The All-Inclusive Shoe & Boot Thread

My uncle used to prefer Cherry Blossom back in the decades when people still cared about that sort of thing. Cherry Blossom pioneered the butterfly opener on the side of the tin.

"Cherry Blossom itself is lucky to be here. Its history stretches back to 1906 and it is responsible for introducing the distinctive butterfly opener, used to open stiff tins of shoe polish. Sadly, they were dropped three years ago after many customers complained about them breaking off.

In the 1990s, the company was caught up in a long-running Competition Commission inquiry into the shoe polish market (yes, really), after Sara Lee, which already owned Kiwi, bought the Cherry Blossom brand off Reckitt & Coleman. This gave Sara Lee a near monopoly. The Commission concluded the deal would "operate against the public interest" and Sara Lee was forced to sell it.

Grangers, which was a small outdoor weatherproofing business making the wax for outdoor jackets, bought it in 1994. But by that time, Mr Watkins argues, Cherry Blossom had been run into the ground. "We basically brought the brand. It had no customers back then."

He reckons the fact it is still made in Derbyshire gives Cherry Blossom the edge. Kiwi, now owned by American consumer goods giant SC Johnson, is made in Jakarta and in Britain it appears to be cutting down on the colours it offers. Black, dark brown and neutral are the only Kiwi colours one can buy, leaving all those owners of light tan brogues or navy blue Trickers without a wax polish. Cherry Blossom is determined it can grab market share by filling the gap.

The factory in Alfreton is straight out of "George's Marvellous Medicine" – large mixing vats, or kettles as they call them, heat up and melt a mixture of different waxes and pigments. It's wonderfully old-fashioned and surprisingly low tech. All the lids are attached by hand and the shoe cream is pumped into the jars by the factory worker moving the nozzle up and down the production line."
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/...polish-maker-puts-a-shine-on-its-profits.html
 
Kingstonian said:
Black, dark brown and neutral are the only Kiwi colours one can buy, leaving all those owners of light tan brogues or navy blue Trickers without a wax polish.
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Unless, of course, they buy some from Saphir, which has a very large range of colours that include tan and navy blue...
 
prince nez said:
Saphir's not a wax polish...
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Do any of you knowledgeable shoe experts advise on 'break in' periods for shoes. I recently have new oxfords + loafers leather loafers (Edward green)

I read and here different things. I am particularly interested in loafers, obviously its not bespoke so theres going to be comrpomise. I hear make sure not too loose at start as heel slip naturally becomes more as leather softens/moulds. But are break in periods real e.g. say maybe 20+ hours of wear to really feel comfortable nice in them,?
 
BespeakUK said:
Do any of you knowledgeable shoe experts advise on 'break in' periods for shoes. I recently have new oxfords + loafers leather loafers (Edward green)

I read and here different things. I am particularly interested in loafers, obviously its not bespoke so theres going to be compromise. I hear make sure not too loose at start as heel slip naturally becomes more as leather softens/moulds. But are break in periods real e.g. say maybe 20+ hours of wear to really feel comfortable nice in them,?
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The break in period is such an individual thing. Some shoes get softer like E.G and others remain harder like big Johnny Lobb. Some shoes do require a break in to get more comfort where-as others don't. It seems to depend on a person's feet, eg, Edward Green were immediately comfortable straight away for me where-as you seem to require a break in to soften them up and make them more comfortable. Vass never required a break in time for me either, however one shell pair did solely due to the leather, which leads me to my next point. Some say that if a shoo needs a break in period it doesn't fit, but that simply isn't true. Why? Because some leathers on a particular last will require no break in where-as other leathers on the same last will require a break in. Even top bespokes can require a break in. What is a break in?...something that works more with the foot the more it is worn, l suppose.

BUT, if a shoe doesn't work for a foot a break in won't help.


PENNY LOAFER FIT FACTORS - a game of luck
Making penny loafers fit is more luck, BUT we can do certain things to tip things in our favour.Why and how? Because one has to have a certain instep height and must be able to have the leather of the loafer stretch JUST RIGHT for it to fit perfectly. When l bought my wonderful Church's penny loafer l looked at the leather carefully and concluded that it was going to stretch, and l was very lucky in that the instep was so tight that l could hardly get my foot into it, and when l did get my foot into it my toes were almost rammed through my socks. I wore that loafer 30 minutes each night for about 20 nights and did some hand massage before it FIT PERFECTLY!!! I don't get any flopping or heel slippage AT ALL!!! That loafer is marvelously comfortable and it fits like a beauty! In sum...chose a porous leather that is going to stretch and only chose a loafer where the instep is hard to get your foot into and it MAY work for you. Now...if l did that with an alligator or shell cordovan loafer on the same last l would have been dudded and they wouldn't have stretched enough for me to wear them.

I also did the same thing with my Santoni monk. It was a porous leather and l chose a tight instep. I wore that thing each night for short periods of time and gave it hand manipulation. After 12 wears it fit like a like a fairdinkum little rippa. One of my most comfortable shoos ever and as good a fit l could ever hope for in rtw.

Other factors

Now...remember that a shoo needs to work for a person's foot. And remember that if a shoe keeps on hurting after dozens of short wears that it is not compatible with the foot. Now...a little bit of softening up and stretch can work wonders, so let me give you an example. My C&J and G&G rubbed my tiny toe during the first 3 wears, but after the forth wear the toe boxes had molded enough around my foot to be extremely comfortable....only needed about .5mm change to work, and IT DID!!!

Also get to know your feet well and how they change during the day and seasons and weather, because sometimes fits change a lot. Eg, some days l am going to do Anthony Cleverley where-as other days that fit won't work because it is a highly elegant last that makes for a close fitting shoe. Knowing your feet well can take years of careful observation and many shoos to really know what's what....different lasts and fits and foot changes see, all just things to help in your observations to work out what's what.


 
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Todays shoos - Gaziano & Girling

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Done with a special shooman antiquing method using waxes and pastes that was long and hard to do. Look amazing in person.
 
Trainspotting's Begbie and dingle balls loafers in the sequel

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Does anyone have advice on which products and tools to buy for shoe care? I'd need a basic kit which can work decently well on the few shoes I own (which are all in the dark brown range). Thanks.
 
WildBlue said:
Does anyone have advice on which products and tools to buy for shoe care? I'd need a basic kit which can work decently well on the few shoes I own (which are all in the dark brown range). Thanks.
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what brands do you have available to you in regards to polish type products? it should be fairly easy to google something about brands of horsehide brushes available in country. any cobblers around that you can ask questions?
 
Rambo said:
what brands do you have available to you in regards to polish type products? it should be fairly easy to google something about brands of horsehide brushes available in country. any cobblers around that you can ask questions?
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I do know two cobblers, I might try to ask. Kiwi polish is widely available, but I have no qualms on ordering Saphir online if it's worth it. Horsehide brushes...never seen them anywhere.
 
WildBlue said:
I do know two cobblers, I might try to ask. Kiwi polish is widely available, but I have no qualms on ordering Saphir online if it's worth it. Horsehide brushes...never seen them anywhere.
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Talk to the cobblers. Get their opinions. I'd put your money in good horsehide brushes rather than fancy polishes at first.
 
btw,the second pic l posted of my shoos are quite an accurate display of the colours.

2nd pic, top left - right =
* Anthony Cleverley
* Gaziano & Girling
* Cleverley bespoke
* Edward Green
* big John Lobb

2nd pic bottom left - right
* mystery aussie bespoke (no ordinary tree fits in it because of it's unusual insole shape)
* big John Lobb
* Edward Green
* big John Lobb
* Stefano Bemer

Will's Edward Green's he posted specially for me at AAAC in 2004. They were 20 years old back then. They no longer exist on a google search or in the archives.
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A BIG daddy!
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Why are they BIG daddies? Because it is the boss!!! They are the grand old man of shoos, ie, the half brogue oxford in black built to manly standards on a super manly last. Wood pegged and hand welted by George Materna.

Another great manly pair that l love. Notice how Will's pair are boys toys v's proper mens shoos...see the difference!
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Rambo said:
what happened to the pics?

edit - i guess photobucket is down. shooey you gotta start using a different hosting service. photobucket stinks.
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I thought everyone would like the nice colours. Took the pics at night and brightened them up. Why? Because in various lights my shoos look exactly like that. For eg, an hour before dark my G&G takes on the most seductive red glow you can imagine, and it is tough to look away. On most occasions my green pair look like that, TOTAL seduction to the eyes and extremely difficult to keep your eyes off them. Those blue pairs look just like that in daylight, but when it gets late in the day they look far more seductive, actually my blue Lobb looks completely and utterly mind blowing an hour before dark,and people are AMAZED when they see it.

Now, l will say that l did get carried away with the top pic, l was mucking about and lost my head a little, BUT that second pic does represent the amazing visuals that my eyes get to regularly see. The shoo scenes I get to see completely blow my mind Rambo. Now...I did get carried away with the two big daddies (Vass & Materna), but they sure look nice `eh?

Rambo...l am trying to show you the best of the visuals when various situations occur when my shoos look at their very VERY best. See...my shoos actually do look like that at various times of day. Rambo, you have never seen anything like it...when those colours come out in all their glory it is pure bliss to the eyes. Let me just say, dreams do come true.

That green pair is my `cinderella shoo'. It is just like an emerald shoo. You wouldn't believe how great that pair looks in real life. It says `check out this people, you can't touch this!'. I have a cinderella moment each and every time l wear this shoo, and people are like `look at this guy's shoos'. See...shooman can do these types of things...shoomen need to stand out from the sea of tatty browns and black and come out with IMPECCABLE highly polished STUNNING colours that set them apart from the average business shoo wearing middle market to let it be known that when it comes to shoo, the king is in town.
 
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The Shooman said:
I thought everyone would like the nice colours. Took the pics at night and brightened them up. Why? Because in various lights my shoos look exactly like that. For eg, an hour before dark my G&G takes on the most seductive red glow you can imagine, and it is tough to look away. On most occasions my green pair look like that, TOTAL seduction to the eyes and extremely difficult to keep your eyes off them. Those blue pairs look just like that in daylight, but when it gets late in the day they look far more seductive, actually my blue Lobb looks completely and utterly mind blowing an hour before dark,and people are AMAZED when they see it.

Now, l will say that l did get carried away with the top pic, l was mucking about and lost my head a little, BUT that second pic does represent the amazing visuals that my eyes get to regularly see. The shoo scenes I get to see completely blow my mind Rambo. Now...I did get carried away with the two big daddies (Vass & Materna), but they sure look nice `eh?

Rambo...l am trying to show you the best of the visuals when various situations occur when my shoos look at their very VERY best. See...my shoos actually do look like that at various times of day. Rambo, you have never seen anything like it...when those colours come out in all their glory it is pure bliss to the eyes. Let me just say, dreams do come true.

That green pair is my `cinderella shoo'. It is just like an emerald shoo. You wouldn't believe how great that pair looks in real life. It says `check out this people, you can't touch this!'. I have a cinderella moment each and every time l wear this shoo, and people are like `look at this guy's shoos'. See...shooman can do these types of things...shoomen need to stand out from the sea of tatty browns and black and come out with IMPECCABLE highly polished STUNNING colours that set them apart from the average business shoo wearing middle market to let it be known that when it comes to shoo, the king is in town.
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Sorry shooey it wasn't you. The pics weren't actually showing up for a bit there. I think they look great. I do think it would be easier to upload to a different service. Photobucket seems to be problematic.
 
Rambo said:
Sorry shooey it wasn't you. The pics weren't actually showing up for a bit there.
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Yep, I can never see the pics on my usual browser either. Actually l haven't been able to see my pics in many years and always need to do a cut and paste to another browser in order to see them.

Rambo said:
I think they look great.
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Tan shoes - the dilemma

These days the masses have been spoiling my fun because they have been wearing tan shoes with everything and giving tan shoes a bad name. These days any old tom dick and harry wear them....they wear them everyday and wear them with black suits etc. Too many dopey guys wearing tan shoes now, so now l limit my wearing of tan shoes. Reds are great to stand out, and so is blue and green, and the vintage red/orange is a colour NO-ONE owns and it is super sophisticated, and naturally a high quality brown and black shoos always sorts the men from the boys. The problem is that too many boys are wearing tan shoes, but they aren't playing a man's game...they are men playing a boys game.


Rambo said:
I do think it would be easier to upload to a different service. Photobucket seems to be problematic.
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I wasn't able to load into photobucket for close to 3 years because when l came to upload it would unlog my password, and that is why l only could do tiny screenshots. Only the other day am l able to use it again. I never bother trying to contact them for customer support because all they do is ramble alien jargon at me and vex me.

I wish l could use another program, but l am not good at learning new technical things. I prefer to stick with what l know, but l do pay a heavy price with photobucket.
 
Sometimes my big John Lobb has a blue colour exactly like this. No kidding, in some light it is total wow factor blue.
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Life is too short not to experience some of that type of eye stimulation. None-the-less, these wonderful colours are more limited in the situations in which they can be worn.

Grey trousers with bloo
Navy trousers with green
 
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