Shoe care

gufasd said:
Whats the issue people have with resoling and reheeling their shoes? It seems like people take all these preventative measures to fix issues in parts of shoes meant to be replaced. Why not just wear the shoe and get it fully resoled when the time comes?
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Two reasons:

1) It can be quite expensive, particularly to have it done well.

2) Lack of good places to do it. There are no places where I live that I would trust to properly re-sole my Goodyear-welted shoes and even less to re-sole my hand-welted shoes. That means that if I want to have my shoes properly re-soled, I must ship them overseas to the maker (such as C&J or EG) or to B.Nelson in NY. Given the present, usurious shipping costs, shipping in one direction will cost me at least $80. Then you must pay for the re-soling, which will probably be $200 or more (particularly at EG). In other words, it will cost $300 or more to have a pair of shoes properly re-soled.

Putting on a thin Topy sole and metal toe taps for $30 or $40, therefore, seems like a decent option.

Having said that, though, hardly any my shoes have Topy soles so I guess that I'm just a damned hypocrite. I do understand well why people put Topy soles on their shoes, though, for the reasons given above.
 
I guess that the Topy and non-Topy sides are never going to agree.

As I mentioned, although I understand Topying and don't have anything against it, for some reason, I prefer to not put Topy soles on my shoes. I don't really think that's a rational decision, though - it's more of an emotional thing, as I just like the idea of leather soles (especially if they're nicely shaped with a fiddleback waist.

However, the two pairs of shoes with Topy soles that I do have, feel precisely the same as my other shoes. Precisely the same. I don't feel any difference when I walk at all and I haven't had any friends (SF members or otherwise) ever call me out on having shoes with rubber on the soles instead of leather as they simply haven't noticed.

For what it's worth, my father had a lovely pair of English shoes that he brought over with him when he migrated from the UK in 1953. He wore those shoes for forty-five years and he always had thin Topy soles put on them and then replaced the Topy soles when they started wearing thin. I could be wrong, but I'm pretty sure that he wouldn't have been able to wear the shoes for that long if he'd just used leather soles.
 
I live in a shitty climate with snow from often October to April. I'm not DWF II; I cannot walk on the balls of my feet on leather soles and not kill myself when I hit marble or tile floors.

Lately I've gotten boots with Dainite soles 'cause a Vibram lug just don't cut it in the elegance department. I also have factory installed Topy's. I even have Vass with Topy and Rubber heels.

If I happen to like a boot and I want to wear it whenever I want, a Topy makes sense to me especially if I can't get it on a rubber sole.
 
fwiw, topy is not shoe care ... its nowhere. people do it or don't. no need to discuss this crap.
 
walker said:
this is not a serious question? resoling and eventually replacing a topy is a completely different animal in my book.

easiest measure:
- build a big rotation

intermediate steps:
- brass nails on the most exposed parts - heels and toes.
- treating the sole leather with leather grease as soon as it is roughed up from wearing
- watching the progress

more advanced:
- optimizing the fit. this is the key. as soon as the sole and heel wears out evenly you're safe.

rule of thumb: try to get styles you like on rubber soles. in this case they are built for the material from the scratch.
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This is good advice for European peasant farmers
 
this is golden, imo

from SW&D - #103182 - http://www.styleforum.net/t/131495/random-fashion-thoughts/103170#post_7565150

whats the most damage anyone's done to a piece of clothing trying it on? My friend just snapped the laces on a pair of CCP derbies - he freaked out, but they were pretty cool about it, especially since those laces are apparently made of gossamer
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welcome to the world - laces don't last forever ...
 
walker said:
I wasn't aware they make the laces themselves.
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time consuming considering the source of the gossamer
Gossamer%20Gallants640.jpg
 
gufasd said:
Yeah, but most people are not wearing the ccp footwear for more than 1-2 years after which you can get 75% back easy. You are talking about giving up 10-20% of resale for that snapped lace.
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certainly, I know where you are coming from. I did a google picture search. there's nothing special about the laces or am I missing something here??? please care to elaborate on hard facts about the laces and not some weird brain wanking.
 
gufasd said:
No, it is nothing special about the laces.
Just that it is CCP. It is the same way people flip drips - wear it out 5-10 times without damaging it too much and you can resell it for retail-1-200 euros less than retail. So people with in store hookups can stand to make money on ccp that they can also wear. CCP scarcity - in that it takes up to 2 years to get exactly what you want - leads to an absurd secondary market. Some extremely rare pieces or ones that are no longer in production - even for special orders - can go for more than retail. Same as origninal rick dunks - they sell destroyed for 600+.
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exactly. how would "they" know, they are not original?

quite familiar with a crazy secondary market. same goes for MC shoes, no worries.
 
So what is the point of buying them, wearing them and then selling for nearly retail? Why not acquire and then sell for above retail if there is a demand?
 
seriously?

whats wrong with these guys. I can't believe it ...

#12286 - http://www.styleforum.net/t/228153/...hread-tutorials-photos-etc/12285#post_7575412

I agree with PB...Shell sucks. It is fickle and a pain in the ass to deal with. Calf is much better in every regard.
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which PB is he talking about? the glen karen shill? will things change as soon as GK offers cordovan care products? is shoe care a scientific task, where a degree in chemistry is required? jeeezus!
 
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gufasd said:
Either keep them as is for what appears to be another 10% off the price or return them. Trying to clean them sounds like he will ruin the shoes.
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he? probably yes. shoe care ain't seem a strength of yours also?
 
gufasd said:
I prefer to just let things get messed up as they will. Buying workboots from whites lets me just go muck around and do whatever I want without having to worry about little prissy scratches.
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change of directions. nevermind mr. wisenheimer.
 
alright, got my hands on a pair of NOS Bally "mainline", estimated 10 - 15 years old. despite the fact that the construction is bad and there are the evident quibbles with the glue by eyetalian made shoes(heel is seperating). this pair will make a perfect training object for soft patination. work in progress. looking forward to it ...
 
if nothing else, this looks kind of strange. like the sole has been eaten up. ideas what happened, anyone?

galway.webp


btw, its sf grail boot EG Galway.
 
Allen Smithee said:
The edges are undressed! Were these honed on a buffing wheel?
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don't think so. well, they are not undressed, just scuffed. which is normal wear.

the thing which let me scratch my head is the thickness, or the lack of it, of the sole. to my eye the balance is off. it really looks strange, in need of a better description.

thats why I putted it out for discussion.
 
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my daily beaters is a pair of barkers. Because of the way I step i put a lot of stress at the back of the shoe, never at the front. Anyhow the front of my sole looks very similar to those ones (not the sole) just the front edge, totally worn out and a few mm less than a similar shoe.

Maybe this is the reason why the shoe looks that way?
 
Trying a new technique that Red from SF shared with me... works pretty well.

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Rambo said:
Are you planning on sharing it with us Betelgeuse Betelgeuse ?
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Yes. Although it's fairly easy.

I think I was using a lot of was, it's really just a tiny amount and he uses a mix of water and alcohol, 3:1 (water:alcohol) and just one drop. And to apply it, I started using a cotton pad, you can really grab a sense of the pressure you are applying. And you have to try to eliminate all the wax from the cotton pad, do not grab more. Surprigsingly with 2 or 3 times the shine comes up. I will keep working on the to see how shinny I can get them.
 
What I would like is, to extend the shine to the sides of the shoe. Not all the side, just the sides of the vamp - don't know if that's the propper name - but it's a real complicated part.
 
Rubbing alcohol or vodka?
Is this caking up and filling pores? Generally the parts that flex do not want accumulated polish because it flakes off.
 
walker said:
I'll probably never understand why people "ruin" a brand new pair of shoes and a proper sole after all.
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Did this guy take a brand new item to an untested cobbler? That's Russian roulette.
My guess is that dopes that grew up in sneakers are horribly afraid of slipping or something stupid like that. There was an AAAC poster that was horrified by how slippery a brand new pair of leather soles was, oblivious to the fact that the polished finish grinds off in no time.
 
I don't know. I walk a lot in NYC and I have had several pairs of shoes copied, though by B Nelson so better results than the above. Nothing to do with worrying about slipping, they shoes just don't have to be resoled as frequently.
 
stridentlyopposed said:
Nothing to do with worrying about slipping, they shoes just don't have to be resoled as frequently.
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I don't buy necessarily into this argument, anyway. ymmv.

I'm obviously missing the point why a spanking brand new sole, probably water-lock, needs to be destroyed voluntarily. makes no sense to me. I would buy a rubber soled shoe in the first place. it makes a difference if the construction is adapted to the rubber sole. topying is a half-assed measure and a last exit scenario for beaters, imo.
 
I wouldn't do it to a new shoe. II have done it when I might not quite need a resole but am getting there to delay the need for a resole by another 6 months to a year. I am very hard on shoes so if I can save some cash and prolong the useful life of a sole with a topy, I'll do it.
 
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