Vintage Dress shoe appreciation, tips, maintenance and advice

[eTrojan]

First post with shoe pron in a while. There are a few coming.

Florsheim Imperial NST. These are well worn and were caked with polish. So crusty and cracking that parts of the shoe looked like alligator. And note the replacement leather in the heel cup.

These are a 12B, which kind of fits, but not really. So if anyone is interested, hit me up on the DM. Otherwise, I will start the stretching process to see if I can make them it.

Several rounds of acetone
Two coats of Angelus jet black shoe dye
One coat of Bick 4
Brush thoroughly
One coat of Allen Edmonds black cream polish
Brush thoroughly
One coat of Collonil 1909 (neutral)
Brush thoroughly

[SPOILER="Pre-work photos"]

Shoe on the left has gone through one round of acetone. One on the right still shows a lot of wax buildup.

Here is where most of the wax buildup is on both shoes, as well as across the vamp. Theee is still wax to remove, but I may set up the bench grinder with a cotton wheel to see if I can buff it out. I literally went through 1/3 quart of acetone on these.

[/SPOILER]

 

[sam67]

Vintage 1960s era Alan McAfee Shortwing Bluchers in Ranch Oxhide Leather. Made by Church’s. View attachment 1464615 View attachment 1464616 View attachment 1464617

I knew who's these were going to be when I saw the picture before the poster! I was right.

 

[eTrojan]

Second pair of shoes cleaned and polished this morning.

Florsheim Imperial 93603. Very little work here.

Saddle soap
One round of Lexol Neatsfoot conditioner
One round of Bick 4
Buff thoroughly
One round of Collonil 1909 (neutral)
Buff thoroughly

These are very clean and replace a pair I currently have with splatter stains that are pretty stubborn. As long as I have to strip them, the plan is to dye them bright red. Cardinal red. To wear to USC home football games.

 

[suitforcourt]

Agree. Too small for me and the Nairobi thing is too worrisome anyway.

Can I ask, what is the issue with Nairobi/Kenya?

 

[Nealjpage]

Can I ask, what is the issue with Nairobi/Kenya?

I get worried about buying things from overseas, personally, whether that be Nairobi or France or Australia.

 

[suitforcourt]

I get worried about buying things from overseas, personally, whether that be Nairobi or France or Australia.

I am same way. I guess I am reassured because ebay seems to take side of buyer when things go awry. And so many sellers will do anything to keep their ratings up.

I fought with a seller about the shipping costs, and doing combined shipping. He ignored me. So I gave a neutral rating. He then offered to refund the shipping difference (shipping within my own province so he was trying to make money on the shipping, and I called him out).

Other times, seller offered full refund and let me keep item. I don't think I am an unreasonable buyer. If anything, I let a lot of things slide.

 

[CWOyaji]

I think Hanover shell PTB is a worthy rival to any of the others I’ve owned including Alden, Florsheim and AE. Of course it all depends on condition. This was the first pair of vintage shoes I ever bought on Ebay.

I was self conscious about all the vcleat clanking noise at first but now I think I’ll let the taps fall off and not replace them.

These are not the LB Sheppard line, but I had a pair of those blow up on me and ended up going Sweeney Tood on them with a sharp blade, for science.

 

[meister]

I thought these looked cool. I know nothing else about them. Size 8

Vintage ETONIC Genuine Croc Leather Dress Shoes Sz-8 US | eBay

Up for sale is a nice pair of ETONIC Genuine croc Leather Dress Shoes. This is a pre-owned pair in good overall condition and sold as is.

www.ebay.com

Gator not turtle.

 

[smfdoc]

Gator not turtle.

Hmmm. I was going by the label, under the assumption they knew what it was when they made the shoes. Either way they are not my size.

 

[meister]

Hmmm. I was going by the label, under the assumption they knew what it was when they made the shoes. Either way they are not my size.

View attachment 1464794

Turtle is different shape. Five sided from memory with clear interstices - not bits in between.

 

[mormonopoly]

Turtle is different shape. Five sided from memory with clear interstices - not bits in between.

Agreed. It’s weird that these are labeled as turtle because they definitely look more like gator to me.

 

[sam67]

Can I ask, what is the issue with Nairobi/Kenya?

None. I meant 'Nairobi' globally. Meaning, 'anywhere else', except maybe Canada. But saying that I haven't bought from anywhere else than the USA. An ungrounded paranoia perhaps.
I just sent a pair to Japan, for the first time, and that makes me worried something is going to get screwed up!
I mean, consider the propaganda I'm under as a US citizen. It can make a man nuts

 

[suitforcourt]

None. I meant 'Nairobi' globally. Meaning, 'anywhere else', except maybe Canada. But saying that I haven't bought from anywhere else than the USA. An ungrounded paranoia perhaps.
I just sent a pair to Japan, for the first time, and that makes me worried something is going to get screwed up!
I mean, consider the propaganda I'm under as a US citizen. It can make a man nuts

Most of my purchases come from the US. A few came from UK, and once from Ukraine. No issues so far. My family in Asia also sends me things, and no problems.

 

[mormonopoly]

I sell on Etsy and send shipments internationally all the time. In the first few months of the pandemic I had some major delays, but everything has reached its destination for me.

 

[sam67]

Most of my purchases come from the US. A few came from UK, and once from Ukraine. No issues so far. My family in Asia also sends me things, and no problems.

That's good to know. I have run across a few pairs in Ukraine that looked interesting.