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Shoes that look better with age...


mizanation

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I tried alittle of the Melatonian boot cream on the back of one of the heels to see how the leather would react. It smoothed out the abrasion and re-colored the leather significantly. I think these are in better shape than they look and with a good cleaning and moisturizing they are gonna look great. Here's a quick pic of them on:

What do you guys think? Leave them trashed or clean them up?? I'm torn

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i will go ahead and condition them and shoe cream them to moisturize it abit.Once you condition them, i think the color will turn more darken which gives a beat up vintage look, otherwise i am afraid the leather will be too dry and crack

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I have a short attention span, so I went ahead and treated them. Melatonian boot cream. The leather was not dry or brittle at all. Even the abraided areas were still pretty moist, just pourous. You can see how the color came back. I'm assuming they'll dry out and lighten up alittle.

IMG_0645.jpg

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There are some great boots and shoes over the past couple pages.

I am among that old school bunch that think that beat shoes/boots that have been well cared for look far, far better than shoes/boots that are simply beat. Beat footwear that show zero care say the wearer is basically a slob. Footwear that is beat but shows care suggests the wearer has both character and stories to tell.

I did some traveling once with a young and very wealthy European Prince. One evening, when he was polishing his shoes, I teased him that he must have his personal servants do this when he wasn’t traveling. He wasn’t particularly amused, and said rather pointedly (as my shoes were in need of a bit of TLC at that time) that ANY gentleman worth his salt took care of his own shoes. It was a bit of an epiphany for me. I’ve never thought about my footwear in the same way since.

So, Bill, those great Highliners will look better with continued care AND continued hard use. And you’ll be the better man for it. Just MHO.

PolyRock: As for those lovely Shell Cordovan Aldens: The captoe boot, both in calf and shell, is a regular offering by Alden. Several dealers also run orders on different lasts. In addition to LeatherSoul Hawaii (http://www.leathersoulhawaii.com/), or Alden of Carmel (http://www.alden-of-carmel.com), check out The Shoe Mart (http://www.theshoemart.com).

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I have a short attention span, so I went ahead and treated them. Melatonian boot cream. The leather was not dry or brittle at all. Even the abraided areas were still pretty moist, just pourous. You can see how the color came back. I'm assuming they'll dry out and lighten up alittle.

IMG_0645.jpg

dude you need to clean these first. they look mad dirty

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Sphoxx, thanks for the picture, I'd wanted to get a look up close at some of the other Fab Four leather goods, as I like the design of a lot of their boots and wallets. Any idea how the leather and construction is on those?

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brown wesco boss with brass hardware. very nice.

wesco boss japan options:

http://64.233.179.104/translate_c?hl=en&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&langpair=ja%7Cen&u=http://www.rakuten.co.jp/gmmstore/749770/&prev=/language_tools

don't know why they won'/don't offer the beige reverse leather or the vibram 700 or 705 sole here. my favorite options. japanese prices are crazy...$750!!!

I posted these before, but have you looked at these Wescos?

boots_wide.jpg

here are my aldens which i just picked up after having steel taps put on the front tips and new rubbers over the leather sole.

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here are my aldens which i just picked up after having steel taps put on the front tips and new rubbers over the leather sole.

IMG_0476.jpg

IMG_0477.jpg

Oh man, those are the other shoes I'm really considering buying (I've already practiced my "No you see, it's an investment in the end!") speech.

So on the one hand, love your boots, but on the other hand, I'm shaking my fist at you from across the globe. Really.

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I'm not a fan of the Westo Jobmaster. The Leather Man in Greenwich Village NYC carries them, and they don't fit me at all. I'd have had to get them made to order, which would cost about $475. I didn't like them well enough for that....

Happy Hooligan, like those Wesco Engineers!

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Party Taco those are cool front tips. In the old days, my father had metal pie-slice wedges built into the strike zone of the heels in all his shoes. I haven't seen anything like that for the last 30 years! But I guess Minas here in NYC would have done them....

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hahaha...leather man (and don't forget DV8 passion in chelsea) is where i went to find out my size so i could order them a place where i found them for $225. i mean to each his own but that place was creapy weird bondage to the max.

I'm not a fan of the Westo Jobmaster. The Leather Man in Greenwich Village NYC carries them, and they don't fit me at all. I'd have had to get them made to order, which would cost about $475. I didn't like them well enough for that....

Happy Hooligan, like those Wesco Engineers!

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Can't wear boots all the time, especially in the Texas heat.

My Quoddy mocassin shoes finally arrived today. Outstanding shoes for what they are. Hand sewn in Maine by a very small family company. Instantly comfortable.

Wow, those are nice!

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Hey poly, hit up Carlos at the Alden store in New York. He was mentioned earlier in the thread by Miz. The buy is soooooooo worth it. It's a shame now because between the Alden(4060's?) and the Tricker's Stows, I haven't been able to find any formal shoes that I think are worth buying... in a good way.

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very close to picking up a pair of alden cap toe bluchers from theshoemart.com, but i wanted to get a quick opinion survey first...

the issue isn't so much "are these cool/quality/worth the money" (the answer is yes/yes/yes), but more a question of use: i'm buying the shoes, first and foremost, for a wedding this august. i was just fit for a beautiful MTM ravazzolo suit (being made as we speak in vicenza), and i know these will pair with it very well... but if i'm going to be dropping ~$500 on a pair of shoes, i want to be able to wear them more than just for formal occasions. my day job requires "business casual" (barf) dress, so i usually go with wallys and khakis. after work and weekends it's jeans w/ boots, tennis shoes, or the wallys.

is a shoe of this caliber appropriate to wear with jeans? khakis? should i just buy something more utilitarian?

thanks!

ALD_m_6_Eyelet_Cap_Toe_Blucher_Shell_Cordovan_43603.jpg

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very close to picking up a pair of alden cap toe bluchers from theshoemart.com, but i wanted to get a quick opinion survey first...

the issue isn't so much "are these cool/quality/worth the money" (the answer is yes/yes/yes), but more a question of use: i'm buying the shoes, first and foremost, for a wedding this august. i was just fit for a beautiful MTM ravazzolo suit (being made as we speak in vicenza), and i know these will pair with it very well... but if i'm going to be dropping ~$500 on a pair of shoes, i want to be able to wear them more than just for formal occasions. my day job requires "business casual" (barf) dress, so i usually go with wallys and khakis. after work and weekends it's jeans w/ boots, tennis shoes, or the wallys.

is a shoe of this caliber appropriate to wear with jeans? khakis? should i just buy something more utilitarian?

thanks!

ALD_m_6_Eyelet_Cap_Toe_Blucher_Shell_Cordovan_43603.jpg

You'll be fine IMO.... bluchers are by definition less formal/dressy than balmorals anyway. If you like the way they look why not? ;)

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Are those cordovans? At SF Alden shop they had the cordovan cap toe blucher with lug sole on sale for $399. They looked spectacular.

and yeah you can wear them with jeans. I wear pretty much all my dress shoes with jeans except black wholecuts.

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Are those cordovans? At SF Alden shop they had the cordovan cap toe blucher with lug sole on sale for $399. They looked spectacular.

and yeah you can wear them with jeans. I wear pretty much all my dress shoes with jeans except black wholecuts.

They're a 6-eye blucher in ravello cordovan, leather sole - part of the bootmaker's special editions at shoe mart.

did the SF shop have them just in the stock #8 and black colors? or anything in the cigar/ravello/whiskey range? (their website doesn't seem to show anything other than the standard alden range).

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