Show us your SHOES !!!

[Marc Chevalier]

Very nice looking shoes, Marc.

Thank you very much, Steve. I'm still saving my pennies to buy a pair. (This exact model has already been discontinued, so it's getting pretty hard to find any left in my size. The newest model out now is a blucher.)


Another option is to buy a vintage 1950s pair in reddish brown (not so hard to come by) and have them dyed black ... but my worry is that the black will rub off with wear.

 

[cookie]

.
For more than a year, I've been looking for the perfect black 'countryside' shoe to wear with my vintage grey tweed suits, dark grey flannels, etc. Not a suede shoe: it doesn't mix well with rain and mud. Not 'gunboat' longwings: can't stand those clunky bricks. Not a blucher shoe: they don't grab me. Not wingtips: too ubiquitous. Not plain-toe or one-piece: too dull. Not split-toe or moccasin: too relaxed. (No wonder my wife can't shop for me!)


What I wanted was a black version of the shoe once worn by British soldiers: classic cap-toe oxfords of stiff, seriously gritty pebble grain cowhide, and with a chunky double leather sole.


Last August, I finally found it. "Swedish label 'Our Legacy' has teamed up with fellow Swedish retailer 'Tres Bien Shop' on this beautiful and exclusive Cap Toe Black Grain shoe. Adhering to the classic oxford shape, the shoe features a grain leather with a storm welted double leather sole for a textured, yet still basic shoe." $425.

See you for high tea old chap!

 

[cookie]

Somebody gave away some Edwin Clapps on ebay. Sadly, they'd sold by the time I found this listing. :eusa_doh:

I think they may have ended up at Isshicoo Park! It's all too bootiful...it's all too bootiful...

 

[Isshinryu101]

And they're DEAD STOCK!
And the leather is real or embossed OSTRICH!
And Edwin Clapp was one of the greatest American shoe manufacturers in the golden era!


Hope a Fedora Lounger got 'em.

Picked these up last year... from a Lounger at that...

Most impressive to me is the sole treatment. In modern shoes, the soles are regarded as an indicator of overall quality in the highest echelons of shoemaking.

That said, these are very nicely done.

 

[Isshinryu101]

They were a half size too small, sadly. I've been searching for another fitting pair for quite a while.

Luckily, a little birdie told me these were there (thanks again, my friend).

Let's hope that ebay sellers will prove to be competent this time (sizewise)...

 

[Isshinryu101]

What i like most is that grain leather. They simply don't make good ol' kick-ass pebble/ scotch/ etc grain leather anymore.

That said, these have a VERY cool grain & look to be heavy duty as well. Excellent.

 

[Warden]

Today's UK Metro newspaper says these boots are based on the WW2 US Air Corps. They look a nice boot but not convinced Dick Winters wore them.

http://www2.schuh.co.uk/mens-brown-converse-cons-ct-as-outsider-hi/3401826020

 

[Tomasso]

Of course it's possible that Converse made shoes for the war effort but their emblem most certainly wouldn't have appeared on the final product. That said, not entirely unattractive, emblem aside.

 

[Marc Chevalier]

They were a half size too small, sadly. I've been searching for another fitting pair for quite a while.

Luckily, a little birdie told me these were there (thanks again, my friend).

Congratulations! The odds of this occurring are incredibly small. Twice, you've found the exact same model of a very rare vintage shoe, by a rare maker ... and both pairs were dead stock! It's probably easier to win big at the lottery than to have this happen.

 

[Henry Gondorff]

Are those shoes a brand name of "LLoyd"? I have several pairs of those shoes (well I should say that brand name). Lloyd makes a very nice looking shoe, but some of the shoes made have a "waffle" support and do not have a solid leather sole, which makes the replacement of the sole, not possible. You can tell the Lloyd shoes that are going to be this way by simply pressing dead center with your finger on the sole. If it pushes in easy, there is only an actual very thin layer of leather glued to a waffle under it. They will "appear" like they are regular welt shoes, but are not. I have no idea why Lloyd shoes are like that, but I have three pairs that are, and one pair that is "o.k."!

These shoes are Lloyd shoes, indeed. They are nice looking, no doubt, but I do find the quality of the shoe "questionable". They are comfortable to wear, but the leather sole hasn't the best quality. And then: they are cemented, not stitched. I think I won't buy Lloyd again when I need an elegant shoe. Recently I found shoes in much better quality for a price which wasn't very much higher than what I paid for these...

 

[Marc Chevalier]

What i like most is that grain leather. They simply don't make good ol' kick-ass pebble/ scotch/ etc grain leather anymore.

That said, these have a VERY cool grain & look to be heavy duty as well. Excellent.

Thanks!

There's a much less expensive alternative, BTW. I could go to my local cobbler and have him/her dye a pair of these in black:

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Vintage-FLO...0296665?pt=US_Men_s_Shoes&hash=item1c20423ed9

 

[Isshinryu101]

Congratulations! The odds of this occurring are incredibly small. Twice, you've found the exact same model of a very rare vintage shoe, by a rare maker ... and both pairs were dead stock! It's probably easier to win big at the lottery than to have this happen.

Thanks, Marc!

If I'd prefer the vintage shoe find to the lottery win, am I ADDICTED????

 

[Isshinryu101]

Thanks!

There's a much less expensive alternative, BTW. I could go to my local cobbler and have him/her dye a pair of these in black:

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Vintage-FLO...0296665?pt=US_Men_s_Shoes&hash=item1c20423ed9

I'm much more excited by the vintage finds, frankly. That Florsheim vintage Pebble Grain is TOUGH!!! I've got a pair of Florsheim wingtips & some Nettleton bluchers (with a similar type of leather) that the leather is so thick that it actually beef rolls (like shell cordovan) well before it finds a way to crease.

I'm hopin' you go the Vintage route, then show us some pics of the finished product!

Some examples of cool vintage grain leather...

Florsheim

 

[Talbot]

I'm wearing those exact shoes right now....

 

[Marc Chevalier]

That's some serious Scotch (grain), man ... and I'm not talking about the bottled kind.

 

[Isshinryu101]

I'm wearing those exact shoes right now....

Good show, my friend! Aussies KNOW the good rugged stuff!

 

[Isshinryu101]

That's some serious Scotch (grain), man ... and I'm not talking about the bottled kind.

I really enjoy BOTH (the shoes & the bottled kind). Of course there are quite a few ENABLERS on this site, helping keep me drunk on cool vintage shoes!

Here is the pair of Nunn Bush Water Bison (that were a hair too small) that were replaced by the Florsheims...

 

[Isshinryu101]

And a pair of Vintage Church's Ranch OxHide Oxford Brogues in a funky color...

 

[Marc Chevalier]

And a pair of Vintage Church's Ranch OxHide Oxford Brogues in a funky color...

Please don't kill me ... I'd be tempted to have those dyed another color.

 

[Isshinryu101]

Please don't kill me ... I'd be tempted to have those dyed another color.

No killing, friend. I agree... that's a pretty weird color (ugly, maybe?). I can't help but to like it, though. I'm definitely a guy that's "doing his own thing".