Buying Vintage Shoes

Do you remember the Cold War? The world and politics seemed clearer back then. Sure, we could get nuked at any time and Vietnam turned out to be a poor idea but we all rallied around the Lake Placid Olympic hockey team and cheered on Mary Lou Retton. I grew up toward the end of the “War” so my experience during the period was limited. I could be wrong. Still, I don’t believe people spent 2 to 3 hours each day reading basically the same news article from multiple sources like we do today. We did other things like shopping at a record store or talking on a telephone. How quaint.

Like me, you can still wear shoes made during the Cold War. These are made in the USA shoes from an era when shoes were made in the USA. Big, masculine shoes in classic styles. These were the shoes your dad or grandfather wore. Everyday. To work, to church, to your baseball games, and in good or bad weather.

Where to find

I buy many of my shoes on eBay. eBay has the lion’s share of shoes, about 4 million men’s shoes at any one time. Which is great but I usually don’t want 3,999,900 of them. eBay’s search tools have been improving recently but it often seems like they are built to the lowest common denominator. Sellers on eBay can misspell brands or miscategorize a shoe (is this a casual or dress shoe? vintage or not vintage?) which can frustrate searches. And you. Check my Watch List to help find the best listings.

eBay UI

eBay isn’t the only online marketplace, I have also bought shoes from:

Locally, I have occasionally found nice shoes at the Goodwill or a few of the various vintage stores in Seattle. But these searches are hit or miss. And mostly misses. I search infrequently on Craigslist Seattle but that has resulted in zero purchases thus far.

Weyenberg

There are a couple shoe websites specializing in vintage, quality shoes: Classic Shoes for Men and Super 8 Shoes. Both have a great selection of new and used premium shoes. Its sometimes fun (for me) just browsing the impressive array of shoes on those sites.

Brands

Most shoe manufacturers of the era made shoes for all price points, cheap entry level shoes to premium models. Sort of like GM or Ford had a car model for any income level. While vintage shoes can be higher quality than modern shoes, many are lousy. Just like the cars of the era. Who wants to drive around a 1975 Ford LTD every day?

Like GM had Cadillac, the big manufacturers had premium models such as the Florsheim Imperial, Hanover LB Sheppard, Bostonian Crown Windsor, or Johnston & Murphy Aristocraft. These shoes generally featured higher quality construction and materials.

Hanover LB Sheppard Logo

Below are some of my favorite vintage brands of the era that you will commonly find on eBay.

  • Alden – Alden never went down market. Their shoes were consistently great. Vintage Alden shoes have an AAAA logo. Watch for stitching issues. There is no shortage of Alden information on the internets. Buy a pair if you can find one in your price range.
  • Allen Edmonds – Usually good quality and well-made shoes. AE is great American company that I have a lot of respect for. Avoid the “polished cobbler” models of the 1980s and 90s. Reddit has a guide to buying AE shoes
  • Florsheim – The Royal Imperial and Imperial Kenmoors are the shoes to buy. The stitching is the best. Leather quality slid in some of the later models. The 93606 and 93602 (see below) models are my two favorite shoes.
  • FootJoy – Normally you think of FootJoy as golf shoes but they also made quality dress shoes. I have been impressed with the pairs I have owned. Usually the shoes are a bargain if you can find a pair in your size
  • Hanover – Hanover marketed themselves as sort of a discount Florsheim. The LB Sheppard models are the ones to buy.
  • Johnston & Murphy – J&M made some amazing shoes but most of the pairs you find on eBay are not. The Crown Aristocraft and Aristocraft models are the best ones. If you find a pair of their Handmade 100s in your size, buy them
  • Nettleton – top of the line Nettleton shoes were called “Traditionals” and compare to Alden shoes. Nettleton struggled in the 1970s and 80s and some of their later shoes were of suspect quality.
  • Weyenberg – Weyenberg had a line of “Custom Grade” shoes in the 1950s and 1960s that were great. Their shoes in the 1970s and 1980s were less than great.
  • Wright – “Cordwainer Wright” was the company’s premium line and they are not uncommon on eBay. The polished cobbler pairs from the 1980s crease easily.

Sometimes you can find a good pair from Freeman, Nunn Bush, French Shriner, and Bostonian. Other brands like Stetson, Banister and Edwin Clapp are great but very rare. Quality Canadian brands include Hartt, John McHale and Dack’s. You can find a more comprehensive list of brands on my brands page.

Stetson shoe insole

Buying

When looking for vintage shoes, I try to find new old stock (NOS) or new-ish pairs. The shoes often come from estate sales or adult children clearing out Dad’s aging closet. Sometimes Dad had a nice pair he bought for a special occasion but never wore again. They have been gathering dust in his closet.

Like much of eBay, prices are all over the board for vintage pairs. They can range from $10 to $1000 USD. Typically, the bargain pairs will go quickly. Wider sizes are more in demand than narrow sizes (AAA, A, B). For a NOS pair, expect to pay twice as much as you would pay for a lightly worn, used pair.

Keith Highlander logo

In general, shoes from the 1950s were better than shoes from the 1960s. And 1960s shoes were better than the 1970s. And the 70s better than the 80s. And in the 1990s, most shoes were made overseas. We had smaller feet in the 1940s and 1950s so it is rare to find a 11+ sized pair from that era.

A pair with a newer heel and partial sole replacement

When buying a worn pair, look for shoes with the original sole with light wear. Resoled shoes can be fine but you don’t know how many times they have been resoled so I generally avoid them. Shoes having replaced heels can also give a clue to wear. I would never buy a pair with a hole in the sole.

Vintage Shoe Heel
Original sole and heel

Avoid or don’t overpay for shoes with cracks in the upper leather. Upper cracking or tears likely mean the shoe wasn’t cared for properly. If the shoes are made from Horween Shell Cordovan, tears in the upper leather are not fixable (see my guide on buying a vintage Shell Cordovan). If the upper leather is calfskin, it is possible to repair a superficial leather crack(s) but its often not worth the time/cost especially if it is a common shoe. Wax or polish will not fix a crack.

Minor cracking on a Johnston & Murphy leather upper

Much of the worn vintage shoes for sale online are in poor condition or poor quality. If the photos or description are poor, hope for the best but be prepared to be disappointed. And be prepared to clean and condition any worn pairs that you buy.

Nettleton leather soles

NOS shoes are the best. You usually just need to clean off the dust and give them a few rounds of conditioning before wearing them. The conditioning is important because unworn, dry leather can look good but crack when worn. The leather needs moisture to flex properly. Don’t overlook the conditioning step before wearing them. And continue to condition the shoes after wearing them.

Shipping costs are typically between $10 and $20. For cheaper pairs, shipping can be a large percentage of the final price. Usually there is no state sales tax on an eBay item, so that can help somewhat.

Sizing

Vintage shoe sizing is tough because you usually can’t return an eBay purchase due to sizing issues. You need to rely on the seller’s measurements (can be suspect), previous experience or advice you find on places like StyleForum. Even then, there are small size variations for the same model and size. This is probably because many of these vintage shoes were hand lasted and not extruded from a machine like most of today’s shoes.


There are a few things you can do to remedy a pair that is slightly big (see this shogazing article) but if a shoe is too small or is uncomfortable, I will resell it. Reselling a shoe isn’t hard but it takes more effort than sending a pair back to Zappos. Generally, you can resell the shoes for about what you bought it for. If the seller accepts returns, send them back if they don’t fit.

Allen Edmonds Ostendo

Restoring

After purchase, it generally takes me one to four hours to fix up a worn, vintage pair. This time is spread out over a couple days to a week. Every shoe is a bit different so the time can vary somewhat.

These are the basic supplies I use when restoring a vintage pair:

  • Lexol leather cleaner for cleaning the upper
  • Lexol leather conditioner
  • Bickmore Bick 4 for conditioning the upper
  • Isopropyl alcohol for cleaning the shoe interior
  • Quality Shoe cream. Light brown is the most useful color
  • Water
  • Sole edging
  • Old t-shirt for applying the conditioner and creams. A separate t-shirt can be used for buffing
  • Old toothbrush for cleaning the welt stitching
  • Horsehair shoe brush

Vintage FootJoy Logo

This is my general process for fixing up a pair:

  • Wipe the upper and sole with a damp cloth
  • Wipe interior with isopropyl alcohol
  • Clean the leather with Lexol leather cleaner
  • One round of Lexol Conditioner
  • Apply two rounds of Bick 4
  • Clean the welt stitching
  • Edge the soles
  • Polished with a shoe cream
  • New shoe laces

For regular maintainence, the process is less intensive. After wearing a pair for the day, I will put shoes trees in the pair and give them a quick brushing. Shoe trees help to keep the shape of the shoes but in my experience, they mainly help in the first few days after wearing. After the shoes dry, the shoes can be stored with or without shoe trees. You do not need to own a pair of shoes trees for every pair but have at least three or four trees to rotate.

There are a number of products that will both condition and shine the shoes. I have used all of the following products and have had no issues with any of them:

Apply the products every 10 to 20 wears. You don’t need to strip the shoes for regular maintainence. I conditon Shell Cordovan shoes more frequently than my calfskin shoes.

Vintage Bostonian


Example

I recently bought a pair of Florsheim Imperial Kenmoor 93602 from Poshmark. The 93602 is a good vintage starter shoe because it is a high quality shoe in a classic long wing style that is readily available online. Florsheim produced the model from 1957 to 1988 and some have said it is the perfect brogue.

The pair had some wear and a bit of curl the but soles were original and the leather looked to be very good condition (see bottom left photo below). These were the photos in the listing.

Used Florsheim Imperial

This is what the shoes looked like when I opened the box. They needed some work.

Dirty used shoes

Dirty used shoes

My first steps were to wipe and clean the shoes. Below is the pair the next day after simply cleaning them. Much better.

cleaning shoes

The shoes were a bit curled so I decided to soak them in water for a few hours and let them dry. This process can reshape the leather and lessen some of the creasing. After the soaking, I conditioned them and they were starting to look very good but needed more work.

cleaned shoe

The welt stitching on the shoes was dirty. The Florsheim 93602 often has contrasting welt stitching but it is sometimes hidden under dirt and grim or covered with sole edging.

Dirty shoe welt

To clean the stitching, I use a bit of Lexol cleaner mixed with water and applied with a soft tooth brush. Once the welt stitching is damp, I wipe it with a soft terry cloth towel. You might need to do a few rounds of this. Don’t scrub the stitching too hard. This is the welt stitching once cleaned.

Welt cleaning

The shoes were now cleaned and conditioned but not polished. And without sole edging. I was happy with the results thus far.

Restore vintage shoe

I like vintage shoes when they look vintage. If they have no variations in color, then they look almost modern (the horror!). To give the shoes a vintage look, I applied some dark brown cream to the broguing areas. After application and while the cream is still wet, I wipe off the excess cream. The remaining cream persists in the broguing areas and gives the shoes a subtle vintage look. Don’t worry about overapplying the cream, it’s not going to ruin the shoes.

Restore vintage shoe

Below are the finished shoes after they had been brushed and buffed. Note the dark brown highlights in the broguing. The last shot is the shoes in full sun (which happens once or twice per year in Seattle). I have worn the pair twice and they fit great. They are keepers (like I needed more shoes).

If you have questions or other tips, leave them in the comments below. Good luck!

Florsheim Imperial Kenmoor

Florsheim Imperial 93602

Florsheim Imperial Kenmoor 93602

Florsheim 93602

Vintage Florsheim

Florsheim Imperial Kenmoor




36 thoughts on “Buying Vintage Shoes”

  1. Great post, I enjoyed it very much. I need to dip my toes into some vintage shoes. I can see it being a much more affordable way to feed my shoe addiction lol. Very much looking forward to seeing more!

  2. Great post.
    I frequently use eBay to buy vintage shoes.
    Bonanza, Goodwill, and Poshmark are new for me.
    I found a faburous pair at Poshmark but the service is currently only available for users within the United States.
    I wish I could live in the U.S.

    1. Thank you. I have read and learned much from your blog. You need to come to the United States on a vintage shoe buying vacation!

  3. No way.
    I learned more from you.
    Reading your articles, I studied about vintage shoes and a lot of English expressions about shoe care and so forth.
    On top of that, I could buy a pair of hidden Alden with hack’s ripple soles, thanks to your watch list.
    That was a really bargain.
    I’m looking forward to your new post.

    1. Thanks. Those Hack Ripple soled Aldens were cool. I see them every now and then. I need a pair in my size. Glad you got them.

  4. Another very enjoyable read. Thank you. You have a talent for both writing and restoring terrific vintage shoes.

    1. I usually use Lincoln or Allen Edmonds sole edging, then use brown or black cream on top of that to give them some shine.

  5. New to restoring as well, thank you for this excellent resource! Since I’m mostly a boot person I’m comfortable with the cleaning/conditioning/brushing routine, but would love more info on the types of polish and techniques that you recommend.

    Picked up the pair of 7.5 Royal Imperial pebble grain longwings from the watchlist this week, can’t wait to get them cleaned up!

  6. Hello, I am new to vintage shoes. If I am a 10.5 B in Allen Edmonds and modern Johnston & Murphy. Should I stick with that size in vintage Florsheim (93606 and 93602), or can I get away with a 10.5 C with a thicker sock? I see a lot more C widths on Ebay than I do B’s.

    1. I find Florsheim Kenmoors to be true to size so you will probably find them as well. But if you pick a bigger size, an insert can help.

  7. I have a set of mic card dress shoes leather very nice but I can’t find the name in line anyone hear about this company

  8. I’m curious about those carved-look Bostonian soles pictured above in this article. 1930s or 1940s? Can you show the shoes themselves?

  9. Hi Dave. Have you purchased from Super8Shoes and do you know how to translate the site to english? Thanks, Thom

    1. The owner of the Super8Shoes (Gucci), knows English. I would send him an email if you are interested in a pair. For translating the site, I use Google Translate. It should be built into Chrome browser.

  10. Wow! I just found this site. I have been buying vintage shoes for years and still own Johnson & Murphy shoes that I bought in the 80’s. I’m just discovering that there are others who share my interest and knowledge that the older shoes are better. I have been buying my shoes at local thrift stores at ridiculously low prices. I didn’t know a lot about proper care and maintenance, and that is what led me to this site. Now, I’m thinking of exploring online sources. Thanks for a great site!

  11. I would suggest to not use alcohol for cleaning the interior of the shoe. Besides the possibility that some glues in the shoe can be ruined by it (they used glues even back in the day in some areas and sometimes used some cement instead of paste for heel counters and toe puffs) alcohol will not kill some nasty bugs that affects some people’s feet and to actually clean it needs to sit on the material for some time, a simple wipe wont do much for the interior of a shoe.
    For used shoes a disinfecting spray (Mycomist is one but there are others) would be better.

  12. I use alc, but not enough to dissolve any glue. also a Clorox wipe, followed by Lysol for the fresh scent.

    I have experienced what I assume is glue disintegrating on one shoe only. It forms a powdery residue on the welt when I walk in them.

  13. Hi
    I came a cross of a pair of Florsheim 280253 split toe cordovan color v cleat 5 nails etc.. the leather looks and fells like shell cordovan but i couldn’t find anything about it…
    any thoughts ??
    thanks

  14. Hi David,
    I’m just curious, I’ve never seen you write anything about Dexter shoes.. and maybe for good reason, I don’t know. I’m a vintage Florsheim kinda guy, with a few pairs of Allen Edmonds also. The reason I’m asking about the Dexter is I’ve bought couple pairs on ebay in the last year or so, ($30 – 40) excellent condition. one burgundy plain toe and the other is a rich brown brogue .. exactly like the 93602. They are Goodyear welted, appear to be well built and they are super comfortable. I would love to know your opinion on the make, and the general quality of them. I’m not sure how old they are, or even if there is a way of aging them. But they have an old feel and look to them. The Dexter name on the rubber heels, and the “leather soles” stamp on the sole. Any information would be very appreciated David, thanks for your time.

      1. Thanks David, I never knew about the Sibley’s connection.. and thanks for the link, they do indeed look like quality shoes, and I can certainly vouch for their comfort level.

  15. I’m a big Dexter fan. From the early 1970s to the early 1980s, Dexter wingtips were what I bought when I wanted a good quality, reasonably priced longwing. Over that span of years, the price ranged from $24 to $30. I have seven pairs. I would sell my two pairs of restored Florsheim Imperials before I’d sell my Dexters.

    1. Hi Mark, I just wondered since you are a big fan of Dexter.. do you know of any way you can date them with the serial numbers etc?

      1. Sorry, but I don’t understand Dexter’s numbering system. I’ve wondered about it myself.

  16. Amazing guide, using your example as a reference for my recently purchased pair of 93602s. Do you have any tips on how I could remove some polish that caked up inside the brogue? Many thanks!

    1. i’m not the guy you’re replying to, but caked polish can be remove with a toothbrush and lexol. that’s the gentlest method, otherwise diluted vinegar or rubbing alcohol also works. wait for it to dry then condition the shoe thoroughly because this will dry the leather out. get as much off while dry with a sharpened bamboo chopstick or some toothpicks and the job is much easier.

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