Vintage Dress shoe appreciation, tips, maintenance and advice

[suitforcourt]

Snazzy. When you say cobbler rebuilt them, what did they do? Got any before and after shots? I love rebuilds and restorations.

For good measure, since today is all about moc toe Bluchers, here’s me wearing the Seneca’s (AKA Brentwood’s) from earlier:

These were trashed when I bought them. They had half soles already. The ribbing was destroyed.

A cobbler replaced the ribbing, midsoles, and welt. JR soles, toe taps, and cat paw heels.

 

[mormonopoly]

Here's a new addition to my collection. These are Nettleton Shark.

 

[JFWR]

Maybe this has been previously discussed, but am I correct in my assessment that dress shoe prices (including shell cordovan) are depressed? I would suspect the need for dress shoes (vintage or otherwise) has diminished with the pandemic, and may never fully recover given the increased, long term acceptance of working from home.

Shell cordovan rarely ever goes on sale.

 

[CWOyaji]

Welcome back @wasmisterfu. In honor of NST day, I'm reminded of this pair of AE shell that I could not wear. From the archives:

 

[Nealjpage]

Have I mentioned that the Goodwill auction website is garbage? I just got outbid on three items in a row during the time it took for my bid to update.

I overbid early on a fourth item out of spite to say that I won something.

 

[wasmisterfu]

These were trashed when I bought them. They had half soles already. The ribbing was destroyed.

A cobbler replaced the ribbing, midsoles, and welt. JR soles, toe taps, and cat paw heels.

View attachment 1607859 View attachment 1607860 View attachment 1607861 View attachment 1607862 View attachment 1607863 View attachment 1607864 View attachment 1607865 View attachment 1607866 View attachment 1607867

Wow! You weren’t kidding, that’s one hell of a turnaround.

It’s amazing what can be accomplished by a skilled cobbler.

 

[Nealjpage]

Guess who’s back...
Back again...

Sorry, I had to disappear for a long while; just know it involved an insane amount of work saving (what was) a terribly broken company (which is now not broken).

So, here’s some shoes: they are AE’s; your mission is to identify the model name and number. Know that this one is harder than it first appears. Bonus points if you get the era and catalog entry correct.

I am, indeed, wearing these shoes today. In public.

Guess who's back? Back again?

Shady's back.

 

[eTrojan]

Welcome back @wasmisterfu. In honor of NST day, I'm reminded of this pair of AE shell that I could not wear. From the archives:
View attachment 1607953

View attachment 1607954

I almost wore these out for Mother's Day, but opted for the Nettleton shark split-toe instead.

These could use a round of TLC. The were worn often pre-pandemic, but have been in a box for the last year. They keep getting darker with each round of conditioning (Bick 4). Closer to a medium brown then their original Cognac.

 

[Oshare]

Not my listing. A pair of 93602 in 9-1/2 D that appear to be in decent shape. $26 BIN.

Mens Florsheim Imperial Wingtips 9.5D | eBay

From local estate sale.

www.ebay.com

I just had 2 pairs intercepted by spousal customs, so I'm on probation right now...

 

[suitforcourt]

Not my listing. A pair of 93602 in 9-1/2 D that appear to be in decent shape. $26 BIN.

Mens Florsheim Imperial Wingtips 9.5D | eBay

From local estate sale.

www.ebay.com

I just had 2 pairs intercepted by spousal customs, so I'm on probation right now...

You can always apply to have the probation conditions varied.

To wit:

1. No further footwear purchases unless approved by a Council composed of members of the vintage thread on Styleforum;

2. Not to possess any new footwear, with exception in condition #1;

3. To attend counseling as directed;

4. Keep the peace and be of good behaviour, especially towards _ _;

5. To surrender all credit cards or other financial instruments that can be used for online purchases, with exception in condition #1;

6. Complete 100 hours of community service and to show proof of such service;

7. Stay 100 meters away from any footwear store, that is known to you.

Probation to last 12 months.

 

[happypebble]

Not my listing. A pair of 93602 in 9-1/2 D that appear to be in decent shape. $26 BIN.

Mens Florsheim Imperial Wingtips 9.5D | eBay

From local estate sale.

www.ebay.com

I just had 2 pairs intercepted by spousal customs, so I'm on probation right now...

I feel your pain. I have two pairs in the pipeline that USPS has managed to misdirect. One pair I was worried about because it was coming from Canada and needed to clear customs. I was extra worried when tracking informed me it was in the US, but at the infamous Chicago customs/processing center, the one with a bad reputation for holding packages or just plain losing them. It got out of there, but inexplicably now has made its way to Connecticut, heading in the wrong direction. The other pair was supposed to go from North Carolina to me in Vegas, but was last seen at the USPS processing center in San Juan, Puerto Rico, supposedly headed back to the US mainland. GAAAH! We pay taxes for this level of Big Gubmint incompetence! As DEVO put it, "Are you kidding me? You must be kidding me." #Privatize

 

[eTrojan]

I feel your pain. I have two pairs in the pipeline that USPS has managed to misdirect. One pair I was worried about because it was coming from Canada and needed to clear customs. I was extra worried when tracking informed me it was in the US, but at the infamous Chicago customs/processing center, the one with a bad reputation for holding packages or just plain losing them. It got out of there, but inexplicably now has made its way to Connecticut, heading in the wrong direction. The other pair was supposed to go from North Carolina to me in Vegas, but was last seen at the USPS processing center in San Juan, Puerto Rico, supposedly headed back to the US mainland. GAAAH! We pay taxes for this level of Big Gubmint incompetence! As DEVO put it, "Are you kidding me? You must be kidding me." #Privatize

The USPS has historically been quite reliable and efficient until last year’s shenanigans went down. There is no need to privatize it. Likely, privatization would have a negative impact on many Americans’ lives “because there’s no money in it.”

 

[PSU John]

The USPS has historically been quite reliable and efficient until last year’s shenanigans went down. There is no need to privatize it. Likely, privatization would have a negative impact on many Americans’ lives “because there’s no money in it.”

I second those those thoughts - the responsible party for any disruption in the USPS is now cooling his heels in "exile"

 

[mormonopoly]

The USPS has historically been quite reliable and efficient until last year’s shenanigans went down. There is no need to privatize it. Likely, privatization would have a negative impact on many Americans’ lives “because there’s no money in it.”

Agreed, and on top of that, there’s no reason to believe private companies would do a better job. I recently bought a pair from David who promptly dispatched them through FedEx. They reached Columbus (the destination city) in one day. Instead of then arriving at my door, they spent the next nine days traveling through Indianapolis and Memphis, before arriving back in Columbus.

 

[Nobleprofessor]

I feel your pain. I have two pairs in the pipeline that USPS has managed to misdirect. One pair I was worried about because it was coming from Canada and needed to clear customs. I was extra worried when tracking informed me it was in the US, but at the infamous Chicago customs/processing center, the one with a bad reputation for holding packages or just plain losing them. It got out of there, but inexplicably now has made its way to Connecticut, heading in the wrong direction. The other pair was supposed to go from North Carolina to me in Vegas, but was last seen at the USPS processing center in San Juan, Puerto Rico, supposedly headed back to the US mainland. GAAAH! We pay taxes for this level of Big Gubmint incompetence! As DEVO put it, "Are you kidding me? You must be kidding me." #Privatize

The USPS has historically been quite reliable and efficient until last year’s shenanigans went down. There is no need to privatize it. Likely, privatization would have a negative impact on many Americans’ lives “because there’s no money in it.”

I second those those thoughts - the responsible party for any disruption in the USPS is now cooling his heels in "exile"

I’m way behind on the thread. I was out of state for a few days to visit the kids and celebrate Mother’s Day for my wife. And I have been furiously finishing up a brief for work.

Work really gets in the way of forum fun!

My shoes are on the way back from the Cobbler. I can’t wait! I had a pair of GH Restored.

USPS is driving me crazy. They were shipped on May 6. I’m in Tennessee and they were shipped from a bordering state — North Carolina. They were supposed to be delivered on Monday. The tracking now shows that they are “in transit.” They traveled from Winston Salem to Greensboro, NC. Now, they are apparently in an alternate universe somewhere between Greensboro and Memphis.

MEANWHILE, I had another package coming from Budapest, Hungary (over 5200 miles away). They were shipped on the afternoon of May 10. FedEx just delivered them by 9:30 am this morning. So, while the USPS package has been floating around for five days somewhere within a few hundred miles, FedEx delivered my package in about 36 hours and it wasn’t the overnight service.