Vintage Dress shoe appreciation, tips, maintenance and advice

[mormonopoly]

Love to see these type of commentaries from long-time collectors' experiences.

I am surprise to see how low LB Sheppard and Aristocraft lands on your ranking.

Sir @meister @davidVC Do you have a ranking opinions on the brands you had experiences with (Clapp, Stetson, Florsheim, etc, etc.)?

I think it becomes pretty impossible to rank brands generally if you’re not doing it based on a specific style and era. Even within that, the variation can be vast. The nicest shoe I’ve ever handled is a 1950s Bostonian, but I wouldn’t rank all 1950s Bostonians over all 1950s shoes from another maker. It could be fun to rank based on average quality of that maker, but it’s tough because there were so many differences. That being said, I’m a sucker for pre-1960s Clapps and Stetsons.

 

[madhat]

Love to see these type of commentaries from long-time collectors' experiences.

I am surprise to see how low LB Sheppard and Aristocraft lands on your ranking.

Sir @meister @davidVC @vestbash Do you have a ranking opinions on the brands you had experiences with (Clapp, Stetson, Florsheim, etc, etc.)?

I have some LB Sheppards, and I would agree with his assessment. They're solid, and better than most modern, but they aren't stand out

 

[vestbash]

Also curious about Alden, J&M Aristocraft, Allen Edmonds.

I have seen most iterations of all the shoes you are referencing. Without further defining the parameters of the evaluation its not really possible to create a ranking. To start, you'd really want to define the period and the line/pricepoint.

In terms of current availability, you're probably best served by seeking out 1970s-1980s Florsheim imperials and are readily available in many sizes and still are quite cheap relative to price/quality ratio.

 

[jpm1]

Saturday Saddles. Vintage Allen Edmonds Polo Saddles from 1981. Cashmere Calfskin with Wildebeest Saddles and Foxing. Custom Patina/Restoration by Alberto Suastez.

 

[friendlygoz]

Saturday Saddles. Vintage Allen Edmonds Polo Saddles from 1981. Cashmere Calfskin with Wildebeest Saddles and Foxing. Custom Patina/Restoration by Alberto Suastez. View attachment 1434223 View attachment 1434273

I love how those came out. I want some saddles that I can dye just like that.

 

[jpm1]

I love how those came out. I want some saddles that I can dye just like that.

Much appreciated. Couldn’t be more pleased with them.

 

[CWOyaji]

The thrifted Strands from yesterday.

 

[suitforcourt]

Just curious, why have you not taken to vintage AE?

My patriotism forces me to buy vintage Canadian brands. Therefore, I am more selective about other vintage shoes. So in the grand scheme of vintage US brands, I prefer anything but AE.

 

[suitforcourt]

I would guess, in part, that his ultra wide foot doesn’t lend itself to AE’s most popular lasts. I would also suspect that he is more of a Barrie last guy than an Aberdeen last guy in Alden.

Not that there’s anything wrong with that

Small consideration. AE does have some lasts that work for my wide stompers.

I also despise cults. The AE cult is pretty annoying and their members blindly buy AE, even the current crap. The facebook AE group is a bunch of koolaid drinking diehards.

Present company excluded.

 

[CWOyaji]

Hey I only paid ten bucks for them. That's a pretty small admission price for a cult in my book.

 

[Thomas Crown]

I've been checking this pair out. Crack at the heels. As @davidVC would say: it's the beginning of trouble.

I’ll have to look again,I thought I saw the cracking on the brogueing rather than the main body of the heel. That would indicate the crack couldn’t spread very far

 

[smfdoc]

Hey I only paid ten bucks for them. That's a pretty small admission price for a cult in my book.

As is the case with wives and swimming pools, the initial investment is reasonable, but the upkeep will kill you.

 

[CWOyaji]

A week or so from now they'll be somebody else's problem. Somebody who wears a size 12 D.

 

[Thomas Crown]

Based the on the shoes I’ve handled here’s how I would rank them: Florsheim imperial > Nettleton > Alden > Vintage Allen Edmonds > LB Sheppard and Aristocraft >>> modern Allen Edmonds. This is specifically a ranking of their longwings around the 70s-80s which I think is what you were asking for.

That is precisely how I would rank them,Alden are great shoes,don’t get me wrong,but they have a rather cultish following and resell on eBay for much more than other brands. That said,I agree with @mormonopoly that vintage Florsheim Imperials are top drawer longwings,but importantly I agree with his putting Nettleton (Traditionals) second,ahead of Alden.They have double stitching (like Florsheim) where Alden is single stitched (admittedly hair splitting). Nettleton is underrated among the non-nerd aficionados and often reasonably priced.

 

[Thomas Crown]

A week or so from now they'll be somebody else's problem. Somebody who wears a size 12 D.

It’s a nice shoe and walnut Strands have a great resale value