Polishing brogues??

[Southern Breeze]

Good shoes have always been important to me. I hate bad shoes.

Especially when I was in the military, good boots were our trasportation and most likely meant our comfort and survival.

I have a hard time finding good shoes now. Most are cheap and fall apart in just a few months, not to mention horribly uncomfortable.

Anyone have any good recommendations for good shoes/boots? I'm on my feet most of the day and need another couple of good pair. I need work/utility shoes.


T.

Wolverine DuraShocks are what I wear. I'm a landscape designer / foreman and therefore on my feet almost all day. They hold up better than anything else I've tried. Here's what my current pair looks like after almost 10 months on the job -

[BoldHighlander]

Anyone have any good recommendations for good shoes/boots? I'm on my feet most of the day and need another couple of good pair. I need work/utility shoes.

I don't have a picture of my personal pair of boots, but on my job (security) I wear Carolina Lineman Boots. I first got these about 4 years ago when working as a janitor -- I got them on sale, for the same price as a pair of boots with half as much leather. I figured they would be good for m/c riding too

Anyhow, I've worn them most of the week for over a year now on the job. I do a lot of walking & I have to say they give me great support & comfort (after the initial break-in). And except for some slight nicks & scuffing, and a little heel wear, they look almost like new!

I highly recommend Carolinas.

[thescot]

DWFII hit the nail on the head as to polishing to a "spit shine."

I put a shine on the toe of wing tips since I was 13 or so, and by doing it his way, I've never had a probelm filling up the little holes. Just stay away from the holes and use polish sparingly.

Remember the pebble grain leather on the brim of a military hat (cover to the jarheads), the one that looks like a policeman's hat. (We call them barrack's covers.) We had to fill in all grain until the brim looked like patent leather when I was in the Corps. And we did it just like DEFII said, slowly and meticulously. You want to build it up in very thin layers, and never hit it with a brush! Only use a soft cotton cloth like a tee shirt or a cotton handkerchief.

My USMC dress shoes looked like patent leather (almost) and they lasted about 25 years. When I discarded them, it was because the inner soles were shot and the soles and heels had been replaced too many times. But the uppers were still gorgeous!

[Steve53]

Thunderbolt,

My brother and dad have really like Red Wing boots (Truck driver and farmer, respectively), though that has been since I left the military (1981)... When I need boots, I wear my Corcorans that I bought in the PX at Cameron Station, VA back in 1977... Starting to wear thru behind the toe cap, so will likely need replaced in a year or two.

Steve

[Bugbear]

Good shoes have always been important to me. I hate bad shoes.

Especially when I was in the military, good boots were our trasportation and most likely meant our comfort and survival.

I have a hard time finding good shoes now. Most are cheap and fall apart in just a few months, not to mention horribly uncomfortable.

Anyone have any good recommendations for good shoes/boots? I'm on my feet most of the day and need another couple of good pair. I need work/utility shoes.


T.

If you just mean regular business shoes and what have you, here is a thread that has you covered:
berserkbishop's thread "Professional Dress Help"
They talk about business clothing in general, but there is good shoe advice and lots of links to shoes in that thread. If that is not the kind of shoe you mean, I think those same links might have other types of shoes and maybe even boots. I think they would be quality shoes.

All of which are better than my shoes at this time. Hope that helps.

* I fixed the link, sorry about that. *

[Lachlan07]

Hello there

When our family wore our kilts on-stage with our Highland trio in the 60's and 70's, I can't remember picking polish out of our ghillies.

As to poishing the Ghillies, well, my dad was ex-British Army (WW2).

Our day-dress kilt outfits (with brown leatherware) included ghillie brogues for himself, my big brother and myself.

To get the best result on the Ghillies, he used the old-fashioned army way he had been trained (long before the days of staybright badges and buttons). As well as general spit and polish (Cherry Blossom), he also spooned the toecaps and heels of the shoes. Spooning meant heating a dessert or table-spoon till very hot, then rubbing it over the appropriate piece of leather. The hot-spoon singed and hardened the leather surface and sealed up the pores. With repeated applications of spit, polishing and hot-spooning the toecaps and heels, they eventually came up beautifully. Anywhere we went in Scotland, I never came across anyone with a shine remotely as brilliant and glossy as on ours. It was pure British Army spit and polish, with a shine like the parade boots of the Regimental Sergeant-Major of the Brigade of Guards !

Funnily, when we went to weddings or black-tie do's, he was always highly frustrated when we hired formal Highland wear, as the Ghillies were always dull and he never had the time to give them the spooning treatment !!

[Giuseppe]

If you are sure they are not patent, you want to strip off all that old wax. Once that's done, recondition the leather, and start your spitshine anew. I use a mixture of one part water, one part ammonia, and half part denatured alcohol. I don't believe this will harm the lacquer if it is patent but you may want to try a small patch on the inside of the arch.

As for hobs and so forth...hey, it's up to you. It's more environmentally gentle but it's certainly noisier.

DWFII, you may be able to help me. I've got a pair of new, unissued MoD brogues. They've still got a black coating on the heels and parts of the leather that's starting to flake off. There are also a couple of spots where they've been dinged and the bare brown leather is showing on the toes. Is there anything I need to do to the shoes before I embark upon the ole spit `n' polish routine? Should anything be stripped off? Thanks!

[Bugbear]

I went shopping for black Oxford shoes today. I got a chance to look at several patent leather shoes. I can't speak to the appearance and shine, but every one of them felt like a plastic coated finnish... almost a rubbery feel. Didn't matter what price range, and it was a little sad.

Thankfully, that was not what I was looking for and I found a pair of shoes that are fairly good and have a bit of shine to them. I know I have come across patent leather in the past that did not feel like rubbery plastic in the way those did.

[Tetley]

What a great thread, not because I want to polish my brogues as I do not have any, but I just can not seems to get a good shine on my normal shoes. I will carefully re-read this thread and then apply the collected wisdom to polishing my shoes, especially since I will be attending a birthday ball this Friday evening.

So, thanks to all who contributed tips in this thread.

Mark

[O'Callaghan]

I've an old pair of brown brogues in the back of my closet somewhere. They were never all that comfortable, as the leather is very stiff, but they are almost indestructible. They seem to be made of very thick leather. I suppose I might try them with a kilt for semi-formal ocassions. I got polish stuck in the holes many times when cleaning them, and could never quite get it all out again with a rag.