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Show us your SHOES !!!

Isshinryu101

One Too Many
Messages
1,328
Location
New Jersey
My favorite pair of shoes now. They rival ANY modern non-bespoke maker i've yet seen.

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Tomasso

Incurably Addicted
Messages
13,719
Location
USA
Lovely shoes.


Does the 1999 written on the sole refer to a sales price?
 
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Henry Gondorff

A-List Customer
Messages
327
Location
Fulda, Germany
Those are the ones that went for peanuts on eBay recently.

Sorry Marc, but I ain't a member of e-bay and don't observe what's going on on there. Friends of mine won things on e-bay and not one of them was satisfied with what they got (but this always was German e-bay, no offense to anybody here!). So they advised me to never buy things on the bay. Until today I followed this advice...
 

Isshinryu101

One Too Many
Messages
1,328
Location
New Jersey
One pair of shoes that I've been interested in is the Church's Shanghai.

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Certain aspects I like & others I HATE!

I Really like the idea of a vintage pair of beat-up specs. The concept is really good, I think. An ancient patina on a pair of shoes that was worn to all heck... and still keeps ticking. Great "throwback" CONCEPT.

In execution, it stinks, though (IMO). I don't understand the kiltie with that buckle. The other option is a Ghillie model, which I don't really like either. Those soles are TERRIBLE. No vintage shoe EVER had ugly rubber full soles like that. Cheapens the whole thing.

There's a TON of toe spring, I guess because they are trying to make them look like the owner never used shoe trees. Bad Idea, I HATE pronounced toe spring... looks like elf shoes.

Finally, the "antiquing"/ "aging" of the leather looks to have consisted of using an emery board to scrape off the top layer of finish off the leather. This is not authentic or realistic. That's not how leather ages.

SO, I decided to "make my own", using a pair of actual vintage shoes. No xtra aging was necessary, I simply distressed the white suede a bit more and used darker shoe polish to pronounce the creases. Then I conditioned the leather to keep it soft & got them re-soled. The soles had holes, so this was necessary. I asked my cobbler to give me a "vintage-style" sole, and am happy with the result. He told me that's how he used to re-sole similar shoes in the 40's.

Any comments are appreciated...

1940's Flagg Brothers Spade Soled Specs

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And the new soles...

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cookie

I'll Lock Up
Messages
5,927
Location
Sydney Australia
Re the Churchs:

The idea behind the wear pattern is that you are some old China hand schlepping around the dingy rough streets in the Shanghai Legation era c 1920s/30s until in 1940 you suddenly find yourself in a prison camp for the duration of the War a la the movie "Empire of the Sun". Apparently the rubber soles are historically similar to what was installed by the local bootmakers in that era to cope with the climate (typhoons) and rough streets (cobblestones).

Re the specs the look is great and interesting that you could find a sole wide enough to do the resoling. The resoling is close channelled right?
 
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thunderw21

I'll Lock Up
Messages
4,044
Location
Iowa
My first pair of exotics: alligator.

When I found these today they were in dismal condition: dusty, dirty, dry, horribly creased, price tag attached with a staple through the side, etc. Here they are after a good cleaning. The best part is they're my size!

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Can't quite make out the company logo. Stetson?
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cookie

I'll Lock Up
Messages
5,927
Location
Sydney Australia
Stetsons no less... with original soles and heels indicating little long term wearing ...well that's one of the vintage best. You would pay big bucks on eBay for those.:eusa_clap
 

Isshinryu101

One Too Many
Messages
1,328
Location
New Jersey
look at that awesome sole job. Tells the whole story. TOP Quality for sure!

My first pair of exotics: alligator.

When I found these today they were in dismal condition: dusty, dirty, dry, horribly creased, price tag attached with a staple through the side, etc. Here they are after a good cleaning. The best part is they're my size!

001-4.jpg


002-2.jpg


003-3.jpg


Can't quite make out the company logo. Stetson?
004-1.jpg
 

Isshinryu101

One Too Many
Messages
1,328
Location
New Jersey
closed channel soles. You should see the cobbler's shop. Vintage everything. A coupla hundred pairs of vintage laces, vintage trees... He says not much demand for most of the stuff he stocked up on in the old days. I, on the other hand, LOVE it.

Re the Churchs:

The idea behind the wear pattern is that you are some old China hand schlepping around the dingy rough streets in the Shanghai Legation era c 1920s/30s until in 1940 you suddenly find yourself in a prison camp for the duration of the War a la the movie "Empire of the Sun". Apparently the rubber soles are historically similar to what was installed by the local bootmakers in that era to cope with the climate (typhoons) and rough streets (cobblestones).

Re the specs the look is great and interesting that you could find a sole wide enough to do the resoling. The resoling is close channelled right?
 

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