Is corrected grain leather that bad?
Found this really nice pair of Loake Royals going around for $60. I heard they're made of bookbinder/corrected grain leather, I'm a bit concerned if these are as bad as they say.
52 Replies
$60 is a good deal for loakes. The leather will be much better than anything else at that price point
Hell yeah!
I am currently debating between these loakes or a pair of Berwicks of which I am unsure in size
I'm sure you have read plenty about bookbinder, so I will skip to the part where I share my experiences. Bookbinder is cool until it is uncool, then there is no coming back.
Here's a pair of beaters–that's been used meanly–I have laying around, you can clearly see the vertical strips of the cracked acrylic coating, distinct from the wrinkling, that is present mostly on the vamp of the right shoe.
That happens sooner or later, mainly due to temperature change from your body heat heating the shoes up when worn and them then cooling down when unworn (heat stress, don't try to iron bookbinder shoes, you'll crack the coating) and once it's done, it's done.
Actually, you can try to get the dye job as well as the coating dissolved with tons of acetone and then some more elbow grease and go on from there, but I'd say it's not worth it in the end.
So, beware, friend! Also, nice shoes.
to speak to this, i stripped, re-dyed and protected a pair of derbies; the shoes were only $20 beaters but the process of stripping took a toll on the leather and i spent some extra effort resealing them
I'm not sure if you have any posted, but please do post your restoration attemps if you haven't already! Y'know, from now on! Would love to see 'em.
i usually post my efforts in #DIY or on ig (same name)
on topic, +1 to everything raisin said; at $60 i'd get them and spend the extra on any preventative maintenance (shoe trees, etc)
Thank you everyone! Let me sit on it for bit, on one hand I would prefer something that ages better than these but on the other I'm the type of guy who treats their shoes like shit and something like this that I could just bust out in the rain seems appealing to me.
@neonblessed those are some goodlooking shoes, idk if it's just me but I dont mind the look, my beater tassel loafers look a lot worse than that lol
Should one attempt this once the shoe starts to look like shit or should I try to diy it asap?
If I were in your position, I wouldn't attempt to strip the shoes even if it got to the cracked coating state. My experience leads me to say that it seriously requires a lot of elbow grease and tons of acetone, under it's vapour you don't want to be sitting for prolonged periods mind you. You can indeed bust bookbinder out in the rain, as long as the soles are donned out with rubberized armour, and it is overall a low maintenance leather! They "shine" up with a quick proper brush and you don't need to do much else, in fact, you can't do much else.
The coating (might as well say) essentially forbids leather conditioner and dye (through cream polish) to penetrate. You can get wax polish on them for a mirror shine, but it'll dissipate quickly.
Is it something that can I use for a long time tho?
Im more concerned about how much use I can get out of it
I'm broke and $60 is pretty big for a thrifted shoe😭😭😭
Well, if you take good care of them! Put them in their trees after every wear, don't be wearing them day after day 24/7, brush them properly, and sure!
It won't last 30 years though.
I'm not very experienced with Loake, but 60$ is a good find.
But then, you can search further for a better deal everytime.
That's good enough for me
Uhh
Though I will also give a tip.
Do you mind if I send a pic of the sole? I dont really know how to check how much usage it has gone through
Please do
Sure!
Try poking in the outsole* softly with your finger tips.
If you feel like there's give, as if it's going to cave in towards the insole, then I would resole them.
But hey, it can be not so simple as that sometimes.
I havent bought em yet so I cant really judge based on the touch test, do these look well used?
Well I can't see if the stitching is worn and what not, but the toe of the left shoe seems to be in not-so-great condition. You could let a cobbler put on a rubber half sole and a toe cap and it could work.
But then...
I see some strange folding on the uppers of the left shoe too.
Unless that is light reflection.
Let me ask for more pics regarding that
Of course, keep me updated if you wish so and I will also try to help as best as I can!
Love myself some shoe thrifting.
Thank you very much @neonblessed
You sure do know a lot about shoes
I wouldn't claim that!
I just recently thrifted my first good (actually excellent) pair of shoes so I guess I should get more lol
What's your fave among the shoes you've thrifted
The tip was: If what you are looking for in shoe uppers is that it lasts aesthetically a long time, is more or less resistant to environmental hazards, and it would be your style: try pebbled grain box calf leather uppers.
Or shell cordovan for that matter, but that's expensive...
Let me bring it up!
I'll share some pictures.
Share your first pair too, please!
I'd love to see 'em.
I would love to get me some of those tho yeah, even the secondhand prices make my cry
But yes, I find that the pebbled grain kind of "camouflages" the wrinkles from everyday use, and if it's good box calf that fits you well, that's jackpot.
Yeah, same...
I will also share a picture of an example for pebble grain shoes.
I cant seem to find too many pebbled grain shoes in our local version of ebay
Its just an endless sea of redwings and cemented constructions with the occasional allen edmonds going for high prices
Please do
These are my JM Westons I thrifted dirt cheap (Less than $20) tho the sole cracked as soon as I used them
Will be resoling these soon so I can bust em out
Wowies, fancy pair of desert boots, under 20$ as well?
Depending on the cobbling costs, that's a pretty good find my friend!
Speak of the devil... here's some AE MacNeils!
Now I haven't worn 'em that much, but see how the wrinkles seem like they are not there?
The local shoe industry here is growing so there's cobblers that resole for around $20 in the local currency, tho I can go the expensive route which costs around $100
But I'm a uni student and I'm broke so yeah
We are in the same boat, friend.
These are my crown jewels, best thrifted pair I found. Restored obviously!
Damn! Those are beautiful! Do you find longwings harder to style than your run of the mill brogue?
Looks like an antique calf
Seller sent these
Its part of the stitching or smth
I got curious now, what expensive route would that be?
High end local bootmaker, creates cordovan stuff and whatnot
Ah, I see.
Well, not up to me to guide you on that one, but I will only say: Do mind about what you're spending for the* maintenance of what you've bought!
It does seem uneasy sometimes to spend 20$ for some thrifted pair, and then 30$ for trees, and 100$ for a resole.
You get me.
I will also get to the longwing question.
But then, there's this photo.
As I've said, I'm not experienced with Loake, but I haven't seen stitching like that in shoes before.
That aside, there seems to be some disfiguration on the side of the toe box on the top* shoe.
And then also this.
Which, again, might be some kind of weird reflection.
Yeah I'm not sure exactly. Some kind of crust I'd imagine. I remember the seller claiming bison on the tan bit, but it's ought not to be. That's not bison texture afaik.
And I'd answer this as: it depends.
Dress shoes for me occupy a special place when it comes to pairing with other items.
I see no wrong way of doing things, really.
Aside from really strict dress codes, of course. Can't go to black tie with a tan longwing.
And of course, there's then a couple of common sense decisions to make, I don't count them. I would wear fuller cut trousers with those MacNeils for example, the shoes look visually bulky, and I couldn't simply wear slim cut feather-weight fabric.
Yea fr
Could imagine wearing those with cuffed trousers
Which I love
Just got back from a thrifting spree
My friend got these pair of Regal Handsewn Penny Loafers for around $7
Why can't I find prices like that...
Jests aside, good find, friend!
I just want to meddle and comment once more, none of my business but: Don't lose yourself in opportunity buys and especially thrifting.
From one uni student to another, I know that feeling when you stumble upon some godly piece for a bargain price. But then especially for thrifting, there are usually hidden costs involved. And money for us students runs out dry faster than we'd like...
Just wanted to add that.
FR
Anyways thank you so much for the help
Do you mind jf I add u here on discord?
Sure thing.
Shoes came in
Ooo, they look cool! Use 'em to your hearts content.
Will very much do! They're still a bit stiff but these should soften up nicely. Hopefully it'll last more than 5 years