Proper leather shoes

I've got a pair of oxblood brogues that are very nice but I never wear them. If I were to dye them black, do I just remove the gloss with isopropyl alcohol and polish and polish with, err, polish? Or is there more to it than that?

@pdlouche ^

Who made them? What size?

Some (oxblood) shoes are too nice to simply dye black.

You can age the shoes with black polish but it's unlikely to give a full and lasting black. You need to dye the leather. Dylon make a leather dye you can use.

Never had to myself*, but it should be as you're thinking - IPA til as dry as possible, apply dye to surface, dry, apply leather cream to reverse bad effects of IPA, buff, polish a million times.

There's a risk of excess dye running off, either into your socks or just off the shoe onto carpet etc. Unlikely so long as you take it slow and apply the bare minimum.

• I did your method with polish only, making a scratched light tan into a beautiful chocolate-red colour. Creases and damage show through the original colour which is a little frustrating.
  

Cheers , dulwich is close enough. I might also speak to them about my loafers being resoled. Was going to send them away to a company that have an excellent video on utube but haven’t got round to it.
I think I put the video on this thread a while back.

They're Jones, so not the best in the world, but not bad. Full brogue though, so lots of jaggedy, holey bits. Maybe I won't bother

I really like oxblood shoes, it's a great colour if you keep them polished and wear them right.

Walking up to the train station yesterday there was a guy in an incredibly sharp blue suit, like BLUE. He had black shoes on. Wear whatever you like but if you're making a statement like that, complete it with a great pair of not black shoes. Oxblood or even suede would have killed it.

The brogueing isn't the problem for the dye, just massive effort for the scrubbing off and reapplying polish.

Yeah but I'm a lazy fucker. Black shoes are good with blue- dark blue at any rate. But where didthis fashion come from to wear fucking tan shoes with blue?

There are old protocols of colour combinations. Totally fair to break the rules, but I believe it's something like black shoes are formal so black or grey suit, (dark) tan with blue or grey or dull colours, oxblood with all but burgundy, light tan with brighter colours or linen. There are all those horrid mens' style sites that give some colour combinations.

Of course, looking at the 'new styles' at the leather fairs, there are a lot of bright coloured leathers and more decorative use of multiple colours, so it's probably dividing between class, style, fashion.

Same as wearing brogues in the office. Or unpolished shoes...

Love my fracaps. Would recommend.

I had a dressing down from a judge for not wearing Black shoes in court. I doubt he would have been on board for oxblood either.

I used to wear mine mostly with a grey suit, but found they also worked really well with work-casual, and also with a dark blue pinstripe where the accent of the stripe was a sort of purple*. Tan shoes with a blue suit are a bit River Island, whereas ox blood are less prominent.

So personally I'd make and effort to wear them more .

To your actual question; I've only used black dylon on treated suede. It worked fairly well given the sever limitations of the material. From what I read at the time the key to a successful result is proper prep and planning. Think about areas like soles. I would get them spotlessly clean, maybe with saddle soap first, then leave them dry while you order the bits online.

Search in this thread for dylon and read mine and t.o. 's post.

*much more subtle than its sounds.

I had a dressing down from a judge for not wearing Black shoes in court

holy shit, there's a whole world out there that I never knew still existed

Not sure, but court seems a very black shoe event.

Isn't saddle soap really bad for shoes? Loads of salt or soda or some such? Prob'ly speakin' out my arse as usual though

Well you want to strip the shoe down, not nourish and cuddle it. Saddle soap is best for removing all the shit and wax build-up. Certainly better than IPA for leather. But it's not bad-bad for leather.

Isn't saddle soap really bad for shoes?

What pdlouche said.

I use Saphir who make good stuff. It only gets used occasionally, mainly on my motorcycle boots and hiking boots. Once dry they're always moisturised with proper renovateur, then polished/creamed/nixwaxed - depending on use.

It's also good if you get water damage or salty deposits.

It might be good for your salty deposits......

Just testing the waters here...

I purchased a pair of Meermin shoes for my wedding coming up in June, however, they are a size or two big for me. Would anyone on this thread be interested in the following shoe for the retail price (sans shipping)?

Size 12 - Full Cut Oxfords...

£140 Brand new, unworn in box with shoe bag.

Charity shop score this afternoon...

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So... anyone have any experience with Alden sizing? Where sells Indy boots in town?
Cheers,
Matt

anyone interested in these?
john varvatos chukka boot
tried them on once but now i dont wear them

size 44 uk 9

selling for £50

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Whilst hunting for a place to showroom some Alden Indy boots I found these handsome Loake ‘Anglesey’ in Selfridges - quick google put them at £154 in Debenhams so my snuff suede itch is scratched...
my phone crashed whilst ordering so I now have two pairs! 😬

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Any recommendations for chukka boots, going to pop into the Redwing shop next week to see if they really are worth the hype but also interested in alternatives.

Anyone got any thoughts on these? Redwings finally dead, and was going to get some william Lennons, but found these, and prefer them to anything made under their name.

https://hebtro.co/product/moto-boot/

My newer ones were not as well constructed as the ~6 year old ones. Still nice, but a lot of money for what they are now.