Shoes that look better with age...

[Guest]

These are my Justin lace-ups, worn for a month in the wilderness of Vermont. They forded a stream.

The leather was so thick and stiff at first, but I think they look really nice now that it's starting to get that reddish aged look. Unfortunately, I never wear these in real life so they're up for sale in the supermarket.

On another note, I'm going to have to take pictures of my belt that my uncle made for my dad when they were students; it's like 30 years old!!

[jo3 b]

i hope i don't push any buttons, but there isn't SO much redwing talk on here.

can someone give me some info as to what i should be doing as far as care? should i just follow redwings instructions, or i there something else i should do. just for leather care and such, don't care about preserving the color.

thanks in advance.

[the_state]

Cool, I like them, and I like the construction worker look, since this is classic American workwear, which is part of why I like them in the first place! I tried for a long time to find an "E" width here in NYC. Did you find them at Shoe Mania? They told me that a Japanese store had purchased all their "E"s. So I stopped looking.

Do you plan to take them in the rain? The leather can take the wet. I'd leave them alone unless you wanted to make sure that water didn't come through the stitching. In that case, I'd rub a thin coat of beeswax into the seams. If you want the stitching to remain white, then test it on a place where it won't show. Most substances darken leather and stitching. Even my favorite Sno Seal darkens things a couple of shades. The only stuff I use that keeps the darkening down to like 1/2 a shade is Meltonian Leather Lotion, but its waterproofing powers aren't that great. Even though it has silicone, it's what I would use on these boots if I could find a pair, since I suspect they were probably waterproofed with silicone anyway.

thanks greg.

they're a nice casual boot, not as rugged/heavy at the 875 varieties. i'm sure chinese manufacturing has something to do with this.

[pikler]

My new boots. They're no Whites, but you can't beat $25.

[poly800rock]

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.

hey taco, i'm sorry, where did you get these again? The 7 hole is perfect.

[poly800rock]

Clark's has some interesting leather boots we can't get here..

can anyone find me these? basically it comes down to I really need new shoes. These clarks are amazing

[braid]

I'm in the process of breaking in a new pair of wesco jobmasters... Despite multiple obenaufs coatings, I think that my feet are breaking in, not the boots!

At the store I ordered my Whites, the lady said, "you don't break in a pair of Whites, they break you in." Guess she was right...

One question for you guys...do you use shoe trees for your boots? Also, I know it is not good to wear the same pair consecutive days but should you follow this rule even for Whites?

[Dick Danger]

Been a long time since I was a White's guy, but I always order two pairs. I figure I get 18 months from each pair that way, otherwise I figure to get a year out a single pair worn every day. It does make a difference. Never used trees in my work boots.

[amlai]

One question for you guys...do you use shoe trees for your boots? Also, I know it is not good to wear the same pair consecutive days but should you follow this rule even for Whites?

I try not to wear the same pair of boots on consecutive days and I use shoe trees in all shoes I own. I don't have "work boots" per se or Whites, but I don't see why one would change the rule for Whites boots. The same type of wear and tear is going happen on all shoes. Shoe trees help prevent moisture buildup (from foot sweat), maintain the original shoe shape, and prevent creasing. Cedar shoe trees are better than the plastic ones because they remove the moisture (and I would assume linked to that helps prevent a bit of the foot funk).

Now of course, if the goal is to just destroy them for appearances and have beat up boots that won't last a lifetime, then ignore all of this.

[ccl127]

I'm selling my Indy's b/c they are slightly too big. I've only had them for a week.

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&rd=1&item=290190214224&ssPageName=STRK:MESE:IT&ih=019

[datasupa]

laff @ DUM

but i digress...

white's fit me almost perfectly from day one, except i have a rather big bunion on the right foot which wasn't accomodated for. took about a month before i didn't notice it anymore

twas a painful first week, though

[braid]

Thank you amlai for your educated response.

So far i've had one typical smart ass response from dick and trolling by dum. Can we keep this thread on topic without the smart ass high school responses? I don't mind the high school atmosphere in the trash but it's degrading when it seeps into threads like these.

I'd like to know from Bill, Chicken, Greg, etc how they care for their work boots. Do you wear them in the interest of creating wear by wearing consecutive days with no tress or do you use trees and wear every other day? My guess is early workers wore their boots everyday without trees so perhaps this would be the most authentic approach to a boot such as Whites?

edit:

Sorry dick, it seemed you were being a smart ass in your original post. Didnt mean to assume you're a dick

[Dick Danger]

huh? I haven't had a good smart ass post in a while. Been too fucking happy for a good hate-on, shits getting old.

I told you what I did with my boots, back in the day when I did wear Whites, and what I do now, but these days I wear Wesco.

[dunkin deeznuts]

was dick's answer facetious or real? i cant tell any more

and as far as the guys you named...I think they all have so many pairs of shoes I cant see them wearing the same pair too many days in a row, but I guess you never know as I have a good amount of jeans and have worn the same ones for 2 months (but they are "contest" jeans)

but i guess if you really want to break the white's in and if its going to be as hard as everyone says, you should probably wear them as much as you can or as much as your feet can take it.....and i think shoe trees are a good idea for all shoes/boots but you might not worry about it depending on what you want the boot to look like or how you want it to turn out........

obviously do what works for you

[old viking ring]

I wear my whites everyday till near bedtime, take off, place next to couch............reapply in morning.

and, they fit me perfectly from day one.

[Dick Danger]

Probably a little of both.

Seriously, if you're really working in your work boots, buy two pairs. Alternating two pairs will last longer than wearing one pair out then buying a second pair. I don't care if my work boots crease so I don't use trees, but I do care if they are wet, so I use one of these. When I'm wearing one pair the other is sitting on the PEET.

[amlai]

There are other reasons to have more than one pair and rotate anyways. If you were doing real work, you might be walking around some serious muck and therefore you'd need to let them dry out for a day or so. My thoughts on trying to achieve the most "authentic" wear are this: people probably wanted their goods to last as long as possible and as such, you should treat your items with as much care as you can.

[Chicken]

with my indys, i've been wore them pretty much every day, rain or shine. but i used shoe trees and tried to polish them every 4-8 times of wear. they've held up pretty well imo, but now i'm trying the rest one day thing by rotating them with my semi dress mainly. perhaps my indys will be in better condition today if i didn't wear them all the time. but i like my indys to look a little rugged so i'm not complaining.

that's funny you thought dick was being a smart ass. getting two of the same pair might sound outrageous at that price point. but i think dick really uses his boots as work boots -- with some serious wear. i'm assuming this from seeing what happened to his samurais at work. so i can totally see dick getting two of the same pairs to rotate, especially if he likes the style.

[amlai]

Using shoe trees has other benefits than just prevening creases. Preventing the creases in the leather helps prolong the life of the shoe (prevents them from cracking in those places). A shoe tree will also keep soles flat so that the wear is more even, prolonging their life. (Hence why I'm so puzzled by the idea of some Wing and Horns boots I think I saw posted way back that were practically bent in half. Seems like a really bad idea from the point of view of practicality.)

[GregNYC]

I'd like to know from Bill, Chicken, Greg, etc how they care for their work boots. Do you wear them in the interest of creating wear by wearing consecutive days with no tress or do you use trees and wear every other day? My guess is early workers wore their boots everyday without trees so perhaps this would be the most authentic approach to a boot such as Whites?

===Shoe-trees: they're great for every shoe, but I'm not as observant about using them in work-boots as I am with dress boots and dress shoes. So in my Corcorans, Matterhorns, Whites, Red Wings, I don't use shoe trees. It's just laziness. But in my Crockett & Jones boots, the shoe tree is waxed lime-wood, lighter and more absorbent than cedar, slides nicely into the shoe, costs like $100 and is sized from the same 337 last as the shoe. In my Allen Edmonds and Alden, the trees are cedar from Alden, cost like $35, and come in S/M/L.

Leather care - I use at least something on *all* leather footwear. And they end up lasting me years and years. At least some clear polish or beeswax or Pecard's or Meltonian leather lotion. I'll try Obenauf's one of these days!

[fattybfat]

one of the best aged tricker's i have seen ,

found these boot on yahoo auction....i was amazed by how nice these are....

i think Fre$co have these one too (maybe different color tho)....is the wetherby?? i think..:confused:

[GregNYC]

Oh yeah, and I try never to wear the same shoe/boot several days in a row. Sometimes this is inevitable like when I'm traveling. But even then, I break up the day between the good leather and say sneakers when I'm running and exercising, changing socks then too.

And all these measures really do work. My good shoes can last for decades. I usually move house more often than I get rid of footwear.

[amlai]

And all these measures really do work. My good shoes can last for decades. I usually move house more often than I get rid of footwear.

Which is why when I hear things like "my Indys fell apart after a couple of years of wear," I'm really surprised. I've had dress shoes that weren't of the best craftsmanship that I've worn every other day for a few years with a resoling or two and they're still in good enough condition to wear with a suit. OK, given I'm not out on the farm kicking the crap out of a bale of hay or anything, but I think it just goes to show that with proper care, the reasonably well made items we're talking about should last a very long time.

[GregNYC]

Yeah, I forgot resoling. Definitely. Crockett & Jones informs me that you can resole only several times if you need to change all the way to the welt. Because to do this you must re-stitch into the same thread-holes in the upper's leather each time, and this won't last forever. I wanted double leather soles in my Conistons, and they advised me to let the current rubber soles wear out, not to rush it. Gotta respect this old-skool advice, as though they know these are built to last and I'll have them for a while!

But if you're just getting a heel or outer sole layer put on, then you can have than done many more times. This is why the cobblers would always say, don't let it go too long, because you don't want to have to resole the inner layers as well. Sure, it's self-serving and gets them business. But your shoes last longer too.

[GregNYC]

I told you what I did with my boots, back in the day when I did wear Whites, and what I do now, but these days I wear Wesco.

Dick - what kind of boots do you wear, and what use do you put them to? Why'd you switch?

[superBobo]

regarding the shoe tree discussion, I only put trees in my Red wings when ive worn the same pair for a couple days and they start feeling sweaty, so its more for drying them out, than preventing creases (that I rather like on work boots).

[cloudhands69]

here's a couple.

redwing 1908

florsheim imperial in shell cordovan:

I got these at a thrift store for 10 bucks! They were COATED with black shoe polish but I could tell there was beauty underneath!

[moykky]

Yeah, I forgot resoling. Definitely. Crockett & Jones informs me that you can resole only several times if you need to change all the way to the welt. Because to do this you must re-stitch into the same thread-holes in the upper's leather each time, and this won't last forever. I wanted double leather soles in my Conistons, and they advised me to let the current rubber soles wear out, not to rush it. Gotta respect this old-skool advice, as though they know these are built to last and I'll have them for a while!

But if you're just getting a heel or outer sole layer put on, then you can have than done many more times. This is why the cobblers would always say, don't let it go too long, because you don't want to have to resole the inner layers as well. Sure, it's self-serving and gets them business. But your shoes last longer too.

I've wanted to change my "commando" soles in my Tricker's boots to something less bulky -actually the reason is that they're my winter boots and I can't wear them in snow, living in Finland this can be a pain in the arse. So what kind of project that is? They still have to re-stich, right? Uuh... my great grandfather was shoemaker, I need to educate meself on this...

[fre-co]

fatty: those trickers are the monkey boot. I don't have those.

Yeah DD, I'd like to know why you favour wescos over whites too.

RE resoling. the chap at trickers told me the same thing as C&J told Greg. He went on to say that it is not unusual for customers to send back 40 year old shoes and boots for rewelting/resoling. I don't think rewelting is such a big job if you send them back to the shoemaker.

[dunkin deeznuts]

clouds hand....awesome job on the thrift revamp..nice red wings as well...

just got my first pair of red wings today.....