Vintage Dress shoe appreciation, tips, maintenance and advice

[friendlygoz]

Lately I've been wearing one of the rarest and most unique pairs in my collection. These are 1930's Star Brand shoes. They shine brighter with less effort than any other shoe in my collection and I love the art deco style stitching details.
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Your collection never ceases to amaze me. Wow.

 

[dddggjj]

Lately I've been wearing one of the rarest and most unique pairs in my collection. These are 1930's Star Brand shoes. They shine brighter with less effort than any other shoe in my collection and I love the art deco style stitching details.
View attachment 1238742

The detailing on those is absolutely superb!

 

[suitforcourt]

Your collection never ceases to amaze me. Wow.

+1

 

[suitforcourt]

Herbie Butler’s Florsheim shells.

 

[madhat]

I move into this thread to continue black week.

 

[smfdoc]

I move into this thread to continue black week.
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I do enjoy seeing those alligator J&M shoes. They fit you like a glove. For those who do not know, these were from around 1992 and were a handmade shoe offering. Prices for these at the time, according to the catalog, were $1,000 when most of the other shoes were around $225. They are very special.

 

[Jiqea]

I have been searching a long time for pictures of a pair of truly early Dacks, and yesterday I found them! I believe these shoes to pre-date 1923, which was when Dacks opened their Montreal and Winnipeg stores, and stopped using "Dacks Toronto" in their advertising. Just such a super cool thing. The vendor wants a fortune and I just cant justify buying them, although I am jonesing bad. They are a real piece of Canadian shoe history, and I bet there are not many left in existence.That black diamond "Made by Dacks Toronto" tag with the early script makes my knees weak. Dacks did very little advertising pre-1923, so I cant pin these shoes down precisely. However the post 1923 ads suggest to me that these were likely one of their lower quality offerings. It is funny how an old beat up pair of shoes can get you excited!!

 

[Hotel Cali]

Bostonian Crown Windsor PTB maiden voyage today. Liking the look and the fit.

 

[Jiqea]

Bostonian Crown Windsor PTB maiden voyage today. Liking the look and the fit.

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Dems the bomb!

 

[suitforcourt]

Bostonian Crown Windsor PTB maiden voyage today. Liking the look and the fit.

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I used to dislike PTBs. Now I have 8 pairs.

Yours in particular are very sharp. Nice pickup!

 

[pnin22]

I have been searching a long time for pictures of a pair of truly early Dacks, and yesterday I found them! I believe these shoes to pre-date 1923, which was when Dacks opened their Montreal and Winnipeg stores, and stopped using "Dacks Toronto" in their advertising. Just such a super cool thing. The vendor wants a fortune and I just cant justify buying them, although I am jonesing bad. They are a real piece of Canadian shoe history, and I bet there are not many left in existence.That black diamond "Made by Dacks Toronto" tag with the early script makes my knees weak. Dacks did very little advertising pre-1923, so I cant pin these shoes down precisely. However the post 1923 ads suggest to me that these were likely one of their lower quality offerings. It is funny how an old beat up pair of shoes can get you excited!!

What would you do with these shoes if you were to buy them? Restore them in some way? Clean them? Put in display case or wear?

 

[Thomas Crown]

They didn't send any photos of date codes, but that U-Tip spectator style was popular in the early 1950s. So that's how I dated them.

Why unworn? Sometimes people wait for the right time to wear a special pair of shoes. And sometimes that right time never comes.

I’ve found that oftentimes special occasion shoes like white bucks,exotics,formals,and spectators are in very good condition as they usually aren’t worn alot

 

[Jiqea]

What would you do with these shoes if you were to buy them? Restore them in some way? Clean them? Put in display case or wear?

They are size 13, so that rules out wearing. I think I would sympathetically restore one and leave the other as found, and put them on display.

 

[CWOyaji]

^Size 13? Hmmm.
Today I’m going with Hanovers though.

And yesterday’s thrift finds: Church’s captoe oxford balmorals x2 and some AE Sanfords. 9.5 E

 

[smfdoc]

^Size 13? Hmmm.
Today I’m going with Hanovers though. View attachment 1239113
And yesterday’s thrift finds: Church’s captoe oxford balmorals x2 and some AE Sanfords. 9.5 E View attachment 1239112

The stuff you thrift is better than the shoes in 95% of closets in America.