Vintage Dress shoe appreciation, tips, maintenance and advice

[Nealjpage]

So, for years I had an eBay account. A couple years back, eBay deleted it due to inactivity. Let's ignore for a moment that I logged in frequently, and was watching several items. So when I decided to start flipping vintage shoes, I needed to start a new account.

My wife, who has been selling on eBay for the last 20 years, argued that many buyers wouldn't want to buy from a seller without any feedback. So she recommended that I make some purchases to get my score up. I'm not one to argue. So I kinda impulsively bought these.

Steel-Toe Wingtip Dress Shoes-Brown-Size 8 Mens | eBay

Good condition leather wing-tip upper; steel-toe safety shoe wit rubber sole.

rover.ebay.com

Do I need steel toed wingtips? Of course not. But at $14.99 with free shipping, it would be silly not to buy them. Right?

 

[Hotel Cali]

Breaking in another NOS Florsheim Royal Imperial since I had dyed the others dark brown and green.

I think I want a blue dyed one too.

 

[happypebble]

This is the decidedly non vintage Thom McAns I mentioned above. Comfortable, fit good, but they'll never look great because they're scuffed and the color is uneven and blotchy. Thus, I've decided to use them as an experimental pair. If I decide to try and strip them, how many coats of chemical would I need to use before whatever's on the shoes now is gone?

loo

 

[mormonopoly]

This is the decidedly non vintage Thom McAns I mentioned above. Comfortable, fit good, but they'll never look great because they're scuffed and the color is uneven and blotchy. Thus, I've decided to use them as an experimental pair. If I decide to try and strip them, how many coats of chemical would I need to use before whatever's on the shoes now is gone? View attachment 1320641 View attachment 1320642 View attachment 1320643 loo

I would be a little concerned that that leather on those is not nice enough to survive some of the more intensive stripping treatments we see here.

 

[smfdoc]

This is the decidedly non vintage Thom McAns I mentioned above. Comfortable, fit good, but they'll never look great because they're scuffed and the color is uneven and blotchy. Thus, I've decided to use them as an experimental pair. If I decide to try and strip them, how many coats of chemical would I need to use before whatever's on the shoes now is gone? View attachment 1320641 View attachment 1320642 View attachment 1320643 loo

very difficult to say. The darker color may never lighten up, which is why it is easier to make them darker overall than it is to lighten up on shoe.

 

[Nobleprofessor]

As usual, the answer is to be found at vcleat.com. I looked on Ebay for shoes listed as "Sanitized" and noticed that a lot of them were also marked "Towncraft". @davidVC has a post entitled Vintage Made in US Brands and under Towncraft I see:

Towncraft – JC Penney brand. Primarily made by Hanover

You can bet I'll be listing these as Hanover, not JC Penney.

Funny that you mention Towncraft. I have a pair of vintage Towncraft that were made by Hanover back when they were making good shoes. They are well made.

I decided to experiment a little. I wanted to patina/antique these. But, as I mentioned last week, I was going to try doing a two tone.

Here they are before:

They were slightly too orange for me. But, I did like them because they were a little different. How many more brown, black or Cordovan do I really need (don’t answer that, I still need more). But, I did want something different.

So, here is my end result:

I might write up the process with progress pictures later on.

What do you all think?

 

[friendlygoz]

Funny that you mention Towncraft. I have a pair of vintage Towncraft that were made by Hanover back when they were making good shoes. They are well made.

I decided to experiment a little. I wanted to patina/antique these. But, as I mentioned last week, I was going to try doing a two tone.

Here they are before:

View attachment 1320883 View attachment 1320884

They were slightly too orange for me. But, I did like them because they were a little different. How many more brown, black or Cordovan do I really need (don’t answer that, I still need more). But, I did want something different.

So, here is my end result:

View attachment 1320886 View attachment 1320887

I might write up the process with progress pictures later on.

What do you all think?

They look cool - more like spectators.

 

[Nealjpage]

Funny that you mention Towncraft. I have a pair of vintage Towncraft that were made by Hanover back when they were making good shoes. They are well made.

I decided to experiment a little. I wanted to patina/antique these. But, as I mentioned last week, I was going to try doing a two tone.

Here they are before:

View attachment 1320883 View attachment 1320884

They were slightly too orange for me. But, I did like them because they were a little different. How many more brown, black or Cordovan do I really need (don’t answer that, I still need more). But, I did want something different.

So, here is my end result:

View attachment 1320886 View attachment 1320887

I might write up the process with progress pictures later on.

What do you all think?

I dig 'em.

 

[woofmang]

Funny that you mention Towncraft. I have a pair of vintage Towncraft that were made by Hanover back when they were making good shoes. They are well made.

I decided to experiment a little. I wanted to patina/antique these. But, as I mentioned last week, I was going to try doing a two tone.

Here they are before:

View attachment 1320883 View attachment 1320884

They were slightly too orange for me. But, I did like them because they were a little different. How many more brown, black or Cordovan do I really need (don’t answer that, I still need more). But, I did want something different.

So, here is my end result:

View attachment 1320886 View attachment 1320887

I might write up the process with progress pictures later on.

What do you all think?

I like it, and would be interested in reading about, and seeing pics of, the process.

 

[The Apostle]

Holy ******* giant heel!

Mens Vintage FLORSHEIM Royal Imperial 97306 Wing-tip Shoes Size 10 B H4(8) | eBay

These shoes are beautifully made and very good quality. They may have been worn once or twice at the most and are in almost new condition.

rover.ebay.com

 

[lemmy127]

Holy ******* giant heel!

Mens Vintage FLORSHEIM Royal Imperial 97306 Wing-tip Shoes Size 10 B H4(8) | eBay

These shoes are beautifully made and very good quality. They may have been worn once or twice at the most and are in almost new condition.

rover.ebay.com

So the question is... was Florsheim on the cutting edge of 70s fashion and made them in April 1972, or were they severely behind the times and made in April 1982?

 

[MJMcRibb]

A few recent pick up. Both Florsheims are from this morning. "LJ" code on the spectators. '69 or '79?

 

[Jiqea]

These mid 80's Dack's 10 B Bond Street long-wings just arrived, still cold from their journey. From the early 1950's on, Bond Streets were Dack's made in England entry level offerings. By the mid 80's, due to the diminution of quality of most of Dack's Canadian made shoes (not all), these bison leather Bond Streets are near the top of the heap in terms desirability. They are easily among my favourite from this era, along with some of the Canadian made camel, water bison and seal leather shoes. Hartt sold virtually the same shoe branded as the Gold Bond. A few of these Bond Street and Gold Bond bison long-wings were also made in Canada, although they are rare. They can be distinguished by their Canadian style coding and a made in Canada stamp on the sole. The advert is from 1986.

 

[smfdoc]

These mid 80's Dack's 10 B Bond Street long-wings just arrived, still cold from their journey. From the early 1950's on, Bond Streets were Dack's made in England entry level offerings. By the mid 80's, due to the diminution of quality of most of Dack's Canadian made shoes (not all), these bison leather Bond Streets are near the top of the heap in terms desirability. They are easily among my favourite from this era, along with some of the Canadian made camel, water bison and seal leather shoes. Hartt sold virtually the same shoe branded as the Gold Bond. A few of these Bond Street and Gold Bond bison long-wings were also made in Canada, although they are rare. They can be distinguished by their Canadian style coding and a made in Canada stamp on the sole. The advert is from 1986.

View attachment 1321031 View attachment 1321032 View attachment 1321034 View attachment 1321035

Oh hell yes! I am all about the LWBs and that is a super find. So super jelly right now.

 

[mormonopoly]

A few recent pick up. Both Florsheims are from this morning. "LJ" code on the spectators. '69 or '79?
View attachment 1321017

View attachment 1321018

View attachment 1321022

‘69 with that sole and heel. Really cool find!