Vintage Dress shoe appreciation, tips, maintenance and advice

[stook1]

Gentlemen, I am very pleased to report that the leather punch kit was the solution for the ~20 brogue holes that needed to be cleared on the shell nettletons. Even with the tools, I'd estimate that around 2/3 of them were still difficult to extract. A bit nerve racking since a slip with one of the punches on a toe would be a major disaster. Fortunately, no harm done. The little pick things would have been way more risky and less effective, I am pretty sure (didnt even try). For future reference in case anyone needs to pickup a kit, I ended up using the 1mm punch size for the little brogue holes on the toe. I did not need to pull any of the larger holes but I can measure the correct size punch if anyone needs a hand. I am pretty sure this should be consistent, more or less, across most makers.

I am planning to wear this pair tomorrow and I have to be honest about it --- I am pretty, pretty excited. These are some sweet looking longwings in my opinion. Pics in the morning, I can't get any good shots in this light.

 

[smfdoc]

Nice shoes but that’s quite a bit of creasing. Does being too long often lead to excessive creases?

I think creases depend on the grain or leather properties, shoe length, fit of the foot in the shoe, gait and a myriad number of variables, at least that is my theory of why one shoe will crease one way and the other shoe will be quite different.

 

[smfdoc]

Gentlemen, I am very pleased to report that the leather punch kit was the solution for the ~20 brogue holes that needed to be cleared on the shell nettletons. Even with the tools, I'd estimate that around 2/3 of them were still difficult to extract. A bit nerve racking since a slip with one of the punches on a toe would be a major disaster. Fortunately, no harm done. The little pick things would have been way more risky and less effective, I am pretty sure (didnt even try). For future reference in case anyone needs to pickup a kit, I ended up using the 1mm punch size for the little brogue holes on the toe. I did not need to pull any of the larger holes but I can measure the correct size punch if anyone needs a hand. I am pretty sure this should be consistent, more or less, across most makers.

I am planning to wear this pair tomorrow and I have to be honest about it --- I am pretty, pretty excited. These are some sweet looking longwings in my opinion. Pics in the morning, I can't get any good shots in this light.

I used the picks for one brogue hole because it was what I had. The moment I read about the leather punch I thought it was a much better idea. Glad to see you wearing them tomorrow.

 

[stook1]

I think creases depend on the grain or leather properties, shoe length, fit of the foot in the shoe, gait and a myriad number of variables, at least that is my theory of why one shoe will crease one way and the other shoe will be quite different.

That's definately my experience. I will take it one step further and say that I have noticed that my L/R shoes consistently crease/roll slightly differently from each other but with a very similar pattern across different pairs/lasts/etc. My feet are the same size and fit about the same but there must be some slight difference in the fit or my step that causes this consistent difference. It's sort of an interesting novelty that I have noticed.

 

[davidVC]

Below is a pair of Florsheim Imperial 92318 - long wing bals.

Not my size but I was going to clean them up.

Its a pretty rare model. It looks odd because it isn't a blucher. Sort of a Frankenstein design. Can't imagine Florsheim selling many of them.

 

[Lmrjfud]

Florsheim LWBs today.
Almost Friday!

 

[stook1]

Below is a pair of Florsheim Imperial 92318 - long wing bals.
Not my size but I was going to clean them up.
Its a pretty rare model. It looks

 

[Oshare]

Black shoe week continues. Not quite vintage, John Lobb Medbourne oxfords, probably from the early 2000s. These are lightweight, unlined, and very soft leather shoes meant for hot summer weather. The toes are a bit too pointy for my taste today, but they are very nicely made shoes.

 

[suitforcourt]

Black shoe week continues. Not quite vintage, John Lobb Medbourne oxfords, probably from the early 2000s. These are lightweight, unlined, and very soft leather shoes meant for hot summer weather. The toes are a bit too pointy for my taste today, but they are very nicely made shoes.

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Moving into the big leagues, eh? John Lobbs indeed!

 

[woofmang]

Beware: Shoe Appreciation — Not sure how old these Swiss Navyboot Round-toe Oxfords were when I got them about 1.5 years ago for $9. But they are Goodyear welted, have high quality unlined leather, and they still had some life in them, and so I brought them back.
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Holy $%!&, Andy!

 

[Oshare]

Moving into the big leagues, eh? John Lobbs indeed!

Quite the opposite! I've had these for a few years now, and in fact they are the shoes in my profile photo. But since discovering vintage Florsheim and other makers that are popular in this thread, I haven't been looking at British shoes much at all. I can't bring myself to spend $800 or much, much more on shoes anymore.

 

[stook1]

My very good men... living the dream today.

 

[woofmang]

My very good men... living the dream today.

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Beautiful! (Although they do look as though they might be a little snug on you... )

 

[stook1]

Beautiful! (Although they do look as though they might be a little snug on you... )

Haha. Nah, fit on these is actually excellent. In my opinion the are kinda similar to barrie but perhaps a hair narrower. At least this pair.

 

[suitforcourt]

Quite the opposite! I've had these for a few years now, and in fact they are the shoes in my profile photo. But since discovering vintage Florsheim and other makers that are popular in this thread, I haven't been looking at British shoes much at all. I can't bring myself to spend $800 or much, much more on shoes anymore.

When I first explored "nice" dress shoes, I started off with Dacks and AE. Then some British brands like Loake, Church's etc.

I actually walked into a John Lobb store in Taipei. Really impressive shoes, but yeah, the price point...

I agree that vintage greats like Florsheim et al are hard to beat, especially for prices this thread seems to score them at. Even with the recraft price factored in, we're ahead of the game.