Vintage Dress shoe appreciation, tips, maintenance and advice

[friendlygoz]

Here’s a recent find:
View attachment 1712471 View attachment 1712472 View attachment 1712473
Custom Florsheim Imperials.
Can anyone ID the material?

Given that, any tips on the best cleaning/conditioning product to use? I don’t own any reptan, but have just about everything else.

Also, no size or it rubbed off, but they fit perfectly!

Great find. Reptan works really well. Thank t leaves a fantastic shine.

 

[friendlygoz]

Riffing on @Jiqea ’s new acquisitions And amazing display…I present my Dack’s kudu wholecuts in black:

 

[kilowatts]

These are incoming. I’ll send pics after cleanup. AE Bradley

 

[kilowatts]

These are waiting for me in Blaine when I get back. I have an identical pair in oiled suede that's why I stepped up.

 

[kilowatts]

These are waiting too! Classic CXL by Gustin special make-up.

I have another pair waiting but I can't seem tp copy and paste the pics! I'm more excited about these as they're horsehide NOS boots from '50's,'60's. I can't wait to have a pair of horsehide boots.
kilowatts

 

[Jiqea]

When I returned from Ogdensburg today a package was waiting at my door with two pairs of vintage Canadian shoes dating to 1959/60. On the left is a pair of 6 eye bluchers made by John Ritchie for sale by the K Boot Shop in Victoria BC. Ritchie was located in Quebec City and was Canada's largest maker of men's shoes in the first half of the 20th century. They made very high quality shoes right up to the early 60's, and then their quality declined sharply and they were gone entirely by the 70's.

The pair on the right are the earliest example of the "McHale Shoe" that I have seen and the only pair I have ever seen with nailed heels. The "McHale Shoe" line started in 1959, replacing the Scott-McHale shoe as McHale's second tier offering. This style was the best of the "McHale Shoes", and was an approved option to the Hartt shoes for RCMP officers to purchase and get reimbursed. I suspect the Ritchie shoes may have also qualified for this, as both these pairs were owned by a former RCMP member. McHale continued to build this shoe in low numbers right into the 80's, and they are almost as desirable as the Custom Shoes. Both pairs are 10.5D and fit perfectly.

 

[Nealjpage]

Here’s a recent find:
View attachment 1712471 View attachment 1712472 View attachment 1712473
Custom Florsheim Imperials.
Can anyone ID the material?

Given that, any tips on the best cleaning/conditioning product to use? I don’t own any reptan, but have just about everything else.

Also, no size or it rubbed off, but they fit perfectly!

Where in the world do you just "find" something like that?

 

[ccpl14]

Where in the world do you just "find" something like that?

Once in a blue moon the thrift fairies smile upon me...

 

[Nealjpage]

Once in a blue moon the thrift fairies smile upon me...

 

[MathMan314]

Hi everyone,
I'm fairly new to Style Forum, but I have been enjoying reading this thread from the beginning little by little for the last month or so! (I'm about 900 pages in.) I got interested in vintage Florsheim after watching a lot of Bedo's Leatherworks on YouTube during quarantine back in 2020, which then guided me to @davidVC 's blog and now to here. I recently acquired my first pair of 93602's, cleaned them up, and wore for the first time today.

 

[eTrojan]

Today it was the golden era AE MacNeil (1985). Really well made shoe, but not the best last for me.

Tonight it was some Blanton’s bourbon with a water back and a molasses cookie.

 

[Oshare]

Hi everyone,
I'm fairly new to Style Forum, but I have been enjoying reading this thread from the beginning little by little for the last month or so! (I'm about 900 pages in.) I got interested in vintage Florsheim after watching a lot of Bedo's Leatherworks on YouTube during quarantine back in 2020, which then guided me to @davidVC 's blog and now to here. I recently acquired my first pair of 93602's, cleaned them up, and wore for the first time today. View attachment 1712788 View attachment 1712795 View attachment 1712796

Welcome to our little corner of StyleForum. What an awesome first post with an amazing pair of shoes!

 

[Quantum17]

It has always been the drive for survival and legacy. The basic purpose of life. Any life. From the simplest virus to the ever complicated human. It was only by chance that penicillin discovered. What a syphilistic relief!!! Back in the day, there’s no Tums even. Tummy bloating? You’d just explode, literally. That’s how we invented the combusting engine. Look it up. There’s no such thing as over the counter pain relief. Here are some Mercury. Good luck?. Hey you, with the infected cut, your appointment for leg amputation is next Tuesday. Might as well if life expectancy was 47 in 1900. How far has medicine evolved to have that number up to 79 in 2019 (only to drop back to 77 in 2020). No wonder why people was unhappy back in the day. On top of that, do you know how many clothing items, how many under garments, or how many shoes people had back then? Yet, are we any happier?

Presenting 1985 AE Hunter in linen. Great Florida shoes. Imagine a straw hat, cigar and Cuban coffee, writing a satire somewhere in the Keys. Occasionally slapping myself off mosquitoes. Great Florida shoes indeed. No comment on the leather this time. The sun is rising.

 

[suitforcourt]

Hi everyone,
I'm fairly new to Style Forum, but I have been enjoying reading this thread from the beginning little by little for the last month or so! (I'm about 900 pages in.) I got interested in vintage Florsheim after watching a lot of Bedo's Leatherworks on YouTube during quarantine back in 2020, which then guided me to @davidVC 's blog and now to here. I recently acquired my first pair of 93602's, cleaned them up, and wore for the first time today. View attachment 1712788 View attachment 1712795 View attachment 1712796

Welcome! You've entered the rabbit hole. Post any questions or acquisitions.

Remember, the group motto is: "If it fits, it ships."

 

[MathMan314]

Welcome to our little corner of StyleForum. What an awesome first post with an amazing pair of shoes!

Thank you! This seems like a great place to be!