Shoes that look better with age...

[CrashTestBrummie]

Damn son, leave a few pairs for the rest of us! Particularly covetous of those Edward Green's. The patina on those Trickers is awful nice too.

the greens are a cracking pair of boots; was so happy that the re-re-sole went smoothly. edward green recommend only re-soling veldtschoen boots and shoes once, and then they recommended turning them into a classic goodyear welted build.

this contradicts paul t's source a while ago recommending around three (?) re-soles and one of the old, twee (with hindsight) 'merrie england' lotus ad where the 'careful man in the village who mends shoes' seems to have repaired this imaginary pair several times.

those ads (and other similar ones) give a great window into inter-war england, even if they were a little contrived even at the time.

the tricker's patina is fantastic but the polish has been layered so much that it's starting to crack and i'm not sure that the boots' long-term future is best served by having the leather smothered under so much dried wax.

you can see this below, with a hint of the 'true' colour of the zug underneath.

i'm thinking of stripping down the boots this weekend to give the leather some proper dubbin treatment and then starting to build back the polish layers over time.

i did this recently with the c&j coniston, as the mirror shine i'd given them felt too dressy with denim...

before

after using steam and saddle soap to strip off the polish

and after greasing the boots to give them some moisture back

anyone have any thoughts on the value of stripping off polish as part of long-term care of boots and shoes?

[mikedbt5]

Ben , I was close to reporting your post for serious boot porn . Though not zug , I ordered a pair of Cheaney Penine from Richard yesterday , just couldnt resist and your post pushed me over the edge . THe Edward Green info on resoling is interesting , yet I always am a bit sceptical of manufacturers in these instances...theY market FOOTWEAR as lasting for years then contradict themselves when it comes to refurbishing . It isn't really in their interests for shoes to last forever i SUPPOSE . tHE IDEA OF RETURNING TO A GOODYEAR WELT IS NEW THOUGH , BUT A RUBBER COVER ON A LEATHER SOLE WOULD NEGATE SO MANY INTRUSIVE REPAIRS . i WONDER IF A COMMANDO CAN BE EVENTUALLY BE REPLACED WITH A LEATHER SOLE , MIGHT ASK RICHARD . EDIT , JUST EMAILED CHEANEY , WILL SEE WHAT THEY SAY .

Edited April 21, 2012 by mikedbt5

[kansas]

ctb, i like the second edition of your conistons much better. glassy shine was too much. my $.02

[Denim Phenom]

Denim phenom is upset because he couldn't quite manage to jump on the engineer boot bandwagon

Yeah, that's it. Oh wait, I've been wearing the same pair of Red Wing 2970s for about two years now. Bandwagon deez nutz homie.

[Highvoltage]

Alden 403s one year in, after a quick brushing:

[fre-co]

Yeah, that's it. Oh wait, I've been wearing the same pair of Red Wing 2970s for about two years now. Bandwagon deez nutz homie.

oh man.

[devilish]

anyone have any thoughts on the value of stripping off polish as part of long-term care of boots and shoes?

I have seen several sources over the years that do indeed recommend doing this from time to time. Apparently for the reasons you refer to, in that it stops 'polish crack' and allows the leather to breath a little and then be oiled again. Also eventually too much polishing has a deminishing return on the amount of shine you can get. When my Dad was in the Royal Navy he would do this to his dress shoes periodically.

As for the E.G. advice that a veldt boot should only be resoled once, it seems probable to me. I would think that by the time any normal person wears out two commando or ridgeway soles that's got to be many years and would have outlived most other shoes. Especially as these boots are meant to be worn out in the 'field' not on concrete city streets, which are more abrasive on soles. Not to mention the finite amount of leather available on the edge there to sticth down before you have to start making the boot smaller.

Edited April 21, 2012 by devilish

[CrashTestBrummie]

I have seen several sources over the years that do indeed recommend doing this from time to time. Apparently for the reasons you refer to, in that it stops 'polish crack' and allows the leather to breath a little and then be oiled again. Also eventually too much polishing has a deminishing return on the amount of shine you can get. When my Dad was in the Royal Navy he would do this to his dress shoes periodically.

As for the E.G. advice that a veldt boot should only be resoled once, it seems probable to me. I would think that by the time any normal person wears out two commando or ridgeway soles that's got to be many years and would have outlived most other shoes. Especially as these boots are meant to be worn out in the 'field' not on concrete city streets, which are more abrasive on soles. Not to mention the finite amount of leather available on the edge there to sticth down before you have to start making the boot smaller.

yeah, makes perfect sense to me. i'll get on it tonight or tomorrow and see what the leather looks like under all that black polish. could be interesting...

shame that their lifetime might be limited by sole wear only. might have to seriously think about a last resort option of a triple leather sole with rubber stick-ons.

Ben , I was close to reporting your post for serious boot porn . Though not zug , I ordered a pair of Cheaney Penine from Richard yesterday , just couldnt resist and your post pushed me over the edge . THe Edward Green info on resoling is interesting , yet I always am a bit sceptical of manufacturers in these instances...theY market FOOTWEAR as lasting for years then contradict themselves when it comes to refurbishing . It isn't really in their interests for shoes to last forever i SUPPOSE . tHE IDEA OF RETURNING TO A GOODYEAR WELT IS NEW THOUGH , BUT A RUBBER COVER ON A LEATHER SOLE WOULD NEGATE SO MANY INTRUSIVE REPAIRS . i WONDER IF A COMMANDO CAN BE EVENTUALLY BE REPLACED WITH A LEATHER SOLE , MIGHT ASK RICHARD . EDIT , JUST EMAILED CHEANEY , WILL SEE WHAT THEY SAY .

good shout on the pennine, it's a great boot and as sturdy as any other veldt model...

ctb, i like the second edition of your conistons much better. glassy shine was too much. my $.02

yeah, i'll save the mirror shine for dress shoes, methinks!

[big truck]

Yeah, that's it. Oh wait, I've been wearing the same pair of Red Wing 2970s for about two years now. Bandwagon deez nutz homie.

Weak.

[garden gnomes in space]

Yeah, that's it. Oh wait, I've been wearing the same pair of Red Wing 2970s for about two years now. Bandwagon deez nutz homie.

pics?

[Megatron1505]

I was just about to say, if only there was a thread where denim phenom could post pictures of his "shoes (red wings) that look better with age (2 years)", and contribute rather than making glib statements with no foundation.

[CrashTestBrummie]

stripping the polish off the tricker's was surprisingly straight-forward; a combination of running hot water and saddle soap (and a little elbow grease) made it a job that took around an hour. greased them after they dried, and then again this morning:

i took out the liners and heel cushions from the boots, as I wanted to see if the boots specs were written below (i'm told by the shoehealer that tricker's write the uk size and last number under the heel cushion).

nothing written there, but the bed (?) of the boot had this stamped in it:

not seen the reference to 'old jewry' (a street in the city of london) before on a pair of tricker's, as far as i can remember...any shed any light on this?

[TheBlackGoat]

Who is going to make " bandwagon deez nuts homie" their signature? ??????? I call first dibs!

[wgmds]

1. crashtestbrummie, your shoes are looking great after the oiling! super healthy and those tones/ the patina is awesome!

2. the black goat, i just sold the thing in my sig, so i'll do it!

[ihatebrianwilliams]

Update on my Road Champs.

[mikedbt5]

As for the E.G. advice that a veldt boot should only be resoled once, it seems probable to me. I would think that by the time any normal person wears out two commando or ridgeway soles that's got to be many years and would have outlived most other shoes. Especially as these boots are meant to be worn out in the 'field' not on concrete city streets, which are more abrasive on soles. Not to mention the finite amount of leather available on the edge there to sticth down before you have to start making the boot smaller.

Got a reply from Cheaney ref resoling of the Pennine boot -

"Thank you for your enquiry. We would expect that your boots can certainly be refurbished twice, and possible three or even four times, depending upon when the insole has to be replaced.

Kind regards

Sheila Bone

Cheaney Shoes Limited "

I'm sure it is a case of horses for courses and diffrent manufactuers offering differing advice . I am happy with the Cheanry response though and am looking forward to my pair arriving end of May from Shoehealer .

[CrashTestBrummie]

how come end of may, mate?

[mikedbt5]

how come end of may, mate?

Richard has no size 8 available and wont have them in from Cheaney until then .

Cheaney have them in stock for sale on their website but Richard is discounting them and I am happy to wait anyway ...honestly , lol .

[beeetus]

I'm browsing all the amazing Chippewas on rakuten and getting increasingly upset at the sheer amount of amazing boots not available to us outside of Japan (well, I guess they're technically available to us but at a much higher price). Anyone know the logic of North American companies like Chippewa, Red Wing, Viberg, Wesco, etc. not making the same products available to us non-Japanese boot lovers?

[rkusmant]

last week rotation

[fre-co]

You have 4 pairs of trickers that are variations on the same boot?

[Layne]

You have 4 pairs of trickers that are variations on the same boot?

[apsidewatch]

guys, im looking for my first pair of leather boots for all around wear. currently im considering a pair of red wings, but still clueless on which model to go with. can u suggest me which pair will turn beautifully on wear? maybe something similar like this.

so any red wing model similar to this pair? or u would recommend other brand?

[hollowsleather]

so any red wing model similar to this pair?

Not sure if serious...

875s.

[garden gnomes in space]

good god i need some trickers in my life. the right and second from right are amazing. the others are awesome as well though

[apsidewatch]

Not sure if serious...

875s.

why is it?

[Aries]

^^^ I think because you asked for any redwing boots that look like the pics, when the pics ARE redwing 875s...

Just received a pair of common project workboots, their first attempt at such boots I believe. sized down 1 from my achilles size.

Never noticed before, but my left foot is wider than my right, as the right is a perfect fit after an hour of wear, whilst the left is still tight! Hopefully the width stretches a bit more.

Quick pics:

[apsidewatch]

idk about that, but that picture is one of the model from an indonesian brand Santalum, Moc Toe Tan. u can google on it.

[fre-co]

idk about that, but that picture is one of the model from an indonesian brand Santalum, Moc Toe Tan. u can google on it.

Which is a total copy of a redwing 875

[Aries]

There's an old Chinese proverb which I believe translates as "know the source of the water you drink". I think it applies well here.