Vintage Dress shoe appreciation, tips, maintenance and advice

[ojaw]

Would there be any interest in these shoes?
Florsheim Balmorals in 8D, Cat’s Paw heels.
There’s a fair amount of wear on them and though I’ve cleaned them up a bit with Renovateur that won’t heal the scrapes and cuts.
No idea how much to ask if a viable sale item.

 

[jiredell]

Forgive me for not pawing through the thousands of pages on this thread, but I’m curious about all y’all’s experiences with obtaining your vintage shoes. I’d lurked on this thread before, but not much. And then I found these wingtip Foot Joys at a thrift store just a couple weeks ago (I posted about those relatively recently). Now I find myself wanting to find more treasures like that. Sure, I could buy vintage shoes on eBay and whatnot, but it seems like such a score to find these killer old shoes for like $10 sitting on a shelf somewhere, especially if there’s a bit of a cleanup job involved. I’m wondering how many of you have felt/are feeling what I am right now? I just want to scour every thrift store I can and hopefully find myself some shell cordovan in my size or something.

 

[Thomas Crown]

Vintage violation: AE Bartlett. View attachment 1795323 View attachment 1795324

A more deluxe version of the Strand-what’s not to love!

 

[Thomas Crown]

Forgive me for not pawing through the thousands of pages on this thread, but I’m curious about all y’all’s experiences with obtaining your vintage shoes. I’d lurked on this thread before, but not much. And then I found these wingtip Foot Joys at a thrift store just a couple weeks ago (I posted about those relatively recently). Now I find myself wanting to find more treasures like that. Sure, I could buy vintage shoes on eBay and whatnot, but it seems like such a score to find these killer old shoes for like $10 sitting on a shelf somewhere, especially if there’s a bit of a cleanup job involved. I’m wondering how many of you have felt/are feeling what I am right now? I just want to scour every thrift store I can and hopefully find myself some shell cordovan in my size or something.

Can’t win if you don’t play,as they say!—like many here,I’ve certainly found my share of scores in the thrift stores. My best finds include early 50’s Bostonian Denny Murray half brogues,1967 Florsheim 93606’s and some crazy green Nettleton alligator slip ons-all for under $8. However,95% of the time you will wade through a sludge heap of square toed plastic atrocities in 10 different shops before coming across one decent pair of Dexters that don’t fit you. Unless you’re @CWOyaji and seem to constantly find bespoke Lobbs with your initials already in them(ok,exaggerating a bit),the thrift route is to play the long game. But to address the original observation,yes,the feeling you get from that first satisfying score definitely leads to our delightful addiction! -that said,no shame in a great eBay find. It also requires diligence,unless you have a good shoe pal looking out for you and giving you the hot tip as I will show next

 

[Thomas Crown]

As promised, I shall feed the shoe Appreciation requests with this awesome eBay find courtesy of @suitforcourt -1973 NOS Allen Edmonds St George boots for $60 in my size. They have a 1973 model number with the pre ‘73 owl eye slug heel. These look and fit great-thanks again to @suitforcourt -enjoy!

 

[CWOyaji]

Forgive me for not pawing through the thousands of pages on this thread, but I’m curious about all y’all’s experiences with obtaining your vintage shoes. I’d lurked on this thread before, but not much. And then I found these wingtip Foot Joys at a thrift store just a couple weeks ago (I posted about those relatively recently). Now I find myself wanting to find more treasures like that. Sure, I could buy vintage shoes on eBay and whatnot, but it seems like such a score to find these killer old shoes for like $10 sitting on a shelf somewhere, especially if there’s a bit of a cleanup job involved. I’m wondering how many of you have felt/are feeling what I am right now? I just want to scour every thrift store I can and hopefully find myself some shell cordovan in my size or something.

In my opinion, success in thrifting depends on the demographics of the area you're looking in and persistence. The ideal thrift store is on the edge of a wealthy area where the donors aren't laser focused on the value of what they're giving away and the thrifters don't know the value of what they see on the shelf or rack. Bonus points if the people working in the store aren't incentivized to mark up valuable items or cull them to send to a "boutique" store where they'll get marked up. I'm pretty omnivorous when I thrift so if I see something in apparel or electronics that'll sell for a good price, I'll pick it up. It's not only shoes. But yeah I've been lucky and found a lot good pairs, some in my size, and am happy to post about those finds. Hopefully the low price tag info isn't too off-putting but I want to show newcomers what's out there if they keep at it and yes, brag a little.

 

[jiredell]

I’ve been a longtime thriftier, and am well versed with the persistence game. I live in Atlanta, so a pretty good environment for exactly what you’re talking about as far as the wealthy donors and not overly greedy resalers. I’ve found some decent shoes in the past—a pretty good pair of Hugo Boss shoes once. But these were the first of real vintage, and real quality. Would die if I found some Lobbs or something.

 

[friendlygoz]

Alden shell NST.

 

[suitforcourt]

Forgive me for not pawing through the thousands of pages on this thread, but I’m curious about all y’all’s experiences with obtaining your vintage shoes. I’d lurked on this thread before, but not much. And then I found these wingtip Foot Joys at a thrift store just a couple weeks ago (I posted about those relatively recently). Now I find myself wanting to find more treasures like that. Sure, I could buy vintage shoes on eBay and whatnot, but it seems like such a score to find these killer old shoes for like $10 sitting on a shelf somewhere, especially if there’s a bit of a cleanup job involved. I’m wondering how many of you have felt/are feeling what I am right now? I just want to scour every thrift store I can and hopefully find myself some shell cordovan in my size or something.

I don't visit thrift stores regularly like @CWOyaji or have his luck.

On occasion I find stuff for myself, or find pairs to flip for a small profit. Instead of profit margins, I consider thrifting a hobby and extension of my shoe interest. It makes each visit more fun.

Also, I spend an inordinate amount of time scouring ebay. E-thrifting can be just as exciting. I've secured vintage shell in my size for less than $50. I've also been lucky to hit listings with typos or mislabelled by seller. The rush from these purchases is just as good for me.

And because the regulars here have memorized each other's sizes (I.e. I DM'd @Thomas Crown directly about those jodpur AE pair), we are also looking out for each other.

I hope that when I retire in 24 years, I will have a daily routine of hitting several thrift shops everyday and turning this into a serious side hustle. It will keep me busy and active.

Enjoy the journey and welcome.

 

[suitforcourt]

As promised, I shall feed the shoe Appreciation requests with this awesome eBay find courtesy of @suitforcourt -1973 NOS Allen Edmonds St George boots for $60 in my size. They have a 1973 model number with the pre ‘73 owl eye slug heel. These look and fit great-thanks again to @suitforcourt -enjoy!
View attachment 1795754 View attachment 1795755 View attachment 1795756 View attachment 1795757 View attachment 1795758

Glad to see you got them! Very sharp. I'm never sure I can pull off jodpurs. But I should really get a pair as well.

I'm really happy these fit and for that price, I consider these an e-thrift.

 

[ZePrez]

Hi
Longwings Wednesday’s
Florsheim 93602. I truly like these shoes. Thanks to David @Vcleat., Bought it about a year and half ago. Had the (v-cleats) heels changed to rubber and the shoes feel great.

 

[Thomas Crown]

I’ve been a longtime thriftier, and am well versed with the persistence game. I live in Atlanta, so a pretty good environment for exactly what you’re talking about as far as the wealthy donors and not overly greedy resalers. I’ve found some decent shoes in the past—a pretty good pair of Hugo Boss shoes once. But these were the first of real vintage, and real quality. Would die if I found some Lobbs or something.

I’m sure we’d all die if we found some Lobbs,as far as I know,@CWOyaji hasn’t found any yet. I was being a smartass. He finds and posts alot of great stuff and I love seeing his finds. I share in the shoe joy with him and the other poster’s here-and thrift bragging rights is just part of the fun

 

[jiredell]

Yes, and I have thrifted pretty much all of my shoes from eBay. It's always a thrill to find a great deal there as well. But there's something different about that fortuitous score that feels random. This AM I went to throw out the trash and some dipshit tossed in two brand new AE boxes with the unused dust bags inside, both of which I am happy to make use of. I've already started on page 1 & 2 of this thread. So in a couple years when I've finished my research, I'm hoping to have more info on the date and models I own. Or, alternatively, I'll post pics and source info from you gents.

 

[CWOyaji]

@Thomas Crown Sure have! I found these about six months ago.

 

[friendlygoz]

As promised, I shall feed the shoe Appreciation requests with this awesome eBay find courtesy of @suitforcourt -1973 NOS Allen Edmonds St George boots for $60 in my size. They have a 1973 model number with the pre ‘73 owl eye slug heel. These look and fit great-thanks again to @suitforcourt -enjoy!
View attachment 1795754 View attachment 1795755 View attachment 1795756 View attachment 1795757 View attachment 1795758

Awesome! I have those in walnut. Great pair.