Show us your SHOES !!!

[LuvMyMan]

Nevermind.

Hello. Everyone starts out some place. Never let anything get to you.

 

[Isshinryu101]

On a personal basis, I don't like wearing second-hand shoes because of the way that they have shaped to the feet of the previous owner.

This is a common misconception. Of course many pairs of used/ vintage shoes have been worn so often that the owner's footprint is permanently pressed into the footbed. However, if the shoe is well made, this takes quite a few wears to happen. Around half of the true vintage shoes I deal with have mostly smooth footbeds. Even with some minor indentations, a Dr. Scholl's pad will cover entirely.

 

[Two Types]

This is a common misconception.

Except that I am speaking from my personal experience with second-hand shoes. Those I have owned/tried on etc all had significant wear (as does so much second hand gear in the UK) and didn't feel comfortable. I'm not saying that you can't find vintage footwear that hasn't got significant wear, but just that I avoid those that have and have never found anything I want in second-hand shops.

And if they need repairs/refurbishment (as suggested by 'LuvMyMan') the cost would put me off. Factory refurbs can cost £80 which is ok for a shoe/boot I've been wearing and am used to (such as the boots I'm wearing at the moment which i've owned for 20 years and have made a couple of trips back to the factory), but I'm not sure I'd want to pay it to refurb a shoe I am taking a chance on.

 

[Isshinryu101]

Except that I am speaking from my personal experience with second-hand shoes. Those I have owned/tried on etc all had significant wear (as does so much second hand gear in the UK) and didn't feel comfortable. I'm not saying that you can't find vintage footwear that hasn't got significant wear, but just that I avoid those that have and have never found anything I want in second-hand shops.

And if they need repairs/refurbishment (as suggested by 'LuvMyMan') the cost would put me off. Factory refurbs can cost £80 which is ok for a shoe/boot I've been wearing and am used to (such as the boots I'm wearing at the moment which i've owned for 20 years and have made a couple of trips back to the factory), but I'm not sure I'd want to pay it to refurb a shoe I am taking a chance on.

Nothing ventured, nothing earned.

 

[LuvMyMan]

As I have stated already, finding a nice clean pair of vintage is not all that hard. You just have to look at eBay or Etsy or Goodwill and look daily (twice a day) morning and mid afternoon....search for newly listed and then your shoe size.....in mens vintage shoes.

It is perhaps a risk to buy vintage even online. I think maybe 2 times we had purchased a pair that were beyond saving....and that was due to the shoe leather had been too dry for over 30 or 50 years. We always ask questions and want to see what pictures we can get. Some sellers are brain dead. They sell a pair of shoes with glued on plastic soles and heels, but their pictures of the item you cannot see or tell. The seller tells you, "oh yeah, real all leather shoe.....NOT!"!!! lol You have to be careful about it for sure. Most of the time, the pictures can and do tell you a lot about the shoes. I do see many bargains right now online for some nice Vintage in a few size range. It may be for now some of us are in the "whats in your wallet" mode as we have to ask what is in your wallet as ours are almost empty! lol

 

[LuvMyMan]

Picked up these Ben Sherman's today for a cool $60.00. Leather upper with rubber sole. Prefer a leather sole but these are quite comfortable and a heck of a value.

Well....Daniel and I had some conversation....as you could use a nice gift to help get you off and running on something really vintage....shoe wise....lol....we'd like to send you a pair for free....

 

[DharmaBum]

Well....Daniel and I had some conversation....as you could use a nice gift to help get you off and running on something really vintage....shoe wise....lol....we'd like to send you a pair for free....

Ma'am:
Foremost, I am blown away by your generosity. Despite being a rambling New Yorker I am genuinely at a loss of words.......sent you a PM to better communicate my thoughts.......

 

[dh66]

These may not be what you're looking to see, but here's a sure enough vintage pair.

My dad was a working musician from the late 40s to the early 60s. My mom has a picture of them from about 54 or 55 all in snappy matching western duds, so I'm guessing they are from around then. They are made by ACME, but are a far cry from the cheap crap they make these days; all leather soles and linings with the wooden pegs in the instep soles that you only find in higher end hand made boots these days.

During the 70s my dad used to use these to plow the fields in. He nearly destroyed them. It took a lot of conditioner and polish to pull them back.

I wore these some back in school, but have long since outgrown them. I keep them oiled up so maybe one of my sons can wear them one day too.

 

[1mach1]

These may not be what you're looking to see, but here's a sure enough vintage pair.

My dad was a working musician from the late 40s to the early 60s. My mom has a picture of them from about 54 or 55 all in snappy matching western duds, so I'm guessing they are from around then. They are made by ACME, but are a far cry from the cheap crap they make these days; all leather soles and linings with the wooden pegs in the instep soles that you only find in higher end hand made boots these days.

During the 70s my dad used to use these to plow the fields in. He nearly destroyed them. It took a lot of conditioner and polish to pull them back.

I wore these some back in school, but have long since outgrown them. I keep them oiled up so maybe one of my sons can wear them one day too.

Great boots, and story. I like the Hula girl photo bomb.

 

[dh66]

Thanks Harv. Glad somebody 'preciated 'em.

 

[DharmaBum]

dh66- great boots and story! Really neat to hear they will grace the foot of a third generation......thanks for sharing!

 

[Isshinryu101]

These may not be what you're looking to see, but here's a sure enough vintage pair.

My dad was a working musician from the late 40s to the early 60s. My mom has a picture of them from about 54 or 55 all in snappy matching western duds, so I'm guessing they are from around then. They are made by ACME, but are a far cry from the cheap crap they make these days; all leather soles and linings with the wooden pegs in the instep soles that you only find in higher end hand made boots these days.

During the 70s my dad used to use these to plow the fields in. He nearly destroyed them. It took a lot of conditioner and polish to pull them back.

I wore these some back in school, but have long since outgrown them. I keep them oiled up so maybe one of my sons can wear them one day too.

Nice. Great story too. Thanks for sharing

 

[LuvMyMan]

Thanks Harv. Glad somebody 'preciated 'em.

Yes indeed...we here have a few pairs of Rodeo BOB boots, vintage cowboy boots are awesome...we have a pair for sale at the moment here one the classifeds that are real clean never worn pair. No history like these have and we LOVE to see where some shoes or boots have journeyed along the course of their life!

 

[dh66]

Thanks for the comments folks.
I have a few more pairs of vintage and some custom made vintage style boots, if there is any interest I will take some pics and post them.
LuvMyMan, I have seen the ones you are selling. They look very nice. I am not familiar with that maker, but they look to be of good quality, and a great price.

 

[LuvMyMan]

Thanks for the comments folks.
I have a few more pairs of vintage and some custom made vintage style boots, if there is any interest I will take some pics and post them.
LuvMyMan, I have seen the ones you are selling. They look very nice. I am not familiar with that maker, but they look to be of good quality, and a great price.

Thanks...yes they are actually rare as the maker normally made dress shoes not cowboy boots. I can't recall now, who made them! LOL! Oh yes...I think Hanover? I'll have to check. Yep..Hanover Shoe Company. We would keep them but as it is, we have too many cowboy boots that are NOS and aside from the brand name, you could hardly tell them apart. These Hanovers are the most vintage so we decided these should be on the block first. Hard pair of boots to beat within all the modern junk being made. If we lowered the price much more, we'd be paying someone to own them....lol hahahalol!

 

[LuvMyMan]

dh66- great boots and story! Really neat to hear they will grace the foot of a third generation......thanks for sharing!

You now have a "love" package heading your way.....lol!

 

[dh66]

.......we have too many cowboy boots...

I understand.

 

[1mach1]

I understand.

Nice, Dale! :thumb:

 

[LuvMyMan]

I understand.

Wow...some way you must be related to my Husband! Now add that to about 130 pairs of dress shoes, and another 45 pair of work boots, redwings and knee high barn boots and I would be calling you UNCLE Dale....lol!
If you had a stack of file boxes with vintage replacement heels, laces, shoe trees,conditioner, paste cream polish jars. wax gloss tins, shoe horns, steel and nylon types of heel and toe guards, rubber storm guard shoe covers, shoe and boot stretchers, shoe brushes, various shoe leather repair kits and chemicals, and CD's of the history of shoes, leather making, shoe making and boot making, etc. ....then I would say you might be Daniel's twin brother......we know a few of our fellow shoe lovers here, are in about the same boat on being a shoe nut....but it is no difference than most loungers looking for that next "holy grail" Hat.....even I have been bitten by the Hat bug as much as the shoe one....once you get going it seems you just cannot stop looking and wanting to find the next treasure. The History of what you find, also seems to be a small adventure at times. Some vintage items had a history to tell. We had a pair of shoes once that belonged to a Baptist Minister and they were some awesome sharkskin shoes never worn, custom ordered and they never were worn by him. Makes you think he may have felt guilty for buying some very fancy shoes and that maybe as a Minister, people would have frowned against his wearing them. The dates on the mailing labels were readable as the shoes had been sent directly to the Minister from the shoe salesman's company. These shoes were from a source that sold shoes door to door. When you think about it, that is some what why we are here dealing with vintage to begin with. And for as much as we could love some of the new shoes out there being made by high end made to order makers, you have to stop and look at what vintage really does have to offer you dollar per dollar.

High end shoes, if you want to spend more than $500.00 on Ferragmos from Italy, or Churches/Trickers England, then you can upgrade to VASS shoes. Yes there are many around that make great shoes similar to VASS...but....the VASS shoes actually sets the norm in hand made shoes. It appears to be a "comparison chart" in the shoe making community. You will see many shoes discussed that relate to their quality and the VASS shoes. The price is not too far out, you can normally squeeze into a VASS shoe for around $1.000.00 that has exactly the bells and whistles on it you wanted. But WAIT! What is going on? Why not find that VINTAGE shoe??? I can tell you, if anyone has a pair of vintage for sale the price is almost never going to be $1,000.00 and if that price is that much, the shoe is going to be 1930, spade sole, never worn, two tone spectator with white laces and a true spade sole, and the condition of the shoes are going to look like they just left the makers bench.

I've purchased hundreds of vintage shoes in the past three or so years, maybe longer, but I figured an average to spend for CLEAN nice one of a kind vintage is about $250.00 The highest price was $600.00 and we have found some killer shoes for less than $100.00 as the seller was clueless about the old shoes and just listed them....and I jumped on them. Most vintage is far better than most modern. That is a general review. Even the vintage Allen Edmond are such better made shoes then the newer modern ones. They look close to being the same, but you feel a difference in the surface of the leather, the sturdy soles, the weight of the shoes, and if you walk in them, from what Daniel has stated, you can feel the support is far better, more comfortable.

 

[Short Balding Guy]

Good day. I am sending a BIG THANKS to Isshinryu101 !

This past week I received a box of carefully packed shoes from the Vintage Shoe man! Today I opened the box and found 2 pairs of vintage treasures. After trying them on I used Venetian Creme and a couple of horse hair brushes on them this afternoon.

Sweet!

Please take a look at these vtg. 1940's shoes-

Reveling in my excellent fortune via Isshinryu101! Thanks sir!

best to all, Eric -