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Cobbler in Seoul?

coiol

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Does anyone know of a good cobbler in Seoul? I'd prefer someone who speaks a bit of English, but I can point and gesture if necessary. The streets are littered with those little box shoe repair/polish places but I don't think I'd trust them to deal with anything other than those horrible plasticky shoes that every Korean man wears.

I'd like to get a new sole put on a pair of shoes and I've never had a resoling done before. Is it complicated in any way, or just a simple procedure?
 

hardfrag

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there is some good peach cobbler in my neighborhood around silim
 

sage_incognito

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Originally Posted by coiol
Does anyone know of a good cobbler in Seoul? I'd prefer someone who speaks a bit of English, but I can point and gesture if necessary. The streets are littered with those little box shoe repair/polish places but I don't think I'd trust them to deal with anything other than those horrible plasticky shoes that every Korean man wears.

I'd like to get a new sole put on a pair of shoes and I've never had a resoling done before. Is it complicated in any way, or just a simple procedure?


Those small littlbe box shoe repair/polishe places are good for shoe-shining or heel change. Please note that as most Korean men are wearing black shoes, having your brown shoes polished there might be a bit adventure, especially your shoes have some "exotic colors" like burgundy, chestnut, tan, etc.

If you want to simply get your shoes polished and change the heel, it's okay. But make sure they will not "fire-shine" (an odd way of polishing shoes to make them look like patent shoes) for it will surely hurt your shoes. Polishing is cheap nowadays, given the dive-nosed value of the Korean currency - at most 2000~3000 won. (1.5-2 dollars.)

Want to resole the leather welt of your 700 US dollar Church's shoes? Don't ever try it in Korea. They will simply put an ugly rubber patch on the sole.

I am Korean in my early 30's and lived in Seoul for more than 20 years. So ask me anything about Seoul.
 

aleeboy

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For nice pair of shoes, STAY AWAY from those little stalls that they have scattered around business districts and dept. stores. You want to resole your shoes, right? I would recommend this to a place called Myong-dong Sa 명동사. Look for them. They do a lot of repairs for high-end designer shoes and leather accessories.

I have had nothing but bad experiences with the little stalls. Including that wax/oil they put on which takes ages to get out.
 

jamo

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I live just outside of Seoul and I've had this problem as well. I have gone to those stalls, with predictably horrible results.

Can anyone give me more information about where 명동사 is? I assume it's in Myeong-dong?
 

ryoneo

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I haven't really tried those street box places yet. Thanks for the heads up, I was going to use them. I know there is a shoemaker in Itaewon that makes a bespoke pair for about 100won+. He might be able to help you. His shoes are not of the best quality though from what I saw. Here's his info:

POPEYE COLLECTION & SPECIAL LEATHER
Owner: YANG HYUN

117-6 ITAEWON-DONG, YONGSAN-KU
SEOUL, KOREA

Phone: 82-2-796-8655


He is located in the basement
 

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