Thrifting

[Leanderthal]

I found a pair of Vito Rufolo shoes while thrifting today. Anyone ever heard of this company? So far as I can tell they no longer exist. They seemed like good quality. They had been well cared for. Leather was in great condition. Cordovan color, closed lace, semi-brogue wingtip. $9. Passed because I'm not too sure what to wear cordovan with...... ? Trying to decide if I should go back and get them though.

[Leanderthal]

Thrifted and old pair of Johnston & Murphy boots to use for beaters. Cleaned them up and used burgundy cream and black wax to antique them a little bit. Replaced the laces with waxed ones. Didn't turn out half bad for rainy day boots imho.
Before.
After.

[mattdalton]

Better than 'not half bad' I'd say. Nice work, and hope the fit is as good as the new, improved look.

[Leanderthal]

Better than 'not half bad' I'd say. Nice work, and hope the fit is as good as the new, improved look.

Thanks! Fit is perfect. Comfortable too, soft leather insides.

[Wahoo1997]

Found some nice BR merino sweaters. They look and smell clean and I hate to pay to dry clean them right off. How can I make sure they don't have moth eggs? If I put them through the dryer on high without wetting them first, will they still shrink?

[mattdalton]

Putting them in a warm dryer would have a high chance of shrinkage. The other options I have read of (other than dry cleaning) are sunlight exposure and freezing, neither of which should shrink the sweaters. Hopefully this gives you a safer but still low-cost option to try. Good luck.

[DuFrank]

Found some nice BR merino sweaters. They look and smell clean and I hate to pay to dry clean them right off. How can I make sure they don't have moth eggs? If I put them through the dryer on high without wetting them first, will they still shrink?

Fold them, place them in bags, and put them in your freezer overnight. That should do it

[BillN]

Two Boot New York

[cotoks]

[fiftyforfifty]

Fold them, place them in bags, and put them in your freezer overnight. That should do it

Interesting suggestion I must say

[wsupjs]

Wow... a $10 NWT Barbour is a crazy deal.

I don't have much luck thrifting around here. I don't go often anymore ( about once a month), but haven't found anything worthwhile in the last year.

[evanparker]

sorry these pictures are poor at best, but I found this. not exactly the find of my life, but I guess they have a MSRP of $468 new. the main drawback is that it's also covered in cat hair, but I think i got it all off. lol.

[evanparker]

I dug these up last weekend, and i'm still trying to figure out what in the heck they are.





They only say that they have a man-made lining, they are "MADE IN USA" "CROWN" brand, and are pretty good quality. They were completely covered in shoe polish when I got them, they cleaned up to the condition you see them right now. I was hoping they would be shell-cordovan, but the more I look at the surface, I think it might be coated-leather? It really isn't very wrinkly almost at all if that's the case? but I'm frankly baffled. They also don't soak-in shoe polish or leather conditioner almost at all. Weirdly smooth. They're awesome $10 shoes regardless.

I wouldn't be surprised if they were some kind of DEXTER or HANOVER re-brand.

[wsupjs]

I dug these up last weekend, and i'm still trying to figure out what in the heck they are.

They only say that they have a man-made lining, they are "MADE IN USA" "CROWN" brand, and are pretty good quality. They were completely covered in shoe polish when I got them, they cleaned up to the condition you see them right now. I was hoping they would be shell-cordovan, but the more I look at the surface, I think it might be coated-leather? It really isn't very wrinkly almost at all if that's the case? but I'm frankly baffled. They also don't soak-in shoe polish or leather conditioner almost at all. Weirdly smooth. They're awesome $10 shoes regardless.

I wouldn't be surprised if they were some kind of DEXTER or HANOVER re-brand.

More pictures (especially with them off your feet) would help to confirm, but I think there's a pretty good chance those are shell cordovan.

- Those look like shell cordovan rolls, rather than the hard creases you get from calfskin leather or synthetic options.
- The light color in the roll looks like shell bloom
- Shell also doesn't react the same way to polish or conditioner as calfskin.
- More vendors made shell shoes back then (it was seen as a more utilitarian leather rather than high end dress shoe option only due to its durability), so brands outside of the largest ones had shell options. Crown is likely from Florsheim's sub brand

The easiest way to test if it's shell is to see how easily you can buff out that scratch on the right toe. Use the Mac Method (wipe with a damp cloth -> brush vigorously with a horse hair brush -> buff to a shine) without any polish. If the scratch goes away, it's likely shell.

EDIT to add the info about shell bloom.

[DuFrank]

I dug these up last weekend, and i'm still trying to figure out what in the heck they are.





They only say that they have a man-made lining, they are "MADE IN USA" "CROWN" brand, and are pretty good quality. They were completely covered in shoe polish when I got them, they cleaned up to the condition you see them right now. I was hoping they would be shell-cordovan, but the more I look at the surface, I think it might be coated-leather? It really isn't very wrinkly almost at all if that's the case? but I'm frankly baffled. They also don't soak-in shoe polish or leather conditioner almost at all. Weirdly smooth. They're awesome $10 shoes regardless.

I wouldn't be surprised if they were some kind of DEXTER or HANOVER re-brand.

Florsheim Crown Imperials?