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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 :(
mattyc-
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.
pdlouche
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.