Shoes that look better with age...

[tmadd]

Damn, y'all need to chill with da Catz Pawz. Nothing beats the feel and look of leather. There is a reason they are leather-soled, it's not to save costs.

I agree that the look and feel of leather is second to none...but I need at least a couple of pairs of boots that can handle a variety of terrains in a variety of weather, and right now, my only non-leather soled shoes are my calfskin Indy's that need to be resoled desperately. Also, if you are one to wear through leather soles on a regular basis, it adds to the life of the shoe in the long, long-run to be replacing rubber instead of re-stitching leather.

[napoleon]

Regarding the chisel-toes, have you seen them in person? The 'square' shape is extremely subtle; grouping them in the same category as square-toed abominations by Mark Nason or Kenneth Cole adorned by poorly dressed 20-somethings worldwide is incorrect.

If compliments are anything to go by then you're winning. The only thing I've got so far is a smart arsed "So you're going riding?" from an ex country boy. But I also got a compliment on my very square toed clunkers from a hottie so it isn't going to sway me.

Don't get me wrong, I've tried them on and they are well made and nowhere near the typical chisel toe shoe. I just prefer the brass screwed soles and the rounded toe to the crasftsmen, even though the craftsmen have a nicer side profile. Maybe I'll get over my hate one day and get a pair in kangaroo.

[Tarmac]

Also, if you are one to wear through leather soles on a regular basis, it adds to the life of the shoe in the long, long-run to be replacing rubber instead of re-stitching leather.

How many people here have worn a shoe all the way down from new, and then resoled them? I would bet zero, unless you are over 50 years old and lurking.

[napoleon]

How many people here have worn a shoe all the way down from new, and then resoled them? I would bet zero, unless you are over 50 years old and lurking.

You'd be surprised. I wear down a pair of leather soles in about 2 years and destroy the outer back corner of each heel in a year, and most of that is just walking on carpet. Sometimes I re-sole, sometimes I buy new shoes.

[Denim Phenom]

Hey Tarmac, what's with the hate? So they want to resole their boots with a different sole, who cares? I'd like to resole my Indys that I bought no less than 3 months ago. I was walking around with them in Utah during the winter and slipping all over the place. I plan on moving back to a state that has seasons so i'll need a more reliable sole than what comes standard on Indys.

[speedster8]

I had mine resoled with a full on Vibram comando sole after a few months of wear.

They are now more than 10years old !

[amlai]

How many people here have worn a shoe all the way down from new, and then resoled them? I would bet zero, unless you are over 50 years old and lurking.

I've worn down a couple of my shoes from new and resoled them a couple of times each. Both leather and vibram soles (when I wore them). However, I've yet to wear down a shoe to the point where they couldn't be resoled. I would imagine that would take quite a few resolings to get to that point.

[theetruscan]

How many people here have worn a shoe all the way down from new, and then resoled them? I would bet zero, unless you are over 50 years old and lurking.

I've resoled my gravatis twice now. Reheeled them 4 times. I'm 28.

[ichapelle]

Sup, can someone please yell me what model Frye boots these are. If you know where to find them, that'd be a plus too.

[edmond]

www.zappos.com

well cant help ya no more.. try emailing the guy who posted that pic

[ichapelle]

^^^Nah. I tried there already

[tmadd]

How many people here have worn a shoe all the way down from new, and then resoled them? I would bet zero, unless you are over 50 years old and lurking.

If only I had the opportunity to take you up on your "bet" I would have been able to afford a couple more Cat's Paw resoles.

I'm not sure what you are trying to catch me on here...but it's not working. I go through soles, leather or otherwise, pretty fast. Part of this is because of my foot-strike, and the fact that I go through the tip of the toes and the back-outside first. This problem is compounded by wearing leather on pavement/asphalt in the rain...a pair that I have been wearing hard this year, with less than 40 days of wear is already entirely through the first leather sole at the tip...I would be a fool to let it go past the second leather sole and start eating into the welt and the stitching.

So, in summary, thanks for trying to prevent some unnecessary trend involving a type of sole you don't personally like yourself, but I can assure you that all of the people who have posted pictures of boots with Cat's Paws on them at this point have cogent reasons for doing so.

[GregNYC]

Damn, y'all need to chill with da Catz Pawz. Nothing beats the feel and look of leather. There is a reason they are leather-soled, it's not to save costs.

I like leather too, see below. But there are lots of reasons folks do things. For me it's like the Lightning Magazine kind of hobby. Vintage clothing is a collector's area. And closely aligned to that is modern clothing in classic style. One of the classic vintage styles that can be adapted to modern footwear is Cat's Paws, which were one of the first non-leather sole alternatives in the U.S., good for wet sidewalks.

Indies and Whites and 1911s are good shoes, but I think of them also as good project shoes, like an artist's palette. Their classic Goodyear construction and hearty materials allow them to be customized. Some people do it to cars. Some motorcycle riders say "stock sucks."

With Indies, you can also customize them the other way, so I'm getting full leather soles on my new pair. And I'm not talking about a half-leather/half-rubber heel, but a full leather heel. That's another modern-retro project....

[riff]

Can the cats paw soles be ordered online? I've checked a few cobblers in my area, and no one has even heard of them.

[kert]

Hey Tarmac, what's with the hate? So they want to resole their boots with a different sole, who cares? I'd like to resole my Indys that I bought no less than 3 months ago. I was walking around with them in Utah during the winter and slipping all over the place. I plan on moving back to a state that has seasons so i'll need a more reliable sole than what comes standard on Indys.

for some reason there are a few on this thread that get very angry when you resole your boots/shoes with rubber soles/heels. to each his own. for me, i live in DC and the terrain is very uneven. i'm constantly knicking my heels and soles and leaving dents. plus, it can be real slippery. getting your boots/shoes resoled is a pretty common practice. i've been to a few cobblers and shoe stores where it's accepted and understood.

[fre-co]

The guy at trickers told me they can resole several times, I think he even said 5-10 times but I forget. Following that the stitching holes become a mess so the welt has to be replaced, this is also not unusual and they regularly have boots of upto 40 years old for resoling.

Nice pictures Greg, what model are the last C&J? the shape looks the same as my sandowns. Beautiful! If you could just parcel those 4 pairs up..... I believe you know where to send them.....

[Chicken]

trying to restore some of their lusters.

before:

now:

[tmadd]

trying to restore some of their lusters.

before:

now:

Wow! A job well done. I would love to hear how you went about creating this wonderful transformation.

[familyman]

Chicken, are those Packers?

I swear, whites should have someone here take pictures of their boots. The photos they have are terrible. In person the boots look great and the photos taken by people here are beautiful. They look the worst in Whites own photos.

[beatle]

Well done, Chicken...they look like a pair from the website that i was talking about way way back...right or wrong ?

It´s amazing what the proper leather care can do to some old beat up boots !!

[edmond]

hi could you tell me the process on how you restore those old white's boots? i have an old pair of wesco's handed down to me by my uncle i would like to do the same ...

[Chicken]

thanks guys. it's really fun to play around like this. my friend cw got this pair for me at a thrift store for next to nothing, so i thought it was perfect for experimenting. they are definitely white's and i think they are packer boots, but someone please correct me if i'm wrong.

so here's what i've done so far.

first, i took a nylon brush and tried to get rid of dirt and buildups around the boots. also with the nylon brush, i tried to even out some scuffs on the boots, by sort of sanding them down.

then i took a saddle soap and cleaned the leather all around in a nice lather. i wiped all the excess off afterwards and let them dry.

next i applied a coat of dark brown shoe cream all around. then let them dry again.

and then i applied a coat of dark brown polish all around, but also wetting the cloth with water as i went along. both the shoe cream and the polish were applied mainly with my index finger covered in cloth, moving in circular motions. then let them dry yet again.

finally, i gave the boots some shine with the horse hair brush.

as an added touch, i changed the laces to leather laces and from miz's advice, took the protectors off from under them.

they do now look like a completely different pair in real life too.

oh yeah beats, that website was darn cool. thanks.

[Charlie Delta]

^ Fuck!

[petng]

which site are you guys talking about?

[dibadiba]

I posted this a while back, didnt' get any responses....

What is the point of leather soles? As far as my experience has shown me, rubber soles last longer, don't slip, and are superior to leather soles. I owned leather soled allen-edmonds for over 2 years and wore them every day of the week for school. They're beat to hell now, heels have fallen apart and the soles are worn down terribly. The actual shoe is in great condition though, and I think it's a shame that I'll have to spend near to $100 to get them resoled when a rubber sole would still be in fine condition. I've never had anything like this happen with a rubber soled shoe. Why do all these premium name-brand shoes use leather soles? is there an advantage I'm just not seeing?

[familyman]

I posted this a while back, didnt' get any responses....

What is the point of leather soles? As far as my experience has shown me, rubber soles last longer, don't slip, and are superior to leather soles. I owned leather soled allen-edmonds for over 2 years and wore them every day of the week for school. They're beat to hell now, heels have fallen apart and the soles are worn down terribly. The actual shoe is in great condition though, and I think it's a shame that I'll have to spend near to $100 to get them resoled when a rubber sole would still be in fine condition. I've never had anything like this happen with a rubber soled shoe. Why do all these premium name-brand shoes use leather soles? is there an advantage I'm just not seeing?

1. Tradition - good shoes are built this way. So are lots of cheap ones as well, but all of the good ones are. There is also tradition in wearing leather soled shoes. It's a very 'grown up' and proper thing to do for business and such. Mark of an adult and all that.

2. Feel - leather soled shoes feel different. They flex differently and most importantly they hit the ground and move differently. They click a bit when they hit. They're somewhere between a bit slippery and very slippery depending on the surface. When you wear them they just feel different when you walk. Some people hate it. Some love it.

How are leather soles better? Let's not use the word better and just say that sometimes leather soles are preferable.

[Charlie Delta]

1. Tradition - good shoes are built this way. So are lots of cheap ones as well, but all of the good ones are. There is also tradition in wearing leather soled shoes. It's a very 'grown up' and proper thing to do for business and such. Mark of an adult and all that...

While I see where you're coming from I don't think the "grown up" part has any value as an arguement as most vibram or topy soles are so thin that no one but you would know that they're there.

No hate, just kind of curious about it myself aswell...

[braid]

I've worn my White's semi-dress for a week straight now. They're very comfortable with no issues to speak of. I polished them yesterday and figured I'd post a couple pics...

[Charlie Delta]

Man! Those White's are so Hardcore on pictures, but when I saw them in the flesh on JimmyC's feet they were actually quite understated.

Very nice!

[amlai]

What is the point of leather soles?

...

I owned leather soled allen-edmonds for over 2 years and wore them every day of the week for school.

...

I think it's a shame that I'll have to spend near to $100 to get them resoled when a rubber sole would still be in fine condition. I've never had anything like this happen with a rubber soled shoe. Why do all these premium name-brand shoes use leather soles? is there an advantage I'm just not seeing?

Well, supposedly leather soles mould to your foot and breathe better. I know some bespoke shoemakers who say that putting toppys or vibrams over the leather soles suffocates the leather soles and reduces the "breathability" of the shoe and isn't good for them. I am of course skeptical of the breathability thing... leather soles seem to be quite dense.

Regardless, I do have a very strong preference for shoes that have leather soles. I find them far more comfortable than rubber soled ones. I feel that rubber soled shoes affects my gait because they don't let my feet move naturally as I walk. I unfortunately have ended up avoiding my AF60s because of the rubber soles. As far as the slickness of leather soles, I find that it goes away after a while. Of course, it will never be as sticky as rubber, but I swear it's not as bad as people make it out to be. (Then again, I've had ~6 years of practice?)

Just a comment... you really shouldn't wear a shoe every day of the week regardless of the sole material if you want it to really last. Personally, I've worn down vibram lug soled shoes with about 6 months of wear and my leather soled shoes last me about the same. I think that greater than 2 years of wear on any shoe is pretty good, particuarly if the investment to bring them to practically like new shape is only $100.

In any case, to each their own... and for me, leather soles all the way!!!!