Vintage Dress shoe appreciation, tips, maintenance and advice

[JFWR]

Saphir Reno Mat is good for removing cream and polish without removing the underlying dye from the leather, in my limited experience.
But it's interesting you mention this issue, as out of all my varying ages of shoes and boots, the Carmina pair I have are the most tricky when using shoe cream, it seems to sit on the surface rather than get absorbed. It could be that they use some kind of factory coating, I haven't tried Reno Mat to see if I can get through it, I just wiped off the cream and they look great so am leaving well alone.

This seems to be exactly the consensus. It seems that Carmina may layer a very slight acrylic layer on to the leather.

I have antiqued several Allen Edmonds and Rockports (yes, I know, junk shoes - but I made them look nice), and never had a problem. I have sometimes had polish rub off, but just a little bit, and only directly after polishing and that was due to me leaving too much on.

I will tell my mother to get some renomat so that next time I visit her, I can go and fix her boots.

To put it into perspective: my mom sat on a bench outside Ikea and left red pigment all over it where her boots had been resting.

I mean, just outrageous amounts of leakage of pigment, which is completely opposite everything which has ever happened with other things.

 

[NickN]

These vintage John McVey "Shoes for Men / Distinctively Different" shell cordovan oldies arrived yesterday, a swift removal of the awful flat sneaker laces and replacement with waxed cotton round laces, some vigorous brushing and they're ready to wear.

If what is online about the company is correct, they could be easily be around 1940s age, certainly not much younger. The colour has darkened considerably from what modern #8 looks like, in shade they can look almost black.

 

[Oshare]

Wore some unicorns today.

 

[happypebble]

Wore some unicorns today.

View attachment 1589382

So jealous. This is Allen Edmonds, right? The pair I was watching and let get away. But, I now have two (edit: three!) pairs of white loafers as consolation.

 

[Oshare]

So jealous. This is Allen Edmonds, right? The pair I was watching and let get away. But, I now have two pairs of white loafers as consolation.

Actually, these are Florsheims complete with V-cleats. I bought them on auction here in Japan last year. The first and only pair of Florsheim white LWBs I've ever seen.

 

[happypebble]

Actually, these are Florsheims complete with V-cleats. I bought them on auction here in Japan last year. The first and only pair of Florsheim white LWBs I've ever seen.

Ah! I had been watching a very similar AE pair which someone else on here ended up grabbing. Yours are lovely, class act material. The red socks look great with them.

 

[Nobleprofessor]

Wore some unicorns today.

View attachment 1589382

Those aren’t unicorns. Those are unicorns riding on a unicorn carrying a copy of the Zapruder Film and sprinkling diamonds on the sidewalk.

SUPER RARE! And awesome!

 

[Nobleprofessor]

Is there a difference between oiled leather and Chromexcel? It seems like Chromexcel has become the trendy term. I remember having boots when I was in Boy Scouts that were oiled leather. They were smooth and slightly greasy (probably not the right word). But, they were practically waterproof and they couldn’t be polished. In fact, the way we maintained them was to clean them with a damp cloth, let them dry and then slather on Mink Oil.

All of this makes me think they were Chromexcel before that technical term was used. Or, am i totally wrong and oiled leather and CXL are different.

 

[stook1]

Is there a difference between oiled leather and Chromexcel? It seems like Chromexcel has become the trendy term. I remember having boots when I was in Boy Scouts that were oiled leather. They were smooth and slightly greasy (probably not the right word). But, they were practically waterproof and they couldn’t be polished. In fact, the way we maintained them was to clean them with a damp cloth, let them dry and then slather on Mink Oil.

All of this makes me think they were Chromexcel before that technical term was used. Or, am i totally wrong and oiled leather and CXL are different.

CXL isn't greasy. It's impregnated with fats during the tanning process though so it doesn't tend to need much in the way of care or conditioning relative to most other leathers.

 

[smfdoc]

It's a vintage Thursday with 93602s and a matching watch band.

 

[friendlygoz]

These vintage John McVey "Shoes for Men / Distinctively Different" shell cordovan oldies arrived yesterday, a swift removal of the awful flat sneaker laces and replacement with waxed cotton round laces, some vigorous brushing and they're ready to wear.

If what is online about the company is correct, they could be easily be around 1940s age, certainly not much younger. The colour has darkened considerably from what modern #8 looks like, in shade they can look almost black.

View attachment 1589367 View attachment 1589368 View attachment 1589369 View attachment 1589370

Those are amazing

 

[Nobleprofessor]

Not vintage. But, this group can certainly share my joy and my potential anxiety.

I may have opened Pandora’s Box. I have way too many shoes. I only have 1 pair of Cowboy Boots (that I never wear) and a pair grungy Gore-Tex Boots for mud/Snow. I have managed to avoid the itch to buy semi-dressy boots — at least until now. I just purchased a pair of Landon Cap Toe Boots in Chili with contrasting brown on toe and heel. I hope I haven’t opened the flood gates!

There was also a goof up in the discount. These were on sale and they had a special extra 10% off collectors sale yesterday. I couldn’t figure out my account password so I had to redo my account. I guess it thought it was my first purchase so it gave me an extra 15% off. When I saw the price ($226), I couldn’t pass them up.

 

[stook1]

I've been gradually working on the John McHale bombers that I bought recently and figured I would post some preliminary thoughts and progress pics. Now I am ready to find one of the red color versions of these AND a pair of Dack's u-wings. ? ??

This is the main image from the listing (ie. as bought):

@Jiqea , our resident expert on vintage Canadian shoes, was most kind and generous with his advice and recommendations based upon his deep experience in this realm. As others often say to those far less deserving... you are a gentleman and a scholar. Thank you!

I did end up following most of these suggestions, although I deviated to a more comfortable zone as far as cream polish selection. In short, clean > condition > trees > renomat > condition > condition > cream polish > wax polish.

There are still some action items for me on these shoes before I move them into the rotation.
- In no particular order, I'd like to do some more work to clean the welts. They are better than they had been but not quite as clean as I'd like.
- I am debating whether to sand and slightly lighten the edges (this will probably be deferred for now).
- The shoes also have a pretty old topy on the soles. I am about 90% sure that the soles are in good condition but I've yet to make up my mind as to whether or not to remove the topy.
- I do still need to do some cleaning and conditioning of the lining and insole.
- I am also debating a swap to a different type of lace, although the ones I have installed seem pretty old and may be the original style, not sure.
- Finally, I am still slightly tinkering with the polish but... much like trimming a beard or mustache, I feel like I am in that zone where it might be best to leave well enough alone (tbd).

 

[Nobleprofessor]

I've been gradually working on the John McHale bombers that I bought recently and figured I would post some preliminary thoughts and progress pics. Now I am ready to find one of the red color versions of these AND a pair of Dack's u-wings. ? ??

This is the main image from the listing (ie. as bought):
View attachment 1589610

@Jiqea , our resident expert on vintage Canadian shoes, was most kind and generous with his advice and recommendations based upon his deep experience in this realm. As others often say to those far less deserving... you are a gentleman and a scholar. Thank you!

I did end up following most of these suggestions, although I deviated to a more comfortable zone as far as cream polish selection. In short, clean > condition > trees > renomat > condition > condition > cream polish > wax polish.

There are still some action items for me on these shoes before I move them into the rotation.
- In no particular order, I'd like to do some more work to clean the welts. They are better than they had been but not quite as clean as I'd like.
- I am debating whether to sand and slightly lighten the edges (this will probably be deferred for now).
- The shoes also have a pretty old topy on the soles. I am about 90% sure that the soles are in good condition but I've yet to make up my mind as to whether or not to remove the topy.
- I do still need to do some cleaning and conditioning of the lining and insole.
- I am also debating a swap to a different type of lace, although the ones I have installed seem pretty old and may be the original style, not sure.
- Finally, I am still slightly tinkering with the polish but... much like trimming a beard or mustache, I feel like I am in that zone where it might be best to leave well enough alone (tbd).

View attachment 1589628 View attachment 1589629

Fantastic work! Those are good looking! They look very beefy (in a good way). A few comments:

1. I’m impressed with the results. They look much better conditioned.
2. I like the color you have achieved. Any darker and you lose the honey/cognac tones. And any lighter and you lose the depth and interest.
3. You are right, the welt stitching needs more cleaning.

This also makes me think I may have made a mistake with my choice of welt stitching. I’m having my MTO Bison LWB and I was thinking I didn’t want white or off white welt stitching. I thought it might be a weird addition with burgundy and an antique welt and edge. So, I told them to use brown. Now, I’m wondering if brown will just look dirty.

 

[stook1]

Fantastic work! Those are good looking! They look very beefy (in a good way). A few comments:

1. I’m impressed with the results. They look much better conditioned.
2. I like the color you have achieved. Any darker and you lose the honey/cognac tones. And any lighter and you lose the depth and interest.
3. You are right, the welt stitching needs more cleaning.

This also makes me think I may have made a mistake with my choice of welt stitching. I’m having my MTO Bison LWB and I was thinking I didn’t want white or off white welt stitching. I thought it might be a weird addition with burgundy and an antique welt and edge. So, I told them to use brown. Now, I’m wondering if brown will just look dirty.

Thanks! I had some difficulty with the cream polish and ended up finding success with MdO light brown cream and MdO light brown and medium brown for the wax polish on the toes and heels. It's still not quite as perfect as I would like, as I sort of implied, but it's in the zone and close. I might do a little more on the toes to hide the very thin scuffs on the right toe. Admittedly, in real life from normal viewing height, it's not really visible but it bugs me a little nonetheless. There is also a mark or two on the vamps that I'd like to do some more work on. Overall, close...

Anyway, as far as your bison pair, I'd say that brown will be good with the antique welt. It's completely a matter of personal preference and there is no wrong answer. The only time that brown welt stitching bothers me is on a natural colored welt where there is a reverse contrast from what you typically see.