Vintage Dress shoe appreciation, tips, maintenance and advice

[wasmisterfu]

You know, to wash away the retinal burn-in of the visage of those terrifying loafers, I’m just going to re-post this nice picture of @Quantum17 ’s gorgeous phantom MacGregor’s (IMHO, the greatest short-wing oxford of all time), in their seven eyelet, Stollenwerk era glory:

We’ll all just pretend today is yesterday and that these are the shoes he was talking about.

 

[friendlygoz]

They’re not bad looking. Are they GYW (or Blake+Rapid) or glued with a faux welt? When did you get them?

Discussing modern Florsheim’s, I was part of a team, evaluating an investment deal about 2 years ago. The CEO of the company we were evaluating (who was from out of town) shows up to our offices in a pair of new, cheap, glued Florsheim’s. He immediately complains that his feet are killing him (after all, NYC is a walking city). He proceeds (really) to take off his shoes in our conference room, to reveal his chewed up feet. We ended up sending someone to the pantry area for the first-aid kit, so he can bandaid up his blisters, all in painful view of the rest of the room (I am not even slightly exaggerating).

Being generally shocked and disgusted by this redonkulous scene, I remarked that he might want to invest in a quality pair or shoes. His response was “I paid over a hundred dollars for these, what are you talking about?”. To which I replied, in as acidic a fashion as I could muster, without displaying outright disgust, “That’s absolutely not a quality shoe”.

This clown went on to ignore a lot of advice, had a massive aversion to common sense and was, as it would turn out, a generally awful person. I am 100% dead serious when I tell you that he is now awaiting trial, having been indicted by the federal government for fraud (with multiple addional charges pending open investigations with at least two “three letter” agencies).

The moral of this story: unlike in the movies, white-collar criminals don’t always have good taste in shoes.

He could’ve avoided all that with a good pair of shoes. It all starts with shoes... all of it.

 

[friendlygoz]

The Cambridges arrived (not Kate and Wills, the shoes) and I'd be surprised if these were ever worn more than a couple of times. View attachment 1622929
Too bad the seller had this in the description; it may have discouraged some potential buyers. They are shell though and 4 1/2" at the widest, so will work for me.

Upper Material:	Man Made
Width:	Extra Narrow

View attachment 1622930
As an aside, despite having grown up in Cambridge and knowing it was named after a famous university town in Ye Olde England, I didn't realize until a couple of years ago that there was a river there named the Cam, and that river had at least one bridge over it, etc. How about that?

Those are fantastic. Great score. And, great knowledge about the origins of the name of a city on both sides of the pond. When will AE show us Bay Area folk some respect by naming a few models after points of interest around here? How about Dumbarton? Golden Gate? Guadalupe River? Alviso? I don't even know what these models would look like, but I'd wear them all.

 

[smfdoc]

I don’t mean to pile on @Quantum17 , but I think those might be the ugliest vintage Florsheim’s ever made. It’s sad, because I’m sure they’re very well made, probably quite comfortable, and likely quite rare. They should also be cleansed from this earth with fire.

As I said in the first post in this thread, “Just because a shoe is old, does not mean that it worthy of collection.”

 

[wasmisterfu]

As I said in the first post in this thread, “Just because a shoe is old, does not mean that it worthy of collection.”

It’s quite a thread that you created... 2618 pages and 39,000+ posts.

 

[suitforcourt]

They’re not bad looking. Are they GYW (or Blake+Rapid) or glued with a faux welt? When did you get them?

Discussing modern Florsheim’s, I was part of a team, evaluating an investment deal about 2 years ago. The CEO of the company we were evaluating (who was from out of town) shows up to our offices in a pair of new, cheap, glued Florsheim’s. He immediately complains that his feet are killing him (after all, NYC is a walking city). He proceeds (really) to take off his shoes in our conference room, to reveal his chewed up feet. We ended up sending someone to the pantry area for the first-aid kit, so he can bandaid up his blisters, all in painful view of the rest of the room (I am not even slightly exaggerating).

Being generally shocked and disgusted by this redonkulous scene, I remarked that he might want to invest in a quality pair or shoes. His response was “I paid over a hundred dollars for these, what are you talking about?”. To which I replied, in as acidic a fashion as I could muster, without displaying outright disgust, “That’s absolutely not a quality shoe”.

This clown went on to ignore a lot of advice, had a massive aversion to common sense and was, as it would turn out, a generally awful person. I am 100% dead serious when I tell you that he is now awaiting trial, having been indicted by the federal government for fraud (with multiple addional charges pending open investigations with at least two “three letter” agencies).

The moral of this story: unlike in the movies, white-collar criminals don’t always have good taste in shoes.

They are 360 GYW. The soles are marked GYW.

I bought them 2 years ago on ebay. Seller maybe wore them once indoors.

These are cheaply made. I wouldn't wear them for a day of walking in NYC.

 

[CWOyaji]

Those are fantastic. Great score. And, great knowledge about the origins of the name of a city on both sides of the pond. When will AE show us Bay Area folk some respect by naming a few models after points of interest around here? How about Dumbarton? Golden Gate? Guadalupe River? Alviso? I don't even know what these models would look like, but I'd wear them all.

They have Lombard, Van Ness and maybe some others, so we're on the board. Not sure if this is actually true, but Lombard Street is known as The Crookedest Street In the World. And it is inarguably beautiful when it's not full of cars. @friendlygoz knows this, but for those who haven't been, that's Coit Tower atop Telegraph Hill in the background and the Transamerica Pyramid over on the right.

 

[friendlygoz]

They have Lombard, Van Ness and maybe some others, so we're on the board. Not sure if this is actually true, but Lombard Street is known as The Crookedest Street In the World. And it is inarguably beautiful when it's not full of cars.@friendlygoz knows this, but for those who haven't been, that's Coit Tower atop Telegraph Hill in the background and the Transamerica Pyramid over on the right.
View attachment 1622954

They need some South Bay/San Jose names in the mix. Move over Park Ave. here comes Cesar Chavez Park. Fifth Ave is old hat. It’s time for 2nd Street (night club district). Who needs the Strand when you can have the García? I’m just sayin’.

 

[CWOyaji]

@friendlygoz behold my last addendum before I have to make dinner, but here's a pair with a South Bay pedigree in your size at $30 BIN. (Folks from elsewhere, Saratoga is a very nice town just west of San Jose).

And as @wasmisterfu has taught us, tassel loafer is best loafer.

 

[Quantum17]

You know, to wash away the retinal burn-in of the visage of those terrifying loafers, I’m just going to re-post this nice picture of @Quantum17 ’s gorgeous phantom MacGregor’s (IMHO, the greatest short-wing oxford of all time), in their seven eyelet, Stollenwerk era glory:

We’ll all just pretend today is yesterday and that these are the shoes he was talking about.

Oh I take it only lightly and am ready to move on. We are all in agreement that taking advantage of any endangered species is unethical. However, elephant hides are not the driving factor, at least not in the 70s. Leathers simply don’t have enough value for poachers, and hides sometimes are just byproduct. I hope it addressed the concerns. Other than conservation, I suspect the debate never was about which animal hide is ok and which is not.

Presenting 80s Edwin Clapp snow leopard wholecuts… I’m kidding. Mr. Clapp tried, but in his 80s he was too slow and was enjoyed by the said leopard. Consequently, the company had to close. I do have a pair of 50s Edwin Clapp alligator NST. They need new soles at some point.

 

[friendlygoz]

@friendlygoz behold my last addendum before I have to make dinner, but here's a pair with a South Bay pedigree in your size at $30 BIN. (Folks from elsewhere, Saratoga is a very nice town just west of San Jose).
View attachment 1622962
And as @wasmisterfu has taught us, tassel loafer is best loafer.

Well done, sir. I’ve had those on my watch list but has never pulled the trigger. If I’m reaching for tassels, it’s my shell Graysons every time.

 

[CWOyaji]

Reminds me to wear more loafers.

 

[wasmisterfu]

They are 360 GYW. The soles are marked GYW.

I bought them 2 years ago on ebay. Seller maybe wore them once indoors.

These are cheaply made. I wouldn't wear them for a day of walking in NYC.

Just to be clear, your shoes are definitely way better than those being worn by the (then) future fraudster. His were like these (IIRC):

I remember being morbidly curious about what Florsheim had done to the “leather” to give it such a synthetic sheen on a pebble grain texture. I remember thinking, as he pulled the shoe off (between “Wait, is this dude gonna do this in here?” and “Oh come on man, go to the restroom or an empty office!”), “Wow that shoe looks stiff and super uncomfortable.”. Then he took his socks off.

 

[wasmisterfu]

Oh I take it only lightly and am ready to move on. We are all in agreement that taking advantage of any endangered species is unethical. However, elephant hides are not the driving factor, at least not in the 70s. Leathers simply don’t have enough value for poachers, and hides sometimes are just byproduct. I hope it addressed the concerns. Other than conservation, I suspect the debate never was about which animal hide is ok and which is not.

Presenting 80s Edwin Clapp snow leopard wholecuts… I’m kidding. Mr. Clapp tried, but in his 80s he was too slow and was enjoyed by the said leopard. Consequently, the company had to close. I do have a pair of 50s Edwin Clapp alligator NST. They need new soles at some point. View attachment 1622974 View attachment 1622975 View attachment 1622976 View attachment 1622977 View attachment 1622978

LOL... Snow Leopard Whole Cuts!

Now those are snazzy! Cool double circle cleat heels.

 

[eTrojan]

Between you two, and possibly others, I think I could make a real run at running a private practice.

#GangstaGangsta

Don’t forget that O’Shea wrote many of the verses from the first NWA album on a bus to a suburban high school in the San Fernando Valley. #StraightOuttaCompton, as long as you take the 405 to the 101.