Vintage Dress shoe appreciation, tips, maintenance and advice

[Joe Wohkittel]

They were a store special. There are three examples for sale on the Bay right now.

They had consistent numbering (e.g. both listed black cashmere calf examples are 0214). They were all built on the 4 (674) last, best known for it’s use on the Polo through 1990.

Seeing these pairs, I looked back at my pair, an 0214 8.5 C, yet my pair didn't seem to have a bull nose like the other pairs, at least not looking down at them. I went to take a photo for comparison and sure enough, when viewed straight on at eye level, they seem to have more of a bull nose. ?

 

[wasmisterfu]

Seeing these pairs, I looked back at my pair, an 0214 8.5 C, yet my pair didn't seem to have a bull nose like the other pairs, at least not looking down at them. I went to take a photo for comparison and sure enough, when viewed straight on at eye level, they seem to have more of a bull nose. ?

The 674 last was slightly squared in the toe. It’s a last that came out of the 70’s (like I posted the other day). It doesn’t photograph well, but it’s sleeker in person:

 

[wasmisterfu]

Would you mind sharing some thoughts on how the 4 last fits? Eyeing that 10D pair although the soles look a bit worn.

I find it’s similar to the 511 last, but with a bit more volume up front.

 

[Oshare]

Househunting today with Mrs. Oyaji, we stumbled on one with an attic playroom that had near-infinite shoe collection display potential. Sadly, it didn't make the cut due to minor issues like being near a noisy freeway.
View attachment 1418545

Hm. I don't think there's enough space for PTBs, LWBs, and Wingtips. Tassel Loafers and Penny Loafers is probably also pushing it.

You'd probably need about 4 more of those racks, but fortunately I see some floor space in front of that shelf.

I've also seen these neat crank driven rollers so you can move shelves along rollers on the floor. That way you could probably get in at least another 8 racks.

Then it might be a possibility.

I'm sure the racks of shoes will provide sound dampening against the freeway noise.

 

[eTrojan]

Yup, like I said, if you read all the fine print, it basically says you can’t actually use the stuff for its intended purpose, or any other. Pretty silly. I almost feel like they really aren’t fully sure of the health consequences for such a chemical mixture, so they wrote the warnings for whatever class action @suitforcourt will be bringing.

That being said, the stuff really works. It’s the hydrogen-bomb of disinfectants.

The first ingredient listed is 2-phenylphenol, which I think is the same antimicrobial as Dowicide, which is supposedly what the Smithsonian uses in their shoe restoration elixir.

 

[CWOyaji]

This is the storeroom I'm holding out for.

 

[eTrojan]

So that’s one rule I don’t violate, or things would come completely unglued in my household: every pair I own can be worn (even if I never actually wear them).

If I started buying shoes that weren’t my size... oh man, I shudder to think what would happen.

+1.

 

[eTrojan]

Househunting today with Mrs. Oyaji, we stumbled on one with an attic playroom that had near-infinite shoe collection display potential. It didn't make the cut due to minor issues like being near a noisy freeway. #SAD!
View attachment 1418545

I believe that’s an IKEA bookshelf. Easy enough to buy more to accommodate larger collections.

KALLAX shelf unit, white, 715/8x715/8" - IKEA

KALLAX shelf unit, white, 715/8x715/8" Shelving unit or room divider – the KALLAX series adapts to taste, space, needs and budget. Smooth surfaces and rounded corners give a feel of quality and you can personalize the shelving unit with inserts and boxes.

www.ikea.com

 

[suitforcourt]

This is the storeroom I'm holding out for.
View attachment 1418554

so

 

[suitforcourt]

Has this thread ever contemplated renting some storage spaces together? California likely will have a few hubs.

This way we can store shoes, and have an alternative mailing address.

 

[jpm1]

0 prefix style numbers generally indicate a store special, non-catalog shoe (which the Baltic was, like the Lloyd and oxford Clifton) AE store specials were pretty prolific during the 80’s and 90’s, as AE was doing store specials for places like Nordstrom’s.

MTO’s, however, tend to have very strange style codes - more often than not, they’d carry a catalog number that doesn’t match the shoe (but might be close) with an additional prefix, or they have a partially random code.

Here’s another nice example of the Baltic:

This is my personal favorite store special, the oxford, 7 (97) last Clifton in black custom calf:

This is the nicer of the two pair that I have; I’ve been trying to find the Antique Burgundy version, in my size, for years. It might look like a Strand without a medallion, but on my feet, it’s a sleeker, more interesting shape (while similar, it’s actually a different pattern, not just the Strand pulled over a different last).

Anyway, chasing store specials can become quite a weird obsession. I spend a fairly unreasonable amount of time trying to find this Clifton, sorting through all the later 108 last derby Clifton’s on the Bay.

Good call. I hadn’t considered the wholesale account specials.

Heres a pair from ‘88 that I have been looking at:

Allen Edmonds Wingtip Tassel Loafers Men's Casual Dress Shoes Black Size 12C | eBay

These shoes shows signs of normal wear but do not contain any major issues or blemishes.

rover.ebay.com

Style number: 0110. No model name, made in 1988. There was no zero last back then so likely another example of these specials?

 

[sam67]

On Tuesday, March 24, 1964, a U.S. federal trademark registration was filed for BARTHBY FOOTWEAR by JOHN WINTER & SON, INC., SHORT HILLS. The trademark expired in 1985. Barthby had your shoe produced by Hutton of Northampton. Originally founded in the 1930s and then re-incorporated in 1948 as Hutton of Northampton, the factory made playboy chukkas, desert boots and all manner of suede and crepe soled shoes for men and women. They even won the Queen’s Award for Export to the USA. A huge hit in the USA during the Ivy League style ‘boom years’ as part of ‘the English look’ Hutton suede chukkas can be seen worn by movie actors like McQueen (who wore his in The Blob, Bullitt, Alfred Hitchcock Presents), Anthony Perkins, Jason Robards Jr, Robert Webber, Burgess Meredith (in the 1940s!). But, sadly, like most English and American manufacturers, they eventually closed their doors in 1990.

The Hutton of Northampton company has been revived in 2016 as Hutton Desert Boots and gone back to making suede chukkas with a crepe soles. Your can see their site at http://www.huttonboots.com.

You are a wealth of information. Thanks

 

[jpm1]

0 prefix style numbers generally indicate a store special, non-catalog shoe (which the Baltic was, like the Lloyd and oxford Clifton) AE store specials were pretty prolific during the 80’s and 90’s, as AE was doing store specials for places like Nordstrom’s.

MTO’s, however, tend to have very strange style codes - more often than not, they’d carry a catalog number that doesn’t match the shoe (but might be close) with an additional prefix, or they have a partially random code.

Here’s another nice example of the Baltic:

This is my personal favorite store special, the oxford, 7 (97) last Clifton in black custom calf:

This is the nicer of the two pair that I have; I’ve been trying to find the Antique Burgundy version, in my size, for years. It might look like a Strand without a medallion, but on my feet, it’s a sleeker, more interesting shape (while similar, it’s actually a different pattern, not just the Strand pulled over a different last).

Anyway, chasing store specials can become quite a weird obsession. I spend a fairly unreasonable amount of time trying to find this Clifton, sorting through all the later 108 last derby Clifton’s on the Bay.

The original Clifton are certainly beautiful! For MTO/SMU, if you were requesting say a Fifth Avenue in burgundy shell, the style number that would be assigned would be the black calf style number for that pattern (5705). That was the system for special makeups within this millennium at least. Not sure about previous decades.

 

[wasmisterfu]

View attachment 1418607 so

Is this real?!?

 

[wasmisterfu]

The original Clifton are certainly beautiful! For MTO/SMU, if you were requesting say a Fifth Avenue in burgundy shell, the style number that would be assigned would be the black calf style number for that pattern (5705). That was the system for special makeups within this millennium at least. Not sure about previous decades.

Generally that seems to jive; where I’ve seen things get weird though, is the exotic materials, sometimes those numbers have no relation to an existing style.

The other thing that I’ve seen used, with only partial consistency, is a leading prefix before the style code. For example “1 5705”; do you know what these prefix numbers indicate?