Show us your SHOES !!!

[Rudie]

This was very interesting to me. To think that the leather of one pair of shoes can suck up 8 FL Oz. of conditioner!

 

[cookie]

A wanted "dream to come true" that will more than not happen in my life time, would be for all the shoe factories that once existed in Brockton, Mass., to be in full operational mode if even for just a few years. I would even be willing to cash in my Life Insurance so that I could make a run to the shops, beg the management to have a fun "runs" of some of the shoes I would love to own, and fill a UHaul trailer with them!

Of course, then the curse would be, Fedora hats and some additional new clothing/attire to match up everything....all this is making me want to order a new suit this very moment, something nice like a new Oxxford brand suit.

A wonderful dream/fantasy any true vintage shoe tragic would happily share.

 

[LoveMyHats2]

This was very interesting to me. To think that the leather of one pair of shoes can suck up 8 FL Oz. of conditioner!

The way I apply the conditioner, it continues to have more put on until it will no longer absorb any, then I am safe to know they are done and should be o.k. The next step is to flex the shoes a little bit, maneuver the leather around a bit to see how supple it has become. If there is not enough conditioner on the inside of the shoes, they will "squeak"! That always reminds me of that saying, "the wheel that squeaks the most gets oiled"!!!! Lol!

 

[LoveMyHats2]

You're a Shoe Saviour, Dan'l!

Geez Randall! How are you? Southern France! Weeeeeee doggies! Been there a few times, loved it, was a wonderful place, and the outside cafes are terrific! I learned also at a few high end places to eat, there is what I call, escargot (for those that like it) and escarnot, (for those that don't)! lol lol lol!

 

[LoveMyHats2]

This was very interesting to me. To think that the leather of one pair of shoes can suck up 8 FL Oz. of conditioner!

I am going to guess these shoes will take a few more ounces in the next day or two? I always keep a few bottles of the conditioner on hand for shoes/boots. On a purchase of some NOS cowboy boots, I used three bottles of conditioner, but the boots are like the day they were made now.

One thing with really dry leather shoes, you can fool yourself by putting some conditioner on and they start to feel better and the leather moves and all, but, the very "core" of the leather can still be dry. On these shoes, when they have absorbed all they can, I will be able to actually squeeze the leather up near the eyelets and will see some conditioner be pressed up to the surface of the leather. That will tell me they have been soaked enough, then after a day or so later, I will take a rag and wipe them inside and out, and buff with the rag as it will bring some of a shine to the leather. I will put some new shoe laces on them, grab a pair of older white cotton socks, put the shoes on and walk around inside my room with them on, and see what happens. The white cotton socks will help clean up any excessive conditioner left inside of the shoes, and also absorb some of the marks left from the metal shoe trees that rusted everything up. I have rubbed off a ton of rust from the outside stitching areas. I will never get the rust color out of it, but when I am finished with everything else, I can apply some dark blue cream polish and it will get rid of the ugly rust color on the stitching and make the shoes look a bit "smart"!

On a bit more of information, the insides of shoes at times will have either the leather lining, or cotton/canvas as a liner. Use of the conditioner will bring that liner back to life as well as stitching.

 

[Sled Dog]

Found these in the thrift store...I like the colors
The creases look bad in the pics, I think the flash from my camera "enhanced" them.

Bizzarro?? designed in Italy..probably made in China

$4.00...cant go too wrong

 

[LoveMyHats2]

As you can see, all that work with the conditioner finally is paying off! I used some brushing and then some sticky side of the scotch tape to clean off the crud that was in the suede. The shoes are soft and supple and I have some soaking yet to do on the insole/footbed. However the tops and sides are finished, they have been drenched enough now. I was lucky the conditioner did not ruin the suede, I had to apply it to the back side (on the inside of the shoes to get it on) as the suede was dry as potato chips, ready to crack or snap right off if I would try to move it too much. Now, it is like new. I also made me some fancy shoe laces for these as the original ones were shot! Geez, making the laces was an ordeal!

For some reason I really like these shoes! Notice also I finally got the rust out of the stitching. These shoes were the worst dry shoes I have had to date. Now they are like new, soft and supple.

 

[LoveMyHats2]

Found these in the thrift store...I like the colors
The creases look bad in the pics, I think the flash from my camera "enhanced" them.

Bizzarro?? designed in Italy..probably made in China

$4.00...cant go too wrong

You did good for the find of those. Stick some shoe trees in them, wash them (saddle soap) on inside and outside of shoes. Condition the creases and later put some polish on these. The use of conditioner and then using shoe trees should help "pull" some of those creases.

 

[Mr. Garrulus]

Got myself patent leather shoes from the Swedish maker Aristokrat, they were known for quality but they stopped making shoes around 1975.

 

[Tomasso]

Nice find, that's a classic formal shoe.

 

[cookie]

Would like to see some snaps of them on yer feet mate!

 

[LoveMyHats2]

Oh, you mean a shot like this???

Or one like that??? lol


They work real well with the blue suits I would wear with them.....

 

[herringbonekid]

more checks, International Shoe and Leather fair, UK 1925:

 

[Two Types]

Yes, seeing that photo being captioned as a 'Shoe & Leather fair' would support the argument that those boots were made to show off a bootmakers skill and catch the attention of buyers at a trade fair.

 

[Isshinryu101]

Yes, seeing that photo being captioned as a 'Shoe & Leather fair' would support the argument that those boots were made to show off a bootmakers skill and catch the attention of buyers at a trade fair.

The shoes and boots above are 100% for shoe. Have never been worn, even today. Sometimes shoemakers made only a single shoe of the pair because they were never to be worn. What is fascinating is that the pair at the Met Museum was worn, and more than just a few times.

Also interesting is that a shoemaker will make an "ideal aesthetic size" for a particular pair of shoes. If you've seen the AE Nassau last (the one they used for their main run of sharkskin wingtips) in a size 9, they appear a bit clunky and the toe excessively squarish. However, at a size 12, the shape is totally different. Becomes much more sleek looking. Same happens with narrow sizes. As a size 8US, some styles that look great at a size 10 start to look a bit "stubby" depending on the toe shape for me.

Often this "Ideal Aesthetic size" isn't necessarily an easy to fit one, so it is hard to believe the pair at the Met Museum was a 100% showpiece.

 

[Tomasso]

The shoes and boots above are 100% for shoe .

One sign of footwear addiction : When every word beginning with 'sh' comes out shoe......

 

[Isshinryu101]

One sign of footwear addiction : When every word beginning with 'sh' comes out shoe......

HA! Missed that (meant SHOW). Are you surprised???

www.vintageshoesaddict.com

 

[LoveMyHats2]

I have to wonder how many different vintage shoes over the years still remain out there in the public, hidden away in an attic or garage, that no one knows about? Some of the recent shoe purchases that have come to my household, the sellers state the shoes belonged to some relative, unknown as to how long the shoes were "floating" around in the attic or stashed away under the pile of toys and tid bits in a closet, from relative that has been "gone" now for some many years!

Also, from some of the "natural" disasters floods, hurricanes, etc., I have noticed some vintage shoes for sale have possible issues with being "water damaged" I purchased a pair of shoes maybe 8 years ago, they were my favorite shoes for a long time, but they had been in a flood/water damage and the seller did not inform me of that. The soles suffered a damage, but it was not such a mess to fix, had my cobbler replace the soles and it was all well and good.

To just put this information out there for anyone thinking of making a shoe purchase of vintage shoes, ask as many questions as possible, find out the history of the shoes if you can, that is unless you are not planning on wearing the shoes or do not care if they are in serious need of repair.

The Jarman shoes I recently posted are a good example of a pair of shoes that suffered from some water at one point and then had been stored in a dry hot place for decades. If I had purchased and thought I could just simply have worn them, they would have ripped apart like cardboard. As much conditioner I have soaked them in, (more than 8 ounces now) they still need to be soaked and not worn. Yes, I did wear them for a few hours, which made me know they are still in need of more conditioner. Getting there but not done yet.

 

[LoveMyHats2]

One sign of footwear addiction : When every word beginning with 'sh' comes out shoe......

I have to bet you have some very interesting footwear, as well as other attire!?! My thoughts have been, many times, you would have a wardrobe as nice as Frank Sinatra's or Fred Astaire, but then no, you have a wardrobe more than likely as nice as what A.C. Lyles would have. I would love to see pictures of some of those clothing/shoe/hat items, and am sure everyone would appreciate seeing as well.

 

[Barmey]

Some First World War warrent officers boots I bought a while a go. Didn't look like they had seen much action.