Re-dye a C&J handgrade - where?

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Rushmore

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I have a pair of C&J handgrades in "antique" finish which looks like dog poo. The idea is to have them re-painted in a normal dark brown. My local cobblers declined. HAs anyone ever sent their shoes to C&J Northampton for such a job?
 
Rushmore said:
I have a pair of C&J handgrades in "antique" finish which looks like dog poo. The idea is to have them re-painted in a normal dark brown. My local cobblers declined. HAs anyone ever sent their shoes to C&J Northampton for such a job?
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personally, I'm not a fan of paint and/or redying jobs, but then there are more ways than one to skin a cat.

actually, I can't remember reading about C&J doing this within their refurbish programme, paging Pimpernel Smith Pimpernel Smith the resident C&J expert. he knows his stuff.

edit: unfortunately, they never followed up the process: https://www.theworldofshoes.com/stories/articles/sending-shoes-off-for-factory-refurbishment/
 
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ok so no-one has n idea.

What about Saphier-Renovateur-ing the shoes to make them darker?
 
Rushmore said:
ok so no-one has n idea.
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lol wut, funny dude you are ...

Rushmore said:
What about Saphier-Renovateur-ing the shoes to make them darker?
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probably, but not likely from band-aid to a smooth dark brown, no! the thing is, if you don't know how the antiquing was processed, you can easily dig into a rabbit hole. with shoe care patience is a virtue and knowledge trumps. been there done that ...
 
walker said:
lol wut, funny dude you are ...



probably, but not likely from band-aid to a smooth dark brown, no! the thing is, if you don't know how the antiquing was processed, you can easily dig into a rabbit hole. with shoe care patience is a virtue and knowledge trumps. been there done that ...
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I bought them with that "patina" from their shop. I read about stripping shoes with acetone but am reluctant.
 
Rushmore said:
I bought them with that "patina" from their shop. I read about stripping shoes with acetone but am reluctant.
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of course you did. literally, stripping is easy, building up the right colour scheme is a bit of a gamble ...

judging from here, I assume, they don't put too much effort into finishing techniques:

http://www.readsfootwear.co.uk/crockett-jones-resole-before-after/

but they probably can recommend you to a good address, according to the c&j website they can & do. good luck.
 
I would like them to be plain and conservative, even without that polished tip which is so fashionable now.
 
Rushmore said:
I would like them to be plain and conservative, even without that polished tip which is so fashionable now.
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of course, you said that already, copied that.

the crux: can you achieve it yourself or whom do you trust to do the job? local or mail order? only you can deceide on these factors.
 
Why wouldn't he be able to do that? Just ask him about doing a plain colour. Another member on here had some cordovan loafers changed from brown or burgundy to black, albeit by another guy.
 
Lobbster said:
Why wouldn't he be able to do that? J
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who said that? as you pointed out correctly dandy shoe care is specialized in patina and that is what he does, even if it is just a plain colour. next stop is the maintenance of a handpainted patina. tricky, at least. someone has to be the guinea pig, though.

ps: being stuck with a patina you cannot handle can be costly, ymmv.
 
Not sure that the conservative C&J's would want to get into offering re-dyes to completely different colour to the original. But I would give them a call, or send an email and see what they say. Nothing to lose.

I imagine that going from an antique finish to a complete one colour re-dye poses some challenges depending on the colour. Shoey likely knows.
 
Pimpernel Smith said:
Not sure that the conservative C&J's would want to get into offering re-dyes to completely different colour to the original. But I would give them a call, or send an email and see what they say. Nothing to lose.

I imagine that going from an antique finish to a complete one colour re-dye poses some challenges depending on the colour. Shoey likely knows.
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Rushmore

Exactly, I appreciate this statement. Excellent point of departure, strike.
 
Pimpernel Smith said:
Not sure that the conservative C&J's would want to get into offering re-dyes to completely different colour to the original. But I would give them a call, or send an email and see what they say. Nothing to lose.

I imagine that going from an antique finish to a complete one colour re-dye poses some challenges depending on the colour. Shoey likely knows.
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Well I want them to make my shoes more conservative, so the whole plan should be down their alley, or should I say "Cobblers Lane"
 
Rushmore said:
Well I want them to make my shoes more conservative, so the whole plan should be down their alley, or should I say "Cobblers Lane"
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just for your consideration: imo, C&J is very good in making conservative shoes and to my eye together with eg. churchs, cheaney, AS and some others they still make a good looking english shoe opposite to some other favorites of the igents. we can leave it at that.

alright, you bought something at your free will, which after some consideration turned out not to be to your taste/preference. throughout this thread there are some recommendations, where you can choose from, right? from now it coul/should be up to you. be so kind and post a pic and we can titghten what is probably the best solution, I hope you're fine with that. thanks again as ever to Pimpernel Smith Pimpernel Smith for his insight into the world of C&J. first hand input is most helpful, imo.

ps: jfyi, I'm curating several shoe collections which sums up to three hundred pairs per year and comes down to daily discussion about issues compareable to yours. cheers
 
walker said:
just for your consideration: imo, C&J is very good in making conservative shoes and to my eye together with eg. churchs, cheaney, AS and some others they still make a good looking english shoe opposite to some other favorites of the igents. we can leave it at that.
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We won't mention those other makers, but one I find makes very dainty looking shoes indeed for three times the price of C&J!

The strength and weakness of C&J: too cost effective to be appreciated by the serious iGents, but for the rest of us, they offer the biggest quality bang for price ratio. You're getting shoes that stand out as a cut above and you need to go twice the price to gain any real noticeable improvement in construction, or aesthetics. Yes, there's better shoes out there, but not in that price range.

I defy any shoemaker to beat C&J's in terms of range, quality, available lasts in that price range.
 
Just do them yourself. Acetone isn’t wild and crazy if you start low and slow, add nourishing afterwards and then building colour up with a creme polish isn’t difficult and again easy enough to control if you go low and slow.

Worst outcome.... a shade of brown not quite what you are after.
 
fxh said:
Just do them yourself. Acetone isn’t wild and crazy if you start low and slow, add nourishing afterwards and then building colour up with a creme polish isn’t difficult and again easy enough to control if you go low and slow.
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not to rain on your parade. acetone is literally destroying the leather. it also depends, which leather and which method was used to achieve the patina in the first place. ymmv.

tbh, I have never worked with acetone for the obvious reasons, so it doesn't mean, it doesn't work, though.

fxh said:
Worst outcome.... a shade of brown not quite what you are after.
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this is a very optimistic point of view ..., more power to you
 
So how would you darken these shoes, without just smearing shoe cream on it
 
Untermensch said:
In fact you cannot darken them by smearing shoe cream.
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hear, hear, in fact, I can, but this doesn't matter as long we don't have the details due it depends on the condition of the leather and the method how the patina was achieved, copied that? p l e a s e!!!

right now, we discuss around the emperors beard and read in the coffee ground, no worries.

is it too much to ask to reveal the name of these bloody cloggs, so the homework can be done? the creator of the thread seems resistant to it, nvm.

ps: all the recommendations are useless without the basic info, go figure.
 
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