Shoes that look better with age...

[alleyooptroop]

Love my 1000 miles:

[ThisSunday]

Amazingly there's a Red Wing Shoe store in Queens. Since I haven't been to Queens in about a year. I have no idea what they carry.

RED WING SHOE STORE

47-01 QUEENS BLVD

SUNNYSIDE NY 11104

Unfortunately there's not many stores that carry Chippewa and Fyre's anymore. Used to be tons of them in Greenwich Village in the late 80's. They've all disappeared. I think there's just one now.

New York City is excellent for dress shoes, however.

The 7 train goes right past this store. Just get off at 46 & Bliss. I haven't been in yet. It looks like a pretty new store.

.

[SLAB]

woohoo...just got ship notification from Baker that my new pair of Semi-Dress boots shipped and will be here Friday. This will be my third pair. Trying the single leather sole, Chrome Excel leather, block heel and new Swing last....also trying 1/2 size smaller to wear with thinner socks for summer so I'm keeping my fingers crossed that they'll fit...bit of a gamble but my 11.5's feel plenty roomy with thicker hiking socks and too loose with a lighter weight sock so hopefully my gamble works out..

damn, exactely the make-up I'd like to buy (oneday) Although I would opt for a bountyhunter because already have the semi-dress. Did you get brown or black chrome excel leather? & post (a lot) of pictures pls

[slide13]

I went with brown chrome excel. I need some Bounty Hunters too but I would want those with a rubber sole I think. Had I to do it over I would have ordered the BH instead of my rubber soled SD for winter use. Oh well...I do love the SD shape and look. I'll be sure to post pictures when they arrive.

[lostinthesupermarket]

speaking of crepe thats too comfortable, how do yall feel about wallys?

Love Padmore and Barnes Wallys. When I was little kid all the grown ups used to wear 'em and I remember being fascinated by the crepe sole.

I can't bring myself to wear the MIC ones though. I wonder if they are still hand stitched?

[beatle]

roy boots- made for walking

[aho]

Kind of a useless post but I actually had a dream last night that there was an Alden store here in Chicago...Talked to the owner about sizing and different boots, etc. Just realized that I must have it pretty bad....Alden fever....:X

[rnrswitch]

roy boots- made for walking

Hell yeah. I am lovin mine. Fuckin comfortable.

[morse9443]

All these Roy boots making me jealous.

Deforested a swamp today..

[morse9443]

Note to anyone planning on a pair of White's Oxfords through Baker's (or direct) - they no longer offer double welt stitching, even though they're pictured like that in most places. I tried offering extra $, but something about them being machine lasted bla bla.... they just won't do it. Sorta pissed, but I still ordered a great shoe.

[technicolor]

Kind of a useless post but I actually had a dream last night that there was an Alden store here in Chicago...Talked to the owner about sizing and different boots, etc. Just realized that I must have it pretty bad....Alden fever....:X

There is an Alden store in the Chicagoland area and I'm looking to get a fan model made from them.

[false]

Can anyone link to a really comprehensive guide to shoe care? Specifically whats a cream vs. a balm vs. a polish and in what order to apply them.

I found the below quote well back in this thread (I've read every page) but the writings not so great and its a bit tough to tell what does what and in what order to apply products.

I've got Alden 405's and I'm just looking to keep them as nice and shiny and true to their original color (so no Obenaufs), maintain the contrast stitching on the toe, and generally healthy. Right now I've got Renapur* but I think its got seal oil which I read somewhere can go rancid.

*http://www.renapur.com/balsam.htm

Best to use Meltonian polish with Alden shoes. Kiwi is lower quality stuff.

I also used Pecard's leather dressing on my Aldens. This helps take care of the leather.

from http://www.indygear.com/faq/bootsfaq.shtml

What leather care is recommended for the boots? Personally, I use the Pecard leather dressing available from David Morgan. It is a clear, neutral dressing that keeps the leather shiny and supple without the harsh salts and solvents that would eventually break down leather. And, yes, it does give the boots a nice slightly-weathered look. I use Pecard on the boots, bullwhip, satchel strap, and leather equipment belt. (also on holster) Dale If you're after the hard worn drug behind the truck look, jump over this because this is not for you. I'm all for keeping these in as good a shape as possible, as the price for these is pretty high, and let's face it, they're in constant contact with old "terra firma" at all times, so unlike all our other gear, they are constantly receiving daily wear and tear. With the following suggestions you can keep them looking good, but at the same time be protecting them and giving them more years of use in your arsenal of "indy gear". These shoes have that surface that I call a hard finish. When I first received my Aldens, I coated mine with the Pecards dressing. I gave them 4 days to soak. The dressing never did so into the leather, or at least not in my experience (as the Aldens are a wax coated leather) I finally buffed the excess off and began to wear them. I have been using a leather cream to keep the leather colored, as well as adding lanolin to the leather through the polish itself. One trick to give these shoes a good going over is to use the leather cream as described by the particular manufacture, buff to a shine, then use the old military trick of using an old pair of panty hose to give the leather a high shine. This also removes any excess polish that your buffing rag missed. Now here's where Pecards comes in....you will notice that your shoes take heavy flexing in the front of the shoe, as well as the tops around the ankles. This is from normal movement of the foot, of course. This is also "damaging" to the shoe, as it is constantly flexing those areas to the point that after several years of use, the leather will eventually crack through. The Pecards dressing actually lubricates the leather fibers and stops the oxidation of the leather. Air enters the cracked area that is not protected by the final hard finish of the shoe and oxidizes just like metal, allowing the eventual failure of the leather from drying. If you apply Pecards to these areas of the flexed leather, you'll find that the shoe not only seems to "break in" better, but in my experience seems to make the shoe more comfortable to walk in, as the usual binding you experience seems to go away. This is due to the fact that the Pecards is actually allowing the fibers to pass past each other in the flexing, but do not break in the constant use. To date this has been my regimen when I work on my shoes. By rubbing a light coating of Pecards into the leather (not a heavy coating, mind you, but very light over glaze), you also are able to remove the usual rubs and scrapes you seem to experience on the heels of your s remember HOW the scrapes got there) by just rubbing the offending scrape away with your fingers. The Pecards also allows you rub out any addition scratches you pick up by sealing the exposed leather, just as you seal the use cracks in the flexing of the leather. Try this and see what you think. So far this seems like a sale for Pecards. Well, to date this product seems to do a lot of things that I haven't been able to achieve with any other specific product. If you know of one let me know. I am not a fan of mink oil, as it attracts bugs in a lot of climates, and the fats can actually turn rancid, eventually breaking down the leather.

The easiest (and suggested way by the Pecards customer service dept.) is to either coat the boot with the paste, then apply low heat from your hair dryer to liquify the paste, allowing to soak into the leather. Or coat your boots with the paste, put in a large clear plastic bag and allow to sit in direct sunlight. It has the same effect. Then polish the boot (if you're still wanting to keep them looking good) with shoe cream of either neutral or sandelwood coloring. After buffing to a polish, finish the work with a good buffing using an old pair of nylon stockings and buff to a high polish. This also removes any additional polish that you may have missed. Michaelson

[fre-co]

I wouldn't fret about it, just clean them, cream or leather food to nourish and polish to shine.

If you really are obsessive then follow Coleslawyum's method which he has mentioned before I'm sure. His boots are all impeccably well maintained.

[joelz]

Io2KFwZ5B8w

I really like this video, and put this on just did a series about shoe care:
http://vimeo.com/11075261

they get into shoe care about 5 minutes in

[jake431]

There is an Alden store in the Chicagoland area and I'm looking to get a fan model made from them.

What store? This is news to me.

[edmond]

after cleaning

[Curious_George]

I thought I'd share a few pictures of my new Dayton boots in gray roughout.

I had the heel base removed to lower the heel a little but otherwise they're the same model sixsixtie posted the heads up on a little while back (which I'm still thankful he did, because they were a really great price).

Also, thanks to riff for providing me with some information on his experience with Dayton sizing.

edit: About 15 minutes after I posted this my Russell Moccasins I had ordered about 3-4 months ago also arrived (I had no idea both boots would end up arriving on the same day:)). I decided to take a few shots and share those pics as well. These are Short PHs in Green Chamois and Green Nubuck.

http://i152.photobucket.com/albums/s185/Baron_Munchausen/DSC_0684.jpg

[morse9443]

^We need more Russell's on here - those are gorgeous.

[fre-co]

I've been after some russells for a while too. I was hoping to get some for the nicer weather... maybe next year.

[jstavrin]

Moving sale: Red Wing GT, black, size 10, 50 shipped

There's a year of on and off wear on these. Getting rid of them because I have way too many boots and I'm moving. There are a few little dings that aren't shown, but they're nothing major. This is a solid, broken-in pair.

[superbeveridge]

Just received these in the mail... most comfortable shoes out of the box I have ever owned.

[LandoCal126]

Just received these in the mail... most comfortable shoes out of the box I have ever owned.

Just spoke with Sam. Ordered my pair of 11D. They had one left. After seeing Beatle rocking hers this past weekend I had to jump on it. Early Birthday gift I guess. Man am I excited!!! Fit flicks please superbeveridge!

[jacob_davis]

my new whites semi dress brown chrome excel.

there is slight color difference in the upper to lower part of the boot. i pretty sure the happens with the chrome excel . anybody have experience with this?

[map111158]

Heres some more Russell's. If you are thinking about getting a pair I highly recommend it. They are the among the most comfortable and well crafted shoes I have encountered, its amazing.

These are the Kalahari Tracker with Rock Grip sole.

[yo_mj]

Sno-Sealed. They're black after sealing. Worn for a couple weeks.

[braid]

^ info pleaz

Damn Lando, you got some Roy's too? Now i'm superjealous.

[not too tight]

Those are the Buzz Rickson x William Gibson Officer Boots if I am not mistaken...

[LandoCal126]

Damn Lando, you got some Roy's too? Now i'm superjealous.

Beats feet this past weekend were talking to me...

[rnrswitch]

Sno-Sealed. They're black after sealing. Worn for a couple weeks.

Those look ten times better than without the snoseal.

[beatle]

Congrats, Lando - u won't regret it !