Proper leather shoes

I haven’t but keen to hear if you take the plunge.

I’m after some whole cut loafers, and had been eyeing up their Waynflete slip-ons as a cheaper C&J/Alden alternative but backed away as I thought they looked a little clunky around the toe-box (that model in particular).

@JB nah I haven't tried them but similar to both you have passed admiring glances. I'm currently 2 months into a year long abstinence from buying clothing or shoes, so will have a while to wait until I can give any feedback!

shoe polish/wax - i want to get a couple of tins as part of a gift for a shoe enthusiast (enshoethiast)

kiwi was the tin of choice back in the day. but what niche/aspirational product should i be looking at?

Saphir

Saphir is the one

Some pommadier cream, some polish and some decent brushes will see you good

Selvyt cloth, you think it is too expensive to buy yourself.

thanks all, some good options there

Good deal for someone, <£100 at the moment

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Chippewa-5309-Mens-1957-8-Original-Mountaineer-Black-Leather-Boots-EU40-UK6-5/114717832355?hash=item1ab5b734a3:g:9AcAAOSw55dgMrIE

Finish off your shine with an old (or new!?) pair of lady's tights. Seriously you'll never go back. Mel.

insert rockyhorrorpictureshow.gif

My experience of the nylon tights trick is that it killed my favourite pair of Fratelli Rossetti. A friend decided to show me how to achieve 'such shine, wow' just before a mates wedding - I then danced the night away and over the following week the high glossed leather began to crack around the creases behind the toe box... they were totally fine before this, so, beware!

You wore the same shoes for a whole week running?

No no, once or twice in the week or so that followed until they died

Why would a nylon tight do that? Might have more to do with the product used?

Yea that would be question number two.

Along the lines of:

1, did you wear them too often
2, what product did you apply
3, what products did you use before, and did you just apply it straight on top

Ignoring shoe quality (seen awful cracking on £££ Before), cracking is usually thanks to rain/sweat degrading the oils in the leather, excessive flexing, or poor maintenance.

Not to blame user error, but dancing the night away does sound like it would contribute to excessive flexing of a shoe that isn’t designed for it. Not that a shoe can’t cope with it, but it would contribute.

Oh and also, were they patent? Or were they ‘normal’ brought up to a high shine? You’re sure the cracking wasn’t just the build up of wax breaking down? Patent will crack on cheaper shoes.

@kboy

They were normal calf leather, they were well looked after - no different to my other good shoes... from what I saw it was that the amount of polish used and buffed to high shine (and presumably highish heat in the process?) stuck to the surface of the leather and pulled the smooth surface of it away at the points the shoe flexed (I did dance a lot) which then left these areas weakened and lead to the cracking - I took them to the guy in Southwark who makes his own desert boots (can't recall the name - EDIT: Cobblers Nest) and he confirmed they were borked :(

The product was kiwi from the general household shoe care kit - I wasn't present when she began to polish them for me, was a bit annoyed but had to seem grateful, I'd normally have not let anyone else perform such rituals!

EDIT: this was about 6 years ago and I'm still a little miffed about it :(

Very strange. Doesn’t sound right. That must have been some serious pressure and heat buildup I guess.

I’ve seen a lot of cracked shoes from poor maintenance, but that sounds like someone took out years of anger on them.

As far as a tight or stocking, it’s all about the smallest amount of wax, a bit of spit, and as little pressure as possible.

Sounds like the heat could've messed them up. Some things are just better done by one self huh

What’s wrong with men’s tights?

Yeah I was surprised by it - I'd guess plenty of pressure (they had shoe trees in), no spit and buckets of polish... gutted

@kboy 100%

I'd like to buy my wife some Chelsea boots. I like the look of the carmina ones and the meermin, but their lead times are too long

The crockett and jones are also gorgeous but I can't justify £450.

What other options for proper handmade womens shoes in an elegant slim last do I have, at around the £200-300 mark. Please don't suggest Loake or Grenson.

Would second hand be ok? Seems like you can get a decent pair of Crocket and Jones for around £100 on ebay

https://www.ebay.co.uk/sch/53557/i.html?_from=R40&_nkw=crockett+jones+chelsea&rt=nc&LH_Sold=1&LH_Complete=1

yeah, I've got all the ebay alerts set up, but she's a 41 and not much seems to come up at that size unfortunately

Only with these jeans though

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Tricky when you want a slimmer, more elegant, profile, otherwise maybe a mens pair could work? On the other hand, if a pair comes up you could get proper lucky as its an uncommon size.