Vintage Dress shoe appreciation, tips, maintenance and advice

[davidVC]

We love many vintage items and revel in finding NOS gems from the 1970s. It is amazing that some of these made it to 2020 in an untouched condition. It's like they fell into a time capsule or something. Well, homes can also be time capsules and in nearly NOS condition. Like this 1974 beauty that is currently for sale in Ramona, CA. The owner was the condo developer, did not live in it, sold it a few years later to a couple that only used for a vacation home once a year and now its for sale by their children. Link. I do not want to buy it, but I would not mind going through the closets, just in case. The furnishings come with the house.

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Swanky.

Looks like the set of a Clockwork Orange. Or some other Kubrick film.

 

[suitforcourt]

Based on the condition of the Achilles area, I would say they're overpriced.

Definitely pass. Heavily worn. Already half soles. The last cobbler grinded down close to the welt. Damage to heel counter / ribbing.

Nice project shoes, but too expensive. Not worth rebuilding.

 

[smfdoc]

Hey vintage forum pals! It looks like our humble little group thread will cross the 1,500,000 views mark today. Such a staggering level of interest in all things vintage. Now, on to the 2,000,000 mark.

 

[suitforcourt]

Hey vintage forum pals! It looks like our humble little group thread will cross the 1,500,000 views mark today. Such a staggering level of interest in all things vintage. Now, on to the 2,000,000 mark.

Thanks to you and @davidVC for making this, and keeping this thread a cordial and stress free environment.

I guess my only stress is whether to buy a pair of vintage shoes or not.

 

[Patrologia]

I guess my only stress is whether to buy a pair of vintage shoes or not.

This, from the single most aggressive source of peer pressure in this thread? Yes, buy the shoes. (Especially if you’re watching one of my listings )

 

[Nealjpage]

This, from the single most aggressive source of peer pressure in this thread? Yes, buy the shoes. (Especially if you’re watching one of my listings )

Or my listings.

 

[Jiqea]

In Ottawa the local Value Villages occasionally put out small bags of vintage shoelaces in the knitting supply area. I have managed to pick up a lifetime supply of useful lengths, colours and styles at an average cost of about .24 cents. If you get skunked for shoes you can often get a small win by finding laces. My tip for the day is that you should know where the shoe trees and the laces are shelved in your own stores. I learned these skills at the feet of Master Thrifter @Paul902

 

[Raimar]

Thanks for the reality check on those Florsheims.
Decided to start working on a project pair instead. I wanted to test acetone to strip a pair of aristocrat saddles. They looked in really bad shape even for five dollars but justified purchase on testing grounds.

Sorry for all the pictures but wanted some advice. Shoes were still wet that's why the creases look so dark. Not so much anymore. Are those areas that can be sanded to disguise the creasing?
I don't have the tools to clean all the broguing.
What would be the next step after conditioning. Dye them or just high pigmentation cream?
Thanks for your suggestions.

 

[Nealjpage]

In Ottawa the local Value Villages occasionally put out small bags of vintage shoelaces in the knitting supply area. I have managed to pick up a lifetime supply of useful lengths, colours and styles at an average cost of about .24 cents. If you get skunked for shoes you can often get a small win by finding laces. My tip for the day is that you should know where the shoe trees and the laces are shelved in your own stores. I learned these skills at the feet of Master Thrifter @Paul902

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Pro tip right there. Thanks!

 

[Jiqea]

Joy of joys, the British Boot Shop of Calgary, McHale built gunboats that @Dit_rich posted last week in the Canadian Vintage Shoe thread arrived at noon today. They are Size 10.5EE and they will end up with my wide-footed son, who was born about two kilometers from the factory in which these shoes were made. They really didn't require much work, but I washed them and cleaned the welts, removed a bit of old polish with Renomat, moisturized with Bicks 4, dressed the edges, and polished with a bit of clear Collonil Supreme Creme de Lux. I also put in some new laces, put they may get changed to a darker pair.

The shoes were a private label offering by the British Boot Shop (BBS) but they are for all intents and purposes the Canadian version of the Florsheim Imperial that was built by McHale. These shoes have the Made in Canada maple leaf printed mid-sole on the sock-liner indicating they were manufactured in the 70's or early 80's. For interest's sake, the last few pictures show one of the "Florsheim/BBS" shoes side-by side with a John McHale signature shoe from the same era. Both have thick double soles, with the McHales being perhaps a 32nd of an inch thicker. The McHales have nailed leather heels and the BBS shoes have Goodyear heels, however many Florsheims by McHale had leather soles. In this case the choice of soles would have been determined by the British Boot Shop.

The McHale shoes have a deeper reddish brown colour and larger brogue holes on the toe box, while the Mchales are short-wing Bluchers and the BBS are long-wings. The McHales have their signature John McHale "box-barring" on the base of the lace stays and have gold 360 storm welt versus the black 360 storm welt on the BBS shoes. Both shoes have the classic McHale doubled and stitched sock-liners, and both have the MIC maple leaf. The heel height is almost identical, with perhaps a very slight nod to the McHales. Overall both shoes are of a wonderful quality.

Thank you so much @Dit_rich for passing these on to me. They will be in the family for many years to come!

 

[eTrojan]

I'll just slink down to the local sawmill and see what I can dredge up for you. It might be in the form of contaminated topsoil, however.

There are also multiple forms/types of Dowicide, each used for a different purpose. I believe I am looking for Dowicide A, which dissolves in aqueous solution and is used for leather hide treatment. But that's where I was hoping to get more details from the folks at the Smithsonian.

 

[Nobleprofessor]

I just realized that of all my vintage Florsheim (including a fair number of LWB), I do not have a Black LWB!
I have Nettleton, and an unknown maker Black Shell Cordovan. But, I don’t have Florsheim Black calf!

that’s a weird hole in the collection.

I am also seriously struggling with wearing the three new shoes I have. I have 93602 NOS, new Footjoy, and new AE Shell LWB.They are only new once!

 

[Oshare]

Joy of joys, the British Boot Shop of Calgary, McHale built gunboats that @Dit_rich posted last week in the Canadian Vintage Shoe thread arrived at noon today. They are Size 10.5EE and they will end up with my wide-footed son, who was born about two kilometers from the factory in which these shoes were made. They really didn't require much work, but I washed them and cleaned the welts, removed a bit of old polish with Renomat, moisturized with Bicks 4, dressed the edges, and polished with a bit of clear Collonil Supreme Creme de Lux. I also put in some new laces, put they may get changed to a darker pair.

The shoes were a private label offering by the British Boot Shop (BBS) but they are for all intents and purposes the Canadian version of the Florsheim Imperial that was built by McHale. These shoes have the Made in Canada maple leaf printed mid-sole on the sock-liner indicating they were manufactured in the 70's or early 80's. For interest's sake, the last few pictures show one of the "Florsheim/BBS" shoes side-by side with a John McHale signature shoe from the same era. Both have thick double soles, with the McHales being perhaps a 32nd of an inch thicker. The McHales have nailed leather heels and the BBS shoes have Goodyear heels, however many Florsheims by McHale had leather soles. In this case the choice of soles would have been determined by the British Boot Shop.

The McHale shoes have a deeper reddish brown colour and larger brogue holes on the toe box, while the broguing on the lace stays is lower on the McHales. The McHales have their signature John McHale "box-barring" on the base of the lace stays and have gold 360 storm welt versus the black 360 storm welt on the BBS shoes. Both shoes have the classic McHale doubled and stitched sock-liners, and both have the MIC maple leaf. The heel height is almost identical, with perhaps a very slight nod to the McHales. Overall both shoes are of a wonderful quality.

Thank you so much @Dit_rich for passing these on to me. They will be in the family for many years to come!

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Very nice! I love my John McHale Florsheims that I posted a few days ago.

Interestingly, yours appear to be short wing bluchers rather than balmorals. I don’t think I’ve seen many shoes in that configuration.

 

[Jiqea]

miCanada Florsheims by John McHale on this cool late autumn overcast day.
I gave up on the spider web lacing pattern I had been using because I realized I was getting a lot of heel slip. To prevent that I wanted to lace them up tighter, and the spider web lacing didn't really allow that. Oh well.

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Nice touch with the Maple Leaf!

 

[suitforcourt]

2020 styleforum shoe revival challenge

Dear members, The competition you've all been waiting for. Get out your wallets, polishing cloths, and gas masks. The 2020 shoe revival challenge is about to commence. The 2020 competition will amalgamate the 2018 and 2019 formats. Rules of the challenge: Shoes can only be worked on AFTER...

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