't remember the model of these, but they have an orthotic insert. It was a snowy day here, and these are supposedly CG (they're not) and have a Vibram sole. I forgot how slick worn down Vibram is on wet snow. I did maintain verticality.

 

[suitforcourt]

ooh, me likey. I wish they came in eee.

For Dacks, you would have to go with G or H width. Very rare.

 

[suitforcourt]

Huh? Wut? What is this Panda of which you speak? Oh the restaurant. Where I live, south of San Francisco, there are a whole lot of chinese restaurants. And from what I've read it's tough to replicate the authentic flavors (or flavours, if you're Canadian) in a chain restaurant formula. But I hear PE and PF Changs do it better than others, though I haven't experienced either place. And BTW I'm not chinese either, but I do eat the food all the time and like it a lot. And I'll be happy to host a thrift/bins/dim sum Saturday morning adventure for out of town thread regulars who can make it to SFO and give me advance notice.

The wedding I thought was in July will actually take place in October in LA. I'd like to fit in a visit to you and @friendlygoz if possible. I believe the wedding is on a Saturday. So maybe a work day visit for some food and drinks instead. Unless we can fit in an evening bin run.

 

[suitforcourt]

Maiden voyage of my Chippewa Ellisons. Comfortable from the get go. Heading out for dim sum at lunch.

 

[Oshare]

I also have friends who think Panda Express and PF Chang have decent Chinese-American food. I place my friends, and your friends, in the exact same category.

Panda is nasty, but if you're in the Midwest, Leeann Chin does a much better job at the same concept. Oyster wings...mmm.

Okay. I admit that I actually like a few of the things on Panda's menu and usually stop by a few times when I'm back in the US to get my fix.

And, I'm Chinese-American.
I grew up eating lots of Chinese food.

And, yes, I like orange chicken.

Be gentle. Please.

 

[Nobleprofessor]

Last night I decided to try a little project.

Background: I have 3 (or 4) pair of vintage 93602.

One pair was dark brown. They were almost chocolate brown and it was such an uninteresting brown that it really made these great shoes dull and pedestrian.

Here’s a picture when I wore them a couple weeks ago.

I wanted to lighten them up and maybe even add a little antiquing to give them some depth. They were so dark compared to most other 93602, I figured they had YEARS worth of brown polish built up.

I started with alcohol and it took off A LOT of grungy brown. They looked better, but it wasn’t the dramatic change I was hoping for.

I decided to sand the edges because I have been impressed with others on here doing that. I did not realize that was not an easy chore.

The still weren't dramatically different. I decided to break out the big guns and tried Acetone. I was considering trying to make these like a two tone semi spectator.

That didn’t work. The acetone removed some more of the finish but not nearly as much as I thought it would.

After the acetone, they were sort of a faded reddish brown. I liked the red tones and decided to keep going. It still didn’t take as much color as I thought it would.

After letting them dry, I knew I needed to condition them and get some moisture back into the leather after the harsh acetone.

They looked better. the conditioner is so full of oils and fats that it makes them hard to polish afterwards. But, I know it’s good for the leather.

Finally, I polished them lightly with a neutral polish.

I am happy with the outcome. I think the natural edges look cool. But, I am surprised that they are not dramatically different. I do like the fact that the reddish tones are coming through.

Here they are before and after

 

[Jiqea]

Here are a couple of recent thrift finds; a pair of blue suede Dacks Anniversary loafers and a pair of pre-1958 Hartt cap-toes. The Hartts have had the lower sole and heel replaced with some sloppy stitching, but the old uppers are still nice.

 

[kirialek]

The shoes are vintage Lloyd. The company is german.

Yesterday. Lloyd.

 

[mormonopoly]

Last night I decided to try a little project.

Background: I have 3 (or 4) pair of vintage 93602.

One pair was dark brown. They were almost chocolate brown and it was such an uninteresting brown that it really made these great shoes dull and pedestrian.

Here’s a picture when I wore them a couple weeks ago.

View attachment 1318887

I wanted to lighten them up and maybe even add a little antiquing to give them some depth. They were so dark compared to most other 93602, I figured they had YEARS worth of brown polish built up.

I started with alcohol and it took off A LOT of grungy brown. They looked better, but it wasn’t the dramatic change I was hoping for.

I decided to sand the edges because I have been impressed with others on here doing that. I did not realize that was not an easy chore.

The still weren't dramatically different. I decided to break out the big guns and tried Acetone. I was considering trying to make these like a two tone semi spectator.

That didn’t work. The acetone removed some more of the finish but not nearly as much as I thought it would.

After the acetone, they were sort of a faded reddish brown. I liked the red tones and decided to keep going. It still didn’t take as much color as I thought it would.

After letting them dry, I knew I needed to condition them and get some moisture back into the leather after the harsh acetone.

They looked better. the conditioner is so full of oils and fats that it makes them hard to polish afterwards. But, I know it’s good for the leather.

Finally, I polished them lightly with a neutral polish.

I am happy with the outcome. I think the natural edges look cool. But, I am surprised that they are not dramatically different. I do like the fact that the reddish tones are coming through.

Here they are before and after

View attachment 1318891

View attachment 1318892

View attachment 1318887

View attachment 1318893

Really what those need more than anything is a good welt toothbrushing.

 

[Nobleprofessor]

Really what those need more than anything is a good welt toothbrushing.

i agree. But, part of the problem is somebody years ago put on a half sole. Thus, the welt stitching is off and a little screwed up in places.

I found a shoe repair guy here in Memphis. He said he does full sole and heel replacement for $85. That almost sounds too cheap. Before I decide to do it, I’m going to have him show me the soles he uses. I might start with something easier like a pair of penny loafers before I unleash him on my vintage Florsheim.

 

[manowar]

What kind of leather dye is recommended here? I watched a video about the superiority of oil based dyes over alcohol so I purchased the Fiebing's Pro Dye in chocolate color (which still has alcohol but includes oil dye).

I used the dye on an old pair of AE Warwick seconds last night and they came out much darker than expected. Only afterwards did I look again at the official website and noticed it says "specifically for natural strap leather, vegetable tanned leather", etc. So it would make sense coming from a medium/dark brown that it would excessively darken the leather since it is designed to be applied to light tan natural stuff. I also probably shouldn't have slathered it on so thick. Don't think I want to bother trying to strip it again, or if it would even take this stuff off. Oh well, it's been a fun project so far.

 

[woofmang]

Last night I decided to try a little project.

Background: I have 3 (or 4) pair of vintage 93602.

One pair was dark brown. They were almost chocolate brown and it was such an uninteresting brown that it really made these great shoes dull and pedestrian.

Here’s a picture when I wore them a couple weeks ago.

View attachment 1318887

I wanted to lighten them up and maybe even add a little antiquing to give them some depth. They were so dark compared to most other 93602, I figured they had YEARS worth of brown polish built up.

I started with alcohol and it took off A LOT of grungy brown. They looked better, but it wasn’t the dramatic change I was hoping for.

I decided to sand the edges because I have been impressed with others on here doing that. I did not realize that was not an easy chore.

The still weren't dramatically different. I decided to break out the big guns and tried Acetone. I was considering trying to make these like a two tone semi spectator.

That didn’t work. The acetone removed some more of the finish but not nearly as much as I thought it would.

After the acetone, they were sort of a faded reddish brown. I liked the red tones and decided to keep going. It still didn’t take as much color as I thought it would.

After letting them dry, I knew I needed to condition them and get some moisture back into the leather after the harsh acetone.

They looked better. the conditioner is so full of oils and fats that it makes them hard to polish afterwards. But, I know it’s good for the leather.

Finally, I polished them lightly with a neutral polish.

I am happy with the outcome. I think the natural edges look cool. But, I am surprised that they are not dramatically different. I do like the fact that the reddish tones are coming through.

Here they are before and after

View attachment 1318891

View attachment 1318892

View attachment 1318887

View attachment 1318893

I think the difference is quite dramatic. Nice job!

 

[woofmang]

What kind of leather dye is recommended here? I watched a video about the superiority of oil based dyes over alcohol so I purchased the Fiebing's Pro Dye in chocolate color (which still has alcohol but includes oil dye).

I used the dye on an old pair of AE Warwick seconds last night and they came out much darker than expected. Only afterwards did I look again at the official website and noticed it says "specifically for natural strap leather, vegetable tanned leather", etc. So it would make sense coming from a medium/dark brown that it would excessively darken the leather since it is designed to be applied to light tan natural stuff. I also probably shouldn't have slathered it on so thick. Don't think I want to bother trying to strip it again, or if it would even take this stuff off. Oh well, it's been a fun project so far.

View attachment 1318967

I like the darker color a lot.

 

[Nobleprofessor]

I think this is going to be my next project. I’m going to take a pair of Towncraft (Hanover) and dye them this way.

is the difference too much? I think it looks pretty cool.