Vintage Dress shoe appreciation, tips, maintenance and advice

[friendlygoz]

Dack’s kudu wholecuts for kudu wholecut Friday (I just made that up... probably doesn’t become a “thing,” but it’s worth trying.)

 

[eTrojan]

Had a big day out with a couple different pairs.

1) Trip to Griffith Park for an outdoor staff meeting. Wore my AE Gridiron (vintage violation). Took the puppy along to meet the team

2) Date night with my better half. Dusted off the vintage Church’s Cotswold in Ranch Oxhide. My research places these in late-50s to mid-60s. Found a great little restaurant that opened last summer and then was shut down again in the Nov-Feb surge in LA. They survived and are doing a great job with food, wine and service. Had a nice chat with the owner.

 

[smfdoc]

I have always wanted to write a side by side comparison between 60s vs 70s vs 80s iconic Florsheim 93602. I promised myself once I could collect all three decades in NOS, I’d sit down, take out the magnifying glass and start taking notes.

Recently, I was fortunate to acquire a 60s NOS 93602 which ended the treasure hunt. Even more exciting, I also received another 80s NOS pair. This 80s pair is special since it’s my birth year and I can’t pass (Thank you @vestbash).

Having the goods, I yet couldn’t find leisure time to appreciate and write. Hopefully sometime later in the summer. For now, a quick preview of recent acquisition. Presenting 1967 and 1985 Florsheim 93602s. View attachment 1606507

while you are at this, please look for any subtle differences to help identify age. The vcleat position is known, but used pairs sometimes have replacement heels so it cannot always be used.

 

[smfdoc]

Had a big day out with a couple different pairs.

1) Trip to Griffith Park for an outdoor staff meeting. Wore my AE Gridiron (vintage violation). Took the puppy along to meet the team

View attachment 1606556
View attachment 1606557

2) Date night with my better half. Dusted off the vintage Church’s Cotswold in Ranch Oxhide. My research places these in late-50s to mid-60s. Found a great little restaurant that opened last summer and then was shut down again in the Nov-Feb surge in LA. They survived and are doing a great job with food, wine and service. Had a nice chat with the owner.

View attachment 1606558
View attachment 1606559
View attachment 1606560
View attachment 1606561

Great shoes and the food looks delicious.

 

[Oshare]

while you are at this, please look for any subtle differences to help identify age. The vcleat position is known, but used pairs sometimes have replacement heels so it cannot always be used.

Perhaps @Quantum17 can verify some of the observations on this Japanese blogger's page (Google translated):

『原点回帰』

私がビンテージシューズに興味を持ち始めたのが2015年頃。 それから早くも2年が経過。それなりに知識もつき、所持している靴も充実してきました。 最初の頃は…

translate.google.com

He goes into quite a bit of detail about things like the sock liner, sponge liners, shape of the side panels, etc.

 

[Oshare]

After a few more weeks of stretching in various spots, I took my 9.5D 7-eyelet Royal Imperial Florsheims for another spin to the supermarket, and the fit is better. The upper leather is somewhat thin, so hopefully they will continue to stretch out to fit my wide feet over time. Being on a sleeker balmoral last with a thin sole, these have a very different feel from the Kenmoor type LWBs.

 

[smfdoc]

Florsheim 10.5B, including trees on Etsy. Link. $84. Not my listing.

 

[suitforcourt]

Had a big day out with a couple different pairs.

1) Trip to Griffith Park for an outdoor staff meeting. Wore my AE Gridiron (vintage violation). Took the puppy along to meet the team

View attachment 1606556
View attachment 1606557

2) Date night with my better half. Dusted off the vintage Church’s Cotswold in Ranch Oxhide. My research places these in late-50s to mid-60s. Found a great little restaurant that opened last summer and then was shut down again in the Nov-Feb surge in LA. They survived and are doing a great job with food, wine and service. Had a nice chat with the owner.

View attachment 1606558
View attachment 1606559
View attachment 1606560
View attachment 1606561

That Bone marrow spread and clam dish look scrumptious.

My area still has prohibition on dine in. Even patio dining is a maybe this summer.

 

[smfdoc]

Perhaps @Quantum17 can verify some of the observations on this Japanese blogger's page (Google translated):

『原点回帰』

私がビンテージシューズに興味を持ち始めたのが2015年頃。 それから早くも2年が経過。それなりに知識もつき、所持している靴も充実してきました。 最初の頃は…

translate.google.com

He goes into quite a bit of detail about things like the sock liner, sponge liners, shape of the side panels, etc.

+1! That is the post I had seen but I could not recall where. I hope some of this can be verified and maybe added to.

 

[smfdoc]

My shipment never arrived yesterday. I console myself with 93602s for today's errands.

 

[Quantum17]

while you are at this, please look for any subtle differences to help identify age. The vcleat position is known, but used pairs sometimes have replacement heels so it cannot always be used.

I was just telling @friendlygoz that I think I figured out the difference between 70s and 80s. But let me take a couple photos and ask around first before making a fool of myself in public ? The boxes are different, but that’s not useful ?

 

[stook1]

Perhaps @Quantum17 can verify some of the observations on this Japanese blogger's page (Google translated):

『原点回帰』

私がビンテージシューズに興味を持ち始めたのが2015年頃。 それから早くも2年が経過。それなりに知識もつき、所持している靴も充実してきました。 最初の頃は…

translate.google.com

He goes into quite a bit of detail about things like the sock liner, sponge liners, shape of the side panels, etc.

Never seen that before... bookmarked for future reference. Great find! Anxiously awaiting @Quantum17 findings.

 

[Quantum17]

Perhaps @Quantum17 can verify some of the observations on this Japanese blogger's page (Google translated):

『原点回帰』

私がビンテージシューズに興味を持ち始めたのが2015年頃。 それから早くも2年が経過。それなりに知識もつき、所持している靴も充実してきました。 最初の頃は…

translate.google.com

He goes into quite a bit of detail about things like the sock liner, sponge liners, shape of the side panels, etc.

I definitely will check that blog out. Dang, someone got to it before me.
Edit: That's some incredible insights. Phew, it appears 70s and 80s distinctions is yet discovered. But my sample is small. I'll keep teasing for now until I could confirm if im on the right track

 

[sam67]

Loafers- it dawned on me that my J&M loafers fit my different width feet great though I don’t really know why. The lizard is too big. Maybe AE lasts just aren’t going to work for me. If your interested in the AE Clayton, PM me. 10.5D

 

[FatTuesday]

Here are my first Stuart Macquire Shell.

@sam67 offered them at a bargain price. The quality is better than I expected as some SM that I have seen are pretty cheaply made. I am pleased.

View attachment 1605661 View attachment 1605662

The Shell uppers don’t have much wear. But, there is some mysterious spotting.

I used some Renovateur and then followed it up with Saphir cream. When I put on the cream, the spots almost disappeared. But, after bushing the spots returned. These are not like typical lighter colored areas on Shell. These are like a spot that was caused by something like a stripper? What could cause this on Shell?


Other than using Cordovan cream (with lots of pigment) is there anyway to address this?

The sizing is really odd too. @sam67 noticed it too. The size shows “4105”. Which would equate to a 10.5D. But, they feel like an 11+ and at least E.


View attachment 1605693 View attachment 1605695

Cream polish, even pigment-heavy cordovan polish, will do nothing beneficial for those spots.
A couple of observations / notes:

1. That may be the result of spray-on acrylic color wearing off, but not sure why they're so light in the affected areas.
2. Using acetone on shell will remove any toppings or coatings, but my experience is that the color in the shell remains. I use acetone on brand new shell shoes to remove the acrylic coating. Then just moisturize & brush to get back to shell luster. I recommend using acetone to get any old coatings, toppings, polish, etc. off of the shoes. Then you can analyze better what you're dealing with.
3. Do NOT use neatsfoot oil yet! It will make stripping (& potentially dying) more difficult.
4. I've not redyed shoes before, but that seems like a great fallback if other solutions don't work.

Good luck and keep us posted!