The Brogues Are Back In Town!

Well, technically they never left though like some abusive vagabond, through neglect and a plethora of London dance floors they’re not quite looking their best. Scuffed, marked and tired it’s time they were given a new lease of life. After all, it’s the season of good will and I’m getting spoilt rotten so why not bestow some of this care and TLC upon my beloved brogues.

Since I’ve bought the Grenson Archie’s a year last September, I am ashamed to say they have seen less care and attention as they deserve or should have, save every once in a while thrusting a shoe tree into their red leather lined inners or resting them for a few days.

Poor old brogues!

However Christmas, coupled with a heavily abused bankcard (I’m really not that abusive I promise you) means I can’t afford to take them in to a cobblers for a professional reinvigoration and also quite relished the challenge of doing it myself, and know I will take more care and passion in doing it than some of the ten a penny cobblers. (That said, there are many fine cobblers out there, and if you find a good one stick with them! Maybe you could send me a list of good cobblers you know and use for future reference? I’ll post the findings on this very blog!)

The jaded practice shoes...

Now I’d recently read an article on the art of polishing your own shoes and how best to do it. I had forgotten where, though that veritable fountain of menswear knowledge Steve Salter at Style Salvage filled in the blanks. Gentlemen’s Corner imparted the following article. After reading through and practicing on some other tired old shoes for practice, (see above and below) I decided I’d found a decent method…

...Don't look too bad, method found!

So I set about my favoured shoes, part with excitement at rejuvenating them and part tribulation that my inferior hands we’re about to work on shoes made and prepared by real craftsmen!

I applied a light smear of tan over the whole shoe, section by section. Working it in with some brusque polishing action! After this had given a fairly even colour and had covered all the scuffs and imperfections, I left it overnight for the polish to dry and soak into the leather. This is important so you know the true colour of the polish and can see where needs more or less work.

After one coat of polish on one shoe.

I then went over the whole shoe again repeating the process, really massaging the polish into the leather. As mentioned on the Gentleman’s Corners blog, polishing your shoes is similar to moisturising your face, not only vital and imperative but also the key is to make sure the polish really goes into the leather and doesn’t just sit on the surface. To do this I kept intensely rubbing and buffering, gripping the shoe with my legs and shimmying the duster over my shoes!

After a couple of coats to each shoe.

Now this looks good (in my personal opinion) and I felt fairly happy with the results, however I wanted to really add some character. I’ve heard and read on several occasions from many reliable sources that rubbing black boot polish over tan brogues lightly then wiping it off adds depth and character and lines the holes, really creating a vintage lived in look but still with the care and appearance of polishing.

Now while I didn’t want to risk black, for I didn’t want them to go that dark, I did want the aforementioned effect. I chose to start with a mid tan to see the results and effects, and had a mid brown on hand should I want to further my polishing investigation. As I ran the mid-tan over the toe cap and holed areas, it was coming out a bit darker and more uneven than I had planned, so I stuck to the mid tan, to give it a mild contrast to the light tan I had been buffering.

The morning after with one shoe having a mid-tan coat

After again leaving it to dry overnight I felt it didn’t actually look too dark and the slightly unevenness of the polishing actually added depth and interest and didn’t look too dissimilar to burnished calf effect some shoes have.

The toe-caps up close.

So here they are, my adored Archie’s refreshed and refurbished, a tad darker than original but the better for it! I am delighted with the results and can finally wear them out again with pride at having done it myself!

The final results with the tools of my work.

What do you think of the final results? Any public or expert opinion on what’s good or could have been done better would be greatly received!

There are several things you can and should do to maintain your shoe collection. (One of my new years resolutions, as well as extending my shoe collection, is to adhere to the following list absolutely!)

1) Use shoe trees – shoe trees help not only retain the shape of your shoes but also stretch the leather to stop it becoming creased, they also absorb the excess moisture out of the leather and shoe deposited by your metacarpals.

2) Do not wear the same shoes day in, day out. Not only will your shoes start to smell horrific as they will have no time to air and dry out, but the retained moisture will attack and destroy the leather quicker than you can say ‘gosh darn it, I liked those shoes…’

3) Get a decent cobbler, any disintegration in soles or tears and damage in the uppers can and should be instantly repaired by a cobbler. Obey this rule I saw on a cobbler stub “Shoes worth wearing are worth repairing!”

Too true!

4) Polish your shoes on a regular basis. The massaging of wax into the leather will help soften it, making it more supple but also prolonging its life. Helping to protect the leather from water, snow, friends drinks, that odd coloured cocktail a mate spilled on you etc. And generally make them look all round smarter and more spick and span. (There is also an old wives tale that women judge a man on how polished his shoes are…. Is this true? Has anyone else heard this?)