What happened to these shoes?

[doublebucklemonk]

I picked up a pair of AE Walden's in Burgundy off of Ebay. They were described as "like new" and "worn once". Soles/insoles etc are all in great shape. The color of the shoes if horrible. It looks like somebody tried to die or antique these themselves. I can see at least 4 different colors of die/polish on the shoe. I can clearly see black, dark brown, tan/light brown, and the original burgundy. In spots I can see brush marks, and there is even tan/light brown smeared along the edge of the sole in spots.

So, is this a huge screwup at the factory, or do you think somebody tried a home antiquing project and fubar'd it? Do you think it could be fixed?

I've already emailed the seller and am waiting to here back.

 

[nordicstyle]

Maybe they are fixable if you scrub them down with some leather cleaner? I know there was a thread here a while back with a guy who colored his own shoes, maybe you can ask him what he used to clean them up before processing.

 

[Ich_Dien]

I quite like it...

 

[cheessus]

I have a pair of loafers that has the same coloring like that, but they are Varvatos, and not AE. I wouldn't expect it from AE, but from Varvatos, I could see them intentionally doing it this way.

FWIW, I love these loafers and wear them all the time. These differing shades give them character in a broken-in-over-the-many-years sense. I don't find anything too wrong with your pair. Maybe you could just get them shined.

 

[lee_44106]

I quite like it. The uneven coloring, which is actually not too drastic, is quite cool.

If you don't like it, take some dark brown polish and all will be good.

 

[Nick V.]

Judging from the way the finish is flaking off, it looks like some sort of liquid polish/wax.
Try stripping the uppers down with Afta. Then apply cream polish or Lexol.