not picking but I have never known a man with that many pairs of shoes. I know some of those basket ball players etc do. Shine shoes I have one pair that can be shined my Cowboy boots, are this nice black have some cat nail marks from when I put mink oil on them lol
Shoe Shining Disorder. What Have I Done!
- Thread starter johnniegold
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- #202
Why would I think you’re “picking”?
You’re posting on a website where some members own 100+ shaving brushes
.Btw, I can assure you that every pair of shoes pictured here is necessary.
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some people take things personally, I do wish I knew how to do a proper polish though my boots do look pretty good considering the cat went crazy like the mink oil were catnip. It was both entertaining and upsetting at the same time. I just decided that from that point on my boots were to be treated out in the shop until the odor was not so strong.
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- #204
Feeding it...
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- #205
Adding some hardware to the Iron Rangers.
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- #206
Another country heard from...
I’m gonna have to think about this one. Unlike the US lace keepers on the IRs pictured in the previous post, these Great Britain lace keepers on the Dr. Martens, to my eye, dominant over the boot wherein the IR is a more substantial boot and can handle the US lace keepers.
I’m gonna have to think about this one. Unlike the US lace keepers on the IRs pictured in the previous post, these Great Britain lace keepers on the Dr. Martens, to my eye, dominant over the boot wherein the IR is a more substantial boot and can handle the US lace keepers.
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- #207
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- #208
After messsing around with those lace keepers on the Dr. Martens, I noticed they were looking a little tired. I also watched some vids about caring for crazy horse leather like this pair of their 939 Ben boots.
So I placed an order for their own branded Wonder Balsam as well as their Dubbin. I also ordered some new laces to give them a bit of a facelift.
These pics are after being brushed and then wiped down with a damp cloth (several times).
They will get the remaining treatment when those items arrive in about a week.
So I placed an order for their own branded Wonder Balsam as well as their Dubbin. I also ordered some new laces to give them a bit of a facelift.
These pics are after being brushed and then wiped down with a damp cloth (several times).
They will get the remaining treatment when those items arrive in about a week.
My recollection of dubbin on rugby boots when I was forced to play contact sports at school was that it gives a very flat, matt finish with decent water resistance. I think it’s basically lard or possibly tallow.interested to see the results.
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- #210
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- #211
These shoes have been bothering me since (at least) 2013.
The captoe on the (right) left shoe appeared to be smudged with a darker pigment than the right shoe. I’m guessing I may have tested a color many moons ago and realized it was too dark.
Also, the finish on that captoe didn’t seem as smooth as the right one and I couldn’t obtain (at least as easily) a mirror shine on that captoe.
Finally, I said what the heck. I was willing to forego these shoes in the name of a science. I took off the wax using both acetone and Renomat. I sanded the finish off of each captoe. Then, I conditioned the leather with Renovateur. Afterwards, I decided to darken both captoes to get a two-tone effect and applied a darker Saphir wax cream and then built up the shine on the captoe with Mirror Gloss wax.
And voilá:
The captoe on the (right) left shoe appeared to be smudged with a darker pigment than the right shoe. I’m guessing I may have tested a color many moons ago and realized it was too dark.
Also, the finish on that captoe didn’t seem as smooth as the right one and I couldn’t obtain (at least as easily) a mirror shine on that captoe.
Finally, I said what the heck. I was willing to forego these shoes in the name of a science. I took off the wax using both acetone and Renomat. I sanded the finish off of each captoe. Then, I conditioned the leather with Renovateur. Afterwards, I decided to darken both captoes to get a two-tone effect and applied a darker Saphir wax cream and then built up the shine on the captoe with Mirror Gloss wax.
And voilá:
I screwed these shoes up. 
The color is too dark and blotchy and it should have faded more towards vamp.
[
They probably look ok if you’re at a distance. Say NY to NJ.
Oh well.
The color is too dark and blotchy and it should have faded more towards vamp.
They probably look ok if you’re at a distance. Say NY to NJ.
Oh well.
Easily tweaked! They look great from Washington, DC!
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- #213
The Wonder Balsam (and new laces) arrived today and was applied to the 939s. The Dubbin will arrive next week which is fine. That will give plenty of time for the Wonder Balsam to dry.
They will get the Dubbin treatment next week which, I think, will put a bit of a sheen on these boots.
They will get the Dubbin treatment next week which, I think, will put a bit of a sheen on these boots.
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- #214
New laces make an old boot pop just a little bit.
BEFORE
AFTER
BEFORE
AFTER
Reading your earlier comment about the Union Jack pin overwhelming the shoe, I thought that bolder laces (as one often sees with Doc Martens) would help that ... seems you thought the same.
Looks good.
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- #216
I think that’s right. The new laces definitely evened it out to my eye.
Why would I think you’re “picking”?
You’re posting on a website where some members own 100+ shaving brushes
Btw, I can assure you that every pair of shoes pictured here is necessary.
FWIW I see @johnniegold as a kindred soul in regards to shoes. I'm a shoe fanatic. It started 30 years ago when as a high schooler I worked part time at Kinney Shoes (anybody remember that store?) in the local mall, then I worked as a sales clerk at a local Athletic Shoe & Apparel store all through my college years in the early 90s (Air Jordan launch day was like a National Holiday) and then even after college when I was a young graduate working in the office cubicle world (the television show "The Office" is so spot on...) I moonlighted in men's shoes at a department store.
I own, and have owned, a ridiculous number of shoes for an average joe. It has slowed down quite a bit as I've gotten into middle age, but I still love shoes. It's generally one of the first things I notice about people, what kind of shoes they're wearing.
I no longer play basketball, but I'm an avid runner (got a daily streak since last Feb 29th!) who goes through a pair of running shoes about every 6 months, so those old pairs really tend to collect down in the garage, but even not counting those, I've still got probably 35 or so different pairs of footwear in my rotation, and I've had countless more pairs over the years that I've passed on to my dear old Papa or the Goodwill store.
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Kudos on the Made in England Doc's. I have a Made in England Pair of brown oxfords that I've had since 1999 that are still going strong. I purchased 2 pairs of Made in England (oxblood & black) when I was in London in 2018. I also have two pairs of Solovair (made at the NPS factory, one brown, one black) which I like every bit as much. These 5 pair are my standard, Monday-Friday work shoes. IMHO these are the best shoes ever made.
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- #219
Kinney Shoes was a few miles from my home growing up. As a kid, it was an annual trip at the end of the summer to “get your shoes for school”.
Johnniegold (as a young boy): No Mom, I want the Adidas with 3-stripes not the Kinney ones with 4-stripes.
Mother Gold: Those cost too much and your brothers and sister have to get shoes too!
Thom McAn was in that rotation as well.
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Kinney Shoes was a few miles from my home growing up. As a kid, it was an annual trip at the end of the summer to “get your shoes for school”.View attachment 1220836View attachment 1220837
Johnniegold (as a young boy): No Mom, I want the Adidas with 3-stripes not the Kinney ones with 4-stripes.
Mother Gold: Those cost too much and your brothers and sister have to get shoes too!
Thom McAn was in that rotation as well.
View attachment 1220841
View attachment 1220842
I just ordered a pair of vintage Thom McAn cowboy boots off Poshmark! I'll post a pic when they come in (hopefully they'll fit, buying vintage clothing off Poshmark or eBay is always hit or miss)
If you'll indulge me I've got to share some memories from my high school job of working at Kinney. The popular thing among girls then was dyed prom shoes to match a dress. The lowest guy on the totem pole got most often got stuck with that dreadful job, and that was of course yours truly. I must have dyed 1000 pairs of shoes. You'd wear gloves but the dye would still get on your hands, and the only way to get it off was by washing in bleach.
The other thing I remember is that we had this pair of TV's connected to a VCR and every month the corporate office sent us a new VHS tape of top 40 video hits to play continuously. I remember "I'm too sexy" by Right Said Fred was in heavy rotation. So were Janet Jackson, Bobby Brown, Color Me Bad, and Bell Biv Devoe. When the boss went home and it was just me and the assistant manager closing I'd either turn it off or put in the 80's hits tape, which I remember had Adam Ant's "Goody Two Shoes" that I always would crank up.
This was also the days when the show Married with Children was popular, which I never watched, but got called "Al Bundy" by my friends ALL the time.
High school classmates of mine worked at every store there. It was the heyday of the indoor shopping mall and that one was considered a destination with several exclusive stores. Of course it is long gone now, shuttered and torn down.
I'm a big fan of the Netflix show Stranger Things and particularly enjoyed the most recent season which highlighted that cultural experience.
One last memory from there, the other part timer was a college guy who played football at the HBCU in town, and I remember he pledged to one of the fraternities and came in for work one afternoon after he'd gotten branded with a hot iron on both biceps and his pec, I think it was Omega Psi Phi aka the Que Dogs....
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