Vintage Dress shoe appreciation, tips, maintenance and advice

[Thomas Crown]

Opted today for the Florsheim “Heritage” LWBs that were made a few years ago for limited release. I got them on clearance last year. Although made in India,the build quality is quite good. Double stitching and beautiful Horween Essex leather in natural. With these nice executions,including GYW,they disappointingly are not fully leather lined?. Otherwise they are very comfortable and I’m glad I picked them up when I had the chance. My apologies for the vintage violation but it was done for science ?!

 

[right_hook]

I was conditioning a pair of shell Florsheim LWBs today and noticed they are cracking around the eyelets. This is the second pair where I've noticed this over as many weeks. I asked myself, is this just the way vintage shell is and I just never paid enough attention?

I carefully inspected the six pairs I own, and sure enough, every pair that are not NOS (4/4) showed small cracks either around they eyelets or in the brogueing. I then turned to ebay for more evidence. of the 16 pairs of LWBs that came up searching for "vintage Florsheim shell cordovan", two lacked sufficient pictures to make a determination, 10 showed cracking, and four did not. Of the four that did not, two were NOS, and two were late 90's or early 2000s models.

So, in the absence of a larger sample, the answer to my question seems to be "yes". If they are worn, and more than 25 years old, there is probably some form of cracking, but it tends to go unnoticed. As long as one does not screw around trying to examine the cracks through flexing them, those around the eyelets and in the brougeing must be fairly stable.

Then again, n = 20 isn't good, and those that don't show cracking may simply sell right away.

To buy shell loafers could be a simple solution to that issue

 

[friendlygoz]

To buy shell loafers could be a simple solution to that issue

I like it.

 

[smfdoc]

So, with all this business about shell shoes cracking, grommets etc: if I were to buy a brand new shell pair, would it be smart to take the new shoes straight to the cobbler for a set of grommets?

Shoes may not have visible eyelets, but they are usually there between the inner lining and the outer leather.

 

[sam67]

Found these Imperial Kenmoors yesterday. Likely from 1988. They’ve been resoled, but hey? I usually wear 10.5D and these are C. Fit my left no prob and the tiniest squeeze on right. Going to see how my right foot does through the day.

 

[Shoonoob]

Out and about with my recently rebuilt Florsheim spectators, courtesy of my man @Shoonoob . These have a new midsole, JR soles, and toe taps.

And also sun tanning a pair of 93605s. View attachment 1436953 View attachment 1436954 View attachment 1436955 View attachment 1436956 View attachment 1436957

MY MAN!!!!! Looking Good

 

[WSB17]

Opted today for the Florsheim “Heritage” LWBs that were made a few years ago for limited release. I got them on clearance last year. Although made in India,the build quality is quite good. Double stitching and beautiful Horween Essex leather in natural. With these nice executions,including GYW,they disappointingly are not fully leather lined?. Otherwise they are very comfortable and I’m glad I picked them up when I had the chance. My apologies for the vintage violation but it was done for science ?! View attachment 1438204 View attachment 1438205

Very nice, I wanted to grab one of these last year but my size sold out.
They also had a limited edition "anniversary" spade wingtip, also in Essex leather.

https://assets2.mr-mag.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/03/Spring125V2-e1490112278740.jpg

 

[Hotel Cali]

For Mr.Fu @wasmisterfu

NOS and with guarantee.

Vintage 1980s FLORSHEIM DRESS SHOES Size 11 Style Number 30374 | eBay

Find many great new & used options and get the best deals for Vintage 1980s FLORSHEIM DRESS SHOES Size 11 Style Number 30374 at the best online prices at eBay! Free shipping for many products!

www.ebay.com

 

[PSU John]

For Mr.Fu @wasmisterfu

NOS and with guarantee.

View attachment 1438302

View attachment 1438303

Vintage 1980s FLORSHEIM DRESS SHOES Size 11 Style Number 30374 | eBay

Find many great new & used options and get the best deals for Vintage 1980s FLORSHEIM DRESS SHOES Size 11 Style Number 30374 at the best online prices at eBay! Free shipping for many products!

www.ebay.com

A perfect example of how bonded leather spontaneously deconstructs, even if the shoe is unworn.

 

[woofmang]

I agree with Joe here; my oldest pair of shoes is a pair of Alden 994s (Traditional Saddles in Color 8 Shell) that are ~16 years old at this point, and there's not a hint of cracking anywhere (and they have not been babied at all).

Correction: my 994s are the shoes I've owned the longest (I bought them new in the Spring of 2004, IIRC), but they're not in fact my oldest shoes; those would be my AE Bristols in Black Cherry Shell, which are ~25 years old (and which also have no signs of cracking anywhere, although I can't vouch for how they were treated for their first 24 years of life or so).

Now back to our regularly scheduled discussion...

 

[WSB17]

Grenson "Footmaster" chocolate suede chukka from 1997.

This was a find on eBay from earlier this year.

The "Footmaster" line was Grenson's second best line back in the day, just below the "Masterpiece",
but these are absolutely wonderful, and the suede is clearly high quality.
I'd say even better than current day Allen Edmonds.

 

[vestbash]

So, with all this business about shell shoes cracking, grommets etc: if I were to buy a brand new shell pair, would it be smart to take the new shoes straight to the cobbler for a set of grommets?

No. The shoes that have "grommets" (I would call them "eyelets") have what are called blind eyelets and other reinforcements in the facings. Shoes without visible eyelets do not just have holes punched in the leather. Installing eyelets on a pair of vintage shoes is just a measure to excise the damaged cordovan and stop it from spreading further.

I buy a lot of shell cordovan shoes. The longwing patterns are highly susceptible to damage over many years. Most cordovan shoes, loafers etc...even from makers that are considered to be the best at handling cordovan, have issues with the patterns that result in damage to the cordovan leather.

 

[sam67]

Found these Imperial Kenmoors yesterday. Likely from 1988. They’ve been resoled, but hey? I usually wear 10.5D and these are C. Fit my left no prob and the tiniest squeeze on right. Going to see how my right foot does through the day.
Update- so after three hours neither the shoe or my right foot changed shape. Just a distracting minor squeeze. I don’t like to give any of my clothes a second thought. They should just fit. These will have to go. If you have any interest PM me.
View attachment 1438264

 

[Nealjpage]

I'm thinking that I need a pair of Dacks. These are reasonably priced, and in the US so I don't have to deal with customs.

They are stamped as a 9. I assume that's a Canadian 9. Hey, @suitforcourt how does that size compare to a US 9? Conversions and exchange rates were never my strong suit.

 

[friendlygoz]

New to me AE Chukka (that’s the less than creative name AE give to this boot). I think they are from 2007, not not really vintage. Ever since @Oshare got his AE shell Dundees I’ve been wanting some shell chukkas. @vestbash came through. Here they are upon arrival.

They were in good shape, but needed some TLC, which is something I have an abundance for shell. I wipe them with a wet cloth, slapped on a round of Bick4. I did another round, this time sanding them with a 3000 grit auto sanding pad to get out some scuffs. I also took the deer bone to them to get out some dings. Both worked effectively. I then put a coat of Saphir renovateur, a coat of Saphir cordovan cream, and finished with a very light coat of Pure Polish high shine wax (I did a dry shine using nothing but my fingertips toapplynand buff. If you haven’t tried this, do it. It works amazingly well on shell.) Here are the results. Note the color variation with and between panels, which is some thing I love about them.