Shoes that look better with age...

[Leonard Leroy]

There's one way I saw to lighten the leather, and that is to leave the shoe in the sun in the summer for 10-14 days. There's a pair at the Alden NYC shop like this, and it's a very popular color - that they don't have! Cindy over at NYC Crockett & Jones NYC recommended this too in a pinch - it's not enough to really dry the leather but does lighten it noticeably.

Ya, the cordovan boots closest to the window at the Alden store look straight up burgundy because of the sun. I'm probably going to do this when i get a pair in #8.

[GregNYC]

Greg,

When were you in the military, which branch, and what did you do?

Army - I was enlisted for 4 years, then got out. During graduate school, I took a year off to go to Officer Candidate School at Ft. Benning, GA. Came back as an officer for an artillery battalion. Stayed in 5 years till I just lost interest.....

Wore polished black issue boots, Corcoran spit-shined jump boots, or "low quarter" Oxfords every day. Always shined as much as possible, spit-shined if I had the time.

Specifically:

--Tactical Military Intelligence at Ft. Campbell, KY (Screaming Eagles). Putting up antennas in the woods to intercept infantry communications from the other side.

--Strategic Mil Intel in the Panama Canal Zone, intercepting the Panamanian Government's telephone calls and reporting any intel items to NSA.

--National Guard - Signal staff officer for an artillery battalion in Rochester, NY. Responsible for the maintenance and deployment of all radio equipment for the battalion (about 180 folks).

--National Guard - Company commander of a Signal company in Rochester, NY.

[Denim Phenom]

Looks like right out of an eval. I work with a couple Army intelligence NCOs in my office. I've been an Imagery Analyst in the AF for 8 years now and I'm so glad we went to wash and wear along with suede boots.

[HumanError]

Greg, did you say it was Eddie's Shoe repair @ E. 42nd that did the Cat's Paw work on your Indy's? My Frye Brando boots will soon be needing heel/soles and I think that's how I may want to go.

[GregNYC]

^For Cat's Paws in NYC go to Jim's Shoe Repair on 50 E. 59th Street, (212) 355-8259. Take a photo you'd like to emulate. Tell them every detail you'd like. Good luck!

[Bendrix]

That is a problem I have. I wear my shoes down more on the outer edges of the heels.

no i dont, why should if it is rubber sole already? unless it is being worn extremely unbalancely....

[mechanical pencil]

So, I've been dreaming of an Alden wing tip boot on the plaza last, a la familyman's

beautiful boots in this thread, but done in brown calf instead of cordovan. I wrote to

Leather Soul and they have no plans to order such a boot.

Anyone else think that this would be a beautiful shoe? Maybe if enough folks

wanted them we could make an order happen....

[jays978]

duH!

[coleslawyum]

^^Wait a minute, thats a sneaker not a shoe.

[fattybfat]

what the hell??:confused:

why is that even here?

[rockon99]

-should at least be selvedge.. shame shame..

[fattybfat]

he is trying to tell us..those are unwashed

[edmond]

hi eberyone ive got a serious boot problem here

im planning to buy a pair of chippewa engineers boots

i saw one on auction for a really cheap price but theres a catch the left foot is size 9 and the right foot is size 9 1/2

so im planning to have their soles removed and replaced with double leather and vibram 705 half soles and maybe a quabag heel on them

could i ask the cobbller to put insoles int hem so that size 9 1/2 would fit close to a size 9? ( my actual shoe size) or what other ideas and options i have? please help me shoe experts!

[HEWSINATOR]

Edmond, Edmond, Edmond. That is a very serious boot problem. But a good cobller should be able to adjust a boot by at half a size to a full size. No different than tailoring a suit really.

[Christmas In A Submarine.]

That's not a boot problem, that's a foot problem,

although buying chippewa engineer boots WILL likely be a problem. Last pair I picked up in person a few months ago looked no better than a pair of georgia boots. Hard plastic feeling soles (which i suppoes you're replacing anyhow), cheap, brittle leather, poor looking hardware. Really nothing to recommend them, just my two cents.

[Bendrix]

Edmond, Edmond, Edmond. That is a very serious boot problem. But a good cobller should be able to adjust a boot by at half a size to a full size. No different than tailoring a suit really.

Whoa, really? How do they do that? Do they tuck the leather in more or cut it and re-sew? This is intriguing ...

[HEWSINATOR]

No, not really.

[edmond]

btw guys these are not ordinary chippewa's these are the horsehide version

[coleslawyum]

Quality's not bad on a Chippewa, but they are slightly worse than a pair of Red Wings. But for a pair of boots that are less than $140, I can't complain. Vintage Chippewa's on the other hand is an entirely different animal. They used to be real hard core. You can still get some nice wear on them. I got a pair coming back from the cobbler, gonna post those.

Edmond, are those the Real McCoy versions?

[edmond]

yes those are the real mccoy ones... what can you say about those coleslaw?

[GregNYC]

Make sure those Chippewas are not made in China like a recent pair I bought and then gave away!

i saw one on auction for a really cheap price but theres a catch the left foot is size 9 and the right foot is size 9 1/2

so im planning to have their soles removed and replaced with double leather and vibram 705 half soles and maybe a quabag heel on them

could i ask the cobbller to put insoles int hem so that size 9 1/2 would fit close to a size 9? ( my actual shoe size) or what other ideas and options i have? please help me shoe experts!

[GregNYC]

mechanical pencil - Is that your tag because you like mechanical pencils? That's another thing I'm a fan of!

[edmond]

oh no these are the usa made one vintage repros by the real mccoys

http://item.rakuten.co.jp/three-eight/rmc-ia7002-030/

fraction of the cost

so greg am i asking is it possible to do that?

[edmond]

andyeah what can you say about the sole on the the neoprene soles?

im changing them to double leather plus vibram 705 half soles and maybe a quabang heel

want tem to look like these

http://hukurokuju.com/blog/2007/11/chippewa_1.html

[fattybfat]

edmond:

not a big fans of the egineer boot, because they are too tall...and by the way, with the weather like that in hk (i believes you live there, lucky guy) , i think it would be even worst to wear those...you know...summer is coming..

by the way, how many pair of boots you have, it seems you got so many pair to me.

[Chicken]

for someone with smaller feet, maybe.

oh, and by the way, does anybody here know what these are?

i never knew alden made lace-to-toe boots, especially with cat's paws (which might've been added later).

[edmond]

oh come on shoe guru's can someone answer my q?

[YoungPunch]

[oh, and by the way, does anybody here know what these are?

i never knew alden made lace-to-toe boots, especially with cat's paws (which might've been added later).

Alden makes medical/ orthopedic boots. Don't know about the cat's paw soles though!Check out this link on their homepage:

http://www.aldenshoe.com/cat_ortho_spe_500.htm

[Denim Phenom]

Double leather shoes, in my opinion, are really ugly and take away from the shape of the shoe. They remind me of platform shoes. Now here comes the negative feedback.

The soles of those engineers already have nice soles, no sense in changing them except for the appeal.

I'm sure Edmond has just as many boots as he has jeans. He alone could bring the American economy back up.

[Chicken]

Alden makes medical/ orthopedic boots. Don't know about the cat's paw soles though!Check out this link on their homepage:

http://www.aldenshoe.com/cat_ortho_spe_500.htm

you're absolutely right!

i never ventured that deeply into the alden site, i had no idea they existed.

thanks a lot youngpunch.