Shoes that look better with age...

[cliffypoo]

cliffpoo: where is the mark?

amlai: i hate you man!! i hate you, what a collection you have there!!

BTW, color seems to be vice versa on the 4060...seems like the toe on one side is lighter and the body on one side is lighter? Lightning or is it really like that?

fattybfat... this is where the mark is.. excuse my photographing skills ....its really noticeable without the flashlight

[fattybfat]

Just want to know are you sure those are cordovan?

well, i never have experience with cordovan shoe but i am sure alot of guys here could help, but i think you might be able to use the Lincoln shoe wax (black)...and hopefully it will works abit better then polish.

Other correct me if i am worng...

[amlai]

BTW, color seems to be vice versa on the 4060...seems like the toe on one side is lighter and the body on one side is lighter? Lightning or is it really like that?

I just checked it out in person and interestingly, it seems to just be the lighting. I don't see any particular color varation between any parts of the boot or from left to right sides.

[amlai]

fattybfat... this is where the mark is.. excuse my photographing skills ....its really noticeable without the flashlight

If it really is cordovan, have you tried really, really scrubbing it with a cloth or something? If it is cordovan, you shouldn't be able to hurt it doing that. Otherwise, I'd say that the only thing you can do is try to put some polish on it to cover it up. Kind of strange. I've never had this problem before and my shoes get kicked / scuffed all the time.

[cliffypoo]

If it really is cordovan, have you tried really, really scrubbing it with a cloth or something? If it is cordovan, you shouldn't be able to hurt it doing that. Otherwise, I'd say that the only thing you can do is try to put some polish on it to cover it up. Kind of strange. I've never had this problem before and my shoes get kicked / scuffed all the time.

Hi amlai. thank you for your reply .. I am almost 100% certain the shoe is cordovan. I got it from the alden store on the Madison ave in nyc which is not too far from grand central.

I live in Taiwan and the stores here don't really sell cordovan shoes, so I don't really have anything to compare. but I can tell the leather is quite different from all my other shoes. I didn't know what cordovan is when i got the shoe. The owner was pretty nice and told me the shoe will be able to last a long long time, so I am also very surprised to see the mark on the shoe. that doesn't even happen to my cole haan. I can't really tell if the leather was damaged or it was just some sort of stain from the sneakers. I tried really hard to brush it and even tried to scrub it with cloth, but the mark never went away. I also tried to cover it with some shoe polish, but it didn't work quite well either. Is there anything wrong with the way i maintain the shoes? When i got the shoes, the owner told me just to use a little shoe polish on it once in a while. He even told me just to brush it. It sounded a bit weird. Was he telling me the right thing? Also, I am wondering whats the difference between shoe wax and shoe polish. I have never used shoe wax b4. Is it supposed to work better than polish? Thanx a lot.

[zk4025]

Hi amlai. thank you for your reply .. I am almost 100% certain the shoe is cordovan. I got it from the alden store on the Madison ave in nyc which is not too far from grand central.

I live in Taiwan and the stores here don't really sell cordovan shoes, so I don't really have anything to compare. but I can tell the leather is quite different from all my other shoes. I didn't know what cordovan is when i got the shoe. The owner was pretty nice and told me the shoe will be able to last a long long time, so I am also very surprised to see the mark on the shoe. that doesn't even happen to my cole haan. I can't really tell if the leather was damaged or it was just some sort of stain from the sneakers. I tried really hard to brush it and even tried to scrub it with cloth, but the mark never went away. I also tried to cover it with some shoe polish, but it didn't work quite well either. Is there anything wrong with the way i maintain the shoes? When i got the shoes, the owner told me just to use a little shoe polish on it once in a while. He even told me just to brush it. It sounded a bit weird. Was he telling me the right thing? Also, I am wondering whats the difference between shoe wax and shoe polish. I have never used shoe wax b4. Is it supposed to work better than polish? Thanx a lot.

Taiwanese? Hi !! Me too.

您應該是"櫻桃"版上的版友吧?

[Tarmac]

Those black shoes don't look cordovan to me. What is the model number written on the inside? Cross-check, search "Alden your_model_#" and you will know.

[fattybfat]

cliffpoo:

if nothing would work for your shoe, since your gf done it, give her two options 1)make her buy you another pair or 2)use a black marker to draw on her white shoe. Then it would be fair. Make sure draw on the most expensive shoe she has.

by the way, as far as i know, by using shoe wax, if you buff it enough, it will give it a military shine which you can mirror your face

surprise that you are taiwanese, my mom is taiwanese as well, but i am not.

[xchen]

I got a pair of used Red Wings Irish Setters in a vintage store today for about $70. The fit is pretty good. They are already broken in.

[Supawiwi]

They really look like cordovan to me, I'm almost sure of it, just looking at the creases which are very soft and round compared to those appearing on calf.

But sorry I can't help you there, this is bad on such beautiful shoes.

[GregNYC]

cliffypoo - cordovan shoes - Besides Kiwi, there's also leather dye. A cobbler ought to be able to dye that whitish spot. Kiwi doesn't have enough dye to cover a stain of such a light color. There is a very good shoe recrafter in New York, B. Nelson, who can fix it. Or you could send it to the Alden plant in Massachusetts. More about Alden's restoration:

http://www.aldenshoe.com/pro_res.htm

Ichiran - The waxed cotton laces from http://www.whatpriceglory.com/usboot.htm have tips a bit large - you might have trouble getting them through the lace holes. They are also about 6" shorter than the Indy needs with it. The indies have 9 rows of lace holes including hooks. WPG's WWII style ankle boots have 7 rows.

Instead, I use waxed cotton lacing I buy locally from a shoe repair. It looks very good on the Indies. It's thin and more elegant than WPG's, it gives the boot more of a shoe appearance (not necessarily a plus!). It has no tips, so you buy it by the inch so it's infinitely adjustable. It's stronger than Alden's stock Indy laces and doesn't wear out very easily. It has the main property you want from waxed lacing, non-slippage. You can lace it to keep sort of equal tension all the way up and down.

[GregNYC]

I got a pair of used Red Wings Irish Setters in a vintage store today for about $70. The fit is pretty good. They are already broken in.

Pictures or it didn't happen!!

[Supawiwi]

Man, I'm a bit upset. I wore my indies in NY when it 36°c a few weeks ago, and I sweat in them. I got dark stains in the creases because of it. I thought it would go away with the wear but it's still here and won't leave! What can I do?

I'll try to post pics asap (that's my first time posting pics, I might have hard time)

[Supawiwi]

Here is the damage, sorry I couldn't upload it it's too big.

http://picasaweb.google.fr/william.potentier/Alden405

[Bill2]

Here is the damage, sorry I couldn't upload it it's too big.

http://picasaweb.google.fr/william.potentier/Alden405

William-

That looks pretty minor to me! I wouldn't do anything too extreme to try and fix it, you might end up changing the look/feel of the leather even more. That being said... the typical solution for salt/sweat stains on the something like that would be a light washing or saddle soaping to loosen and remove the salt deposits, then a layer of a moisturizer like pecards.... It should remove the stains, but will most likely darken the leather of the entire boot

[cliffypoo]

cliffpoo:

if nothing would work for your shoe, since your gf done it, give her two options 1)make her buy you another pair or 2)use a black marker to draw on her white shoe. Then it would be fair. Make sure draw on the most expensive shoe she has.

by the way, as far as i know, by using shoe wax, if you buff it enough, it will give it a military shine which you can mirror your face

surprise that you are taiwanese, my mom is taiwanese as well, but i am not.

Fattybfat: haha my gf has already been punished to do the dishes, cooking and cleaning for the whole month. I guess that's good enough for me. I will try to use some shoe wax first to see how effective it is. If the shoe wax still doenst have enough dye to cover it, i will send it to a cobbler as what GregNYC suggested. btw, so you are a mixed ? thats pretty cool. How about your dad?

zk4025 對啊 我是台灣人.櫻桃是甚麼?.我剛剛看你的links..你開店？

Thanks to all of your suggestions. According to what i read from all of your posts, I should be able to cover the white spot with some stronger polish or wax. I will try it as soon as i get some shoe wax.

[amlai]

When i got the shoes, the owner told me just to use a little shoe polish on it once in a while. He even told me just to brush it. It sounded a bit weird. Was he telling me the right thing? Also, I am wondering whats the difference between shoe wax and shoe polish.

Typical care for shell cordovan is to

1) wipe clean with lightly damp cloth.

2) brush vigorously with a horsehair shoe polishing brush.

3) buff with smooth cloth (believe it or not, women's nylons work amazingly well)

4) apply a wax polish every once in a while. some say every 15-25 wearings.

I think the difference that you're asking about is wax polish vs. cream polish. The wax polish stuff is solid that comes in a tin and the cream polish is the soft stuff that comes in jars.

What you want for shell cordovan is the wax stuff. I use the stuff made by Kiwi. Seems to work well for me.

It's odd, I've put my shell shoes through pretty much everything and I've never really had an issue with them. I get bumps and scrapes, but nothing that has ever really discolored them in such a way that I couldn't cover it up with some Kiwi polish.

BTW, they look like shell cordovan to me. And the care instructions sound like what they would tell you for shell cordovan.

[cliffypoo]

Typical care for shell cordovan is to

1) wipe clean with lightly damp cloth.

2) brush vigorously with a horsehair shoe polishing brush.

3) buff with smooth cloth (believe it or not, women's nylons work amazingly well)

4) apply a wax polish every once in a while. some say every 15-25 wearings.

I think the difference that you're asking about is wax polish vs. cream polish. The wax polish stuff is solid that comes in a tin and the cream polish is the soft stuff that comes in jars.

What you want for shell cordovan is the wax stuff. I use the stuff made by Kiwi. Seems to work well for me.

It's odd, I've put my shell shoes through pretty much everything and I've never really had an issue with them. I get bumps and scrapes, but nothing that has ever really discolored them in such a way that I couldn't cover it up with some Kiwi polish.[/quote

Thanx a lot for the tips. I think the wax polish is the one that i have been using. I will leave the wax on the shoe over night and see if it can cover it better. It was raining when I got kicked at the side. I am guessing maybe the leather was soften by the rain, so the damage went deeper. well... it's just my guess. But i will def check the weather before I go out from now on.

[Bill2]

Put some Russells up on the 'Bay also along with those Semi-Dress..... Trying to raise money for all the fall fabric I want to buy!!

http://search.ebay.com/_W0QQsassZbsack5yzj

[flex0r]

After a day at Yosemite, my Indies are starting to look like Indy's! This is right after I got home last night, mud, dirt and all.

And this is today, after a cleaning and some well-deserved rest.

I think I'll give them a light oiling soon, since I used the Pecard's a few days before I left.

[Tiro]

indies looking good, I wonder if the second batch of those is ever gonna happen...

[Supawiwi]

Jesus! I'm crying because of a little sweat stain! I would diiiiiiiie...!!!

Bill, I think I'll follow your advice and not do anything. I like the color they have now and don't want to get them darker. Thanks

[fre-co]

those are a pretty scuffed pair of boots. I would not be too pleased with myself if I'd done that to a brand new pair of $400 boots.

[youreit]

are you guys rockin these alden boots with denim?

[Supawiwi]

Yes Sir! Fits perfectly with a nice pair of jeans.

[xchen]

OK, here are pics of the Red Wings I found as requested. I finally got a second to look at them and check the label on the inside last night for the style number. I was wrong when I assumed they were Irish Setters. They are actually 877s. I looked it up on RW's website and the retail is $218 so I am fairly pleased with these. Can someone who knows a little more about Red Wing's than me verify that the 05/06 on the lower left of the label inside the boots means that they were made in May 2006?

[amlai]

After a day at Yosemite, my Indies are starting to look like Indy's! This is right after I got home last night, mud, dirt and all.

Those really do look like Indy's boots! I assume you went hiking in them? I like my Indy boots, but I'm not sure I'd want to go on a big hike with them. My hiking boots have a more cushioning on the bottom and more support around the ankles. How did they hold up for you? Would you do it again?

those are a pretty scuffed pair of boots. I would not be too pleased with myself if I'd done that to a brand new pair of $400 boots.

Personally, I'm not sure which way to lean on this issue... I think they look fantastic both ways. I suspect that my tendencies to like my shoes well polished would make me upset I scuffed them up that bad. However... they are Indy's, so I guess they're meant to be used and abused.

are you guys rockin these alden boots with denim?

Of course... #8 shell Alden Indy boots w/ 45rpm Sorahikos (cross posted from the 45rpm thread a while back):

The regular 405s I think are even more suitable for wearing with denim. They're considered a work boot. In fact, wearing them with anything dressier than a pair of khaki chinos would be odd.

[HellaHyphy121]

I know it says no sneakers, but I think these look way better beat.

[Ichiran]

I know it says no sneakers, but I think these look way better beat.

Um... Yes... Those little gold stars are quite cute indeed...

[flex0r]

Amlai: I did go hiking in them, and some minor rock climbing to get to the base of Yosemite falls. Support wasn't an issue at all, they hugged my ankles really well, I just wish I had waxed laces so I wouldn't have to re-tie.

Cushioning...i'm not sure. I took a few small jumps in them during the aforementioned climbing without any real pain, and by the end of the day my feet were in some pain, but that might be from being on my feet/walking/climbing for about 10 hours or so. No soreness at all today though! So yes, I would do it again.

The fact that they were pretty pricey is kind of disheartening, but these are not dressy boots, and I feel like they are meant to be worn hard, just like our pricey Japanese denim. I decided early on that these weren't going to be polished and dressed up, just oiled occasionally. No way I would take some cordovan, or even some of the other Aldens up there though...