Vintage Dress shoe appreciation, tips, maintenance and advice

[nikolau]

Can someone comment on the providence of these shoes? I don’t think florsheim ever had blind channeled soles, so these appear to have a cemented construction. That said, the liner, logo, and lack of country of origin makes me think these were made sometime in the late 80s or early 90s. The ghost of the Florsheim logo under the ball of the foot makes me think these are factory soles with little wear.

The soles look like the early made in Indian models to me.

Have any of you heard of, or experienced, the “designer collection” from Florsheim?

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[mormonopoly]

Can someone comment on the providence of these shoes? I don’t think florsheim ever had blind channeled soles, so these appear to have a cemented construction. That said, the liner, logo, and lack of country of origin makes me think these were made sometime in the late 80s or early 90s. The ghost of the Florsheim logo under the ball of the foot makes me think these are factory soles with little wear.

The soles look like the early made an Indian models to me.

Have any of you heard of, or experienced, the “designer collection” from Florsheim?

View attachment 1400149 View attachment 1400150 View attachment 1400151 View attachment 1400152 View attachment 1400154 View attachment 1400162 View attachment 1400163

Florsheim made many shoes with blind stitched soles back in their prime in the 1950s and earlier. These shoes are like you said from the 80s/90s. To be honest, they look very low quality to me.

 

[hamercha]

Florsheim made many shoes with blind stitched soles back in their prime in the 1950s and earlier. These shoes are like you said from the 80s/90s. To be honest, they look very low quality to me.

Cheap and thin leather, fiber insole makes it closer to late 80’s or 90’s.

 

[AHS]

Good afternoon gentlemen.

A question for all of you who have worked magic with older shell cordovan.

Here is my pair of vintage Aldens for Brooks Brothers. I have done a lot of work (brushing, leather defender, Saphir Renovateur), but the creases in the shell are pretty discolored and look “worn”. Take a close look at the left shoe...

They look pretty great when I put them in trees and give them a quick brush. But they go back to this state when I put them on my feet.

Thoughts? Have I done everything I can?

AHS

 

[CWOyaji]

Good afternoon gentlemen.

A question for all of you who have worked magic with older shell cordovan.

Here is my pair of vintage Aldens for Brooks Brothers. I have done a lot of work (brushing, leather defender, Saphir Renovateur), but the creases in the shell are pretty discolored and look “worn”. Take a close look at the left shoe...

They look pretty great when I put them in trees and give them a quick brush. But they go back to this state when I put them on my feet.

View attachment 1400462

View attachment 1400472

Thoughts? Have I done everything I can?

AHS

Hello, fellow Bay Area thrift dinner attendee! Seems like a long time ago. I would try 2-3000 grit sanding pads from the auto parts store with Bick4, after a stiff bristle brushing, also with Bick 4 in the mix.

 

[eTrojan]

My Weyenberg-branded Brannock device arrived yesterday. I am definitely a 13. My left foot is slightly more narrow (A) than my right (A/B cusp). That would explain why I have more pain points in my right shoe, mostly at the top of the fifth metatarsal.

The real oddity seems to be arch-length — left is a 14 and right is a 15. Not sure whether it is typical for arch length measurements to be considerably longer than foot ones.

 

[Oshare]

Work from home Thursday, but went to get my hair cut for the first time in 3 months and took the 93602s out for a spin.

 

[wasmisterfu]

My Weyenberg-branded Brannock device arrived yesterday. I am definitely a 13. My left foot is slightly more narrow (A) than my right (A/B cusp). That would explain why I have more pain points in my right shoe, mostly at the top of the fifth metatarsal.

The real oddity seems to be arch-length — left is a 14 and right is a 15. Not sure whether it is typical for arch length measurements to be considerably longer than foot ones.

View attachment 1400539

Man, that is pretty darn neat.

 

[meister]

Work from home Thursday, but went to get my hair cut for the first time in 3 months and took the 93602s out for a spin.

View attachment 1400563

wonderful colour

 

[wasmisterfu]

Just got done hydrating and putting a touch of neutral wax on this recently acquired pair. I had planned on some high-concept photography in the backyard, but now it looks like it’s going to rain, so crappy photos inbound.

Vintage violation:

Spoiler: Muh new (to me) Stawfut’s

Man, I wanted a pair of these for the longest time (stupidly not buying a pair when they were available). This pair is the first really nice example I’ve seen in my size, usually they’re overpriced and beat to crap. Confirmed only worn twice, 115 bucks with shoe trees and shipping... I punched that BIN harder than Mike Tyson in a roid rage.

 

[friendlygoz]

My Weyenberg-branded Brannock device arrived yesterday. I am definitely a 13. My left foot is slightly more narrow (A) than my right (A/B cusp). That would explain why I have more pain points in my right shoe, mostly at the top of the fifth metatarsal.

The real oddity seems to be arch-length — left is a 14 and right is a 15. Not sure whether it is typical for arch length measurements to be considerably longer than foot ones.

View attachment 1400539

very cool. my rt foot is wider than my left for sure. so, you have some company.

 

[wasmisterfu]

My man @CWOyaji hooked me up with these vintage 8264 Chestnut Polished Cobbler AE Polo’s from 1982. Damn if I don’t love this weird early 80’s orange-brown bizarre color. It’s the same PC color my 2018 competition shoes started as (but were in terrible condition). They had a bunch of brown wax on them, which were obfuscating the wacky chestnut color, so they got full saddle-soaping, which took off all that goo.

I took a new approach to attempting to hydrate the leather under the PU coat: I dumped a ton of AE leather lotion from the inside out, through the linings... and I think it worked, as I was able to lessen the creasing quite noticeably. Overall quality is typical of this era of AE’s: excellent.

I also like the subtle orange welt top-stitch, and other weirdness with this pair. Definitely an early 80’s time capsule, that were (lucky for me) a bit too narrow for @CWOyaji.

 

[CWOyaji]

My man @CWOyaji hooked me up with these vintage 8264 Chestnut Polished Cobbler AE Polo’s from 1982. Damn if I don’t love this weird early 80’s orange-brown bizarre color. It’s the same PC color my 2018 competition shoes started as (but were in terrible condition). They had a bunch of brown wax on them, which were obfuscating the wacky chestnut color, so they got full saddle-soaping, which took off all that goo.

I took a new approach to attempting to hydrate the leather under the PU coat: I dumped a ton of AE leather lotion from the inside out, through the linings... and I think it worked, as I was able to lessen the creasing quite noticeably. Overall quality is typical of this era of AE’s: excellent.

I also like the subtle orange welt top-stitch, and other weirdness with this pair. Definitely an early 80’s time capsule, that were (lucky for me) a bit too narrow for @CWOyaji.

Those look great! They were a little long for me and I don't think I wore them more than twice since thrifting them, so I'm happy they found a new home with someone who really likes saddle Sheltons.

Spoiler: Before pics

 

[Hotel Cali]

Florsheim blue longwing today.

The red shoe laces were too much contrast so I went with brown.

 

[Raimar]

Can someone comment on the providence of these shoes? I don’t think florsheim ever had blind channeled soles, so these appear to have a cemented construction. That said, the liner, logo, and lack of country of origin makes me think these were made sometime in the late 80s or early 90s. The ghost of the Florsheim logo under the ball of the foot makes me think these are factory soles with little wear.

The soles look like the early made in Indian models to me.

Have any of you heard of, or experienced, the “designer collection” from Florsheim?

I have seen designer collection florsheims before and did a bit of research back then. This is from ebay (glad is still there):
https://www.ebay.com/itm/1977-FLORS...-Designer-Collection-VINTAGE-AD-/281325690646

The ebay seller says ad is from 1977. Not sure how long these "European Inspired Designer Collection" was in Florsheim's catalog but I assume if made in the 70s they are probably better quality than what is available now, so if you are buying for yourself and you like the style you should go for them
.
It would be interesting to find out if they are blake stitched or just glued. Also, if they don't specify country of manufacture, they most likely were made in the USA.
Found link to 1983 florsheim catalog:

https://www.worthpoint.com/worthopedia/1983-vintage-florsheim-shoe-catalog-1937940857