You can tell a lot by a man's shoes!

[Marc Chevalier]

You mean that secret method?

No sir. The secret method I spoke of involves fire, scalding water, ice water, cotton swabs, cotton balls, and a swatch of nylon panty hose. I'm not kidding.


The result is perfection: it puts patent leather to shame.


.

 

[Fletch]

The *secret* polishing method I learned in NROTC is something I will take to my grave.

Funny, Marc, I didn't figure you for a squid...unless there was some outfit that still wore blue cap covers, or perhaps Adm. King dress greys.

 

[dundeedavie]

When i was a Traditional Skinhead ( not in the sense the USA people wil think) i used to polish my boots every night to an almost glass shine and that of dedication stays with you ...and yes the polish needs burned on , i used a small blow torch (i kid you not)

I find it almost harrowing to see young people without any idea of proper shoes , with , dare i say .....leather soles . Someone needs to teach young people how to dress

 

[Dagwood]

As I work in a courthouse, I can tell you that juries often focus on the dress of the attorneys, especially shoes. I have heard on more than one occassion that they didn't like/trust an attorney because his shoes had holes, were unpolished, etc. While this might not be fair, it is reality. The experienced lawyers know that before a trial begins, they should either buy new shoes or shine the old.

 

[Fletch]

Sneakers with a fedora and a sportcoat will make you look like a "New Wave revivalist". No boots either.

Just a note that I have been affecting Red Wing ropers and a horsehide A-2 jacket with my hats for the last few months. It's a great look as long as you avoid khaki pants, which instantly turn it into Halloween.

I own everything in this picture except the beard.
It's a little known fact that Indy was given the soprano sax by his cousin, Isham (standing up front with the "baby" on the rack beside him).

 

[Marc Chevalier]

... I used a small blow torch (i kid you not).

Likewise. It takes a delicate touch to not let the flame get out of hand.

.

 

[dr greg]

comin and goin

I was told by an old boss I had back in the dim darks that he would check the BACK of the shoes and heels of a job applicant as they left his office to see if they had only polished the front to make a good impression but were basically too slack to maintain the care of their shoes as a matter of course.

 

[Fletch]

In the 30s, the VP for promotion at CBS kept good shoes at the office, which he wore only when there. This was because he regularly had the soles polished along with the uppers! :fing28: He was apparently fond of the big-shot feet-on-desk posture and wanted to give the neatest possible impression even when thus reposed!

 

[dnjan]

No sneakers, no matter how much they cost.
Sneakers with a fedora and a sportcoat
will make you look like a "New Wave revivalist". No boots either.

I agree with Fletch about the roper-toe boots not being a problem with a fedora.
Motorcycle boots - no. Hiking boots - no.
But roper-toe boots have a dressier appearance. I normally wear Ariat roper-toe lacers that are hard to tell from oxfords when I'm standing.

 

[Tomasso]

I agree with Fletch about the roper-toe boots not being a problem with a fedora.

There are many styles of boots that would work with a fedora. Here's just a few:

 

[Fletch]

Those captoes (Edward Green "Galway") are particularly nice.

I like the gored boots too, but am concerned the gores would let water thru. Do they?

 

[Tomasso]

concerned the gores would let water thru. Do they?

Not in my experience but I wouldn't want to stand in a deep puddle for any length of time.

 

[AlanC]

There are many styles of boots that would work with a fedora.

 

[cookie]

Shoe Shining

No sir. The secret method I spoke of involves fire, scalding water, ice water, cotton swabs, cotton balls, and a swatch of nylon panty hose. I'm not kidding.


The result is perfection: it puts patent leather to shame.


.

Yeah right - you just utilised all this so you could have shiney shoes....????

 

[Marc Chevalier]

Yeah right - you just utilised all this so you could have shiney shoes....????

Affirmative.

A graduating cadet at Annapolis (U.S. Naval Academy) taught me this technique. Shiny shoes meant fewer demerits. Old habits die hard.

.

 

[Tomasso]

A graduating cadet at Annapolis (U.S. Naval Academy) taught me this technique.

.

Plebs do most of the shoe shining at Annapolis. Oliver North used to shine my cousins shoes, along with other menial tasks.

 

[Marc Chevalier]

Plebs do most of the shoe shining at Annapolis.

Very true ... and that's why have to do it right. lol My friend learned the technique as a pleb in the early 1980s.


When I wrote that "shiny shoes meant fewer demerits," I was referring to my own college experience in NROTC. We didn't have plebs to shine our shoes.

.

 

[Marty M.]

Thanks for your service.

When I meet a new male business associate I generally look at their shoes within the first few seconds or so. This is a military habit.

M8

I agree with you on the military thing. Wearing a pair of well shined black lace-ups at an interview is not an option, rather a must. You may be interviewing with a former military personel. And thanks for your service Martinis at 8.
Marty Mathis

 

[Martinis at 8]

Pleb[e]s do most of the shoe shining at Annapolis. Oliver North used to shine my cousins shoes, along with other menial tasks.

I'm certain that is not allowed anymore. No personal services are provided now to upperclassmen by Plebes. Futhermore, after the first year midshipmen/cadets are allowed corfam shoes. So dies another tradition of spit-shining.

M8

 

[Marc Chevalier]

Futhermore, after the first year midshipmen/cadets are allowed corfam shoes.

Spoiled brats! In my second year in NROTC (mid 1980s), I was stuck with the same shoes I had the first year: black leather. No corfam "patent leather" for us!

.