I'm pretty much finished with these "for now" as I want to wear them a bit. This is a timeline of photos. The first picture is an eBay listing picture, the second is how they arrived. A big difference in color for sure. It's all in the lighting! 😎 I decided to take them all the way down to the factory color with Renomat.Pic #3 Then I started bringing them back with some Renovator for nourishment and a little softening of the leather and color.Then I started with a couple of coats of burgundy shoe cream pic 4. Then I switched to medium brown for 2 light coats Pic #5 to soften the redness as t was almost looking purple. After that I did a couple of burnishing coats of dark brown on the front toe caps and heel counters to add a little dimension, and then some neutral wax polish for the toe cap and heel counters for a little pop of shine but nothing too shiny. New laces and we are ready for a trial run!! 😎 I love shoes and I love the care and maintenance of my collection. While I do have some more expensive shoes, there is something quite satisfying about finding a great pair of second hand shoes and bringing them back to life. I am always on the look out!! If you haven't tried it you should! It's not an expensive thing to get into and it can be rewarding and therapeutic!!

Have any of you guys tried using AI to see how clothing looks on you, before you buy something? Its great. You plug in a Pic of yourself, a Pic of the clothes you want to try on, and you can see it on you before you buy it. Or, if you have a closet full of clothes you can make a weekly wardrobe selection I used my vacation pic, and generated a whole spring/summer and fall/winter wardrobe.

I got these dark chili Allen Edmond monkstraps a while back. They are the shoes that I bought because I like the esthetic, but never really knew how to wear them except with chinos and polo. As I'm getting ready to polish them, the thought came to mind that I should be getting more use out of these. Any suggestions? PS. They look the way they do because I just cleaned all the old wax off the toes with saddle soap and they are still drying.

Since my last visits here, I've gotten a TON of new stuff from estate sales, mostly art but some clothes and shoes as well. These two pair are from this weekend's haul. A pair of Florsheim loafers and a pair of Bruno Magli wingtips, with seude and leather. I polished both of these since buying. The Florsheim's were pretty much like new, but the Bruno's were pretty beat. They still have some character marks, but they are certainly wearable still. Pretty unique too. ($15 for both pair)

Traveling today to watch one of my younger sons 2 best friends graduate today. He is now officially 1 of 50 in our State Police “SORT”! He’s also one of the youngest to have ever reached this level if not the youngest. He has eaten at my dinner table on average 3 nights a week since middle school and this was always his dream!! I couldn’t be any prouder!! So happy to see him fulfill a life long dream!!