Those are some gorgeous shoes!

Wowzers! Quality like that would be hard to replicate.

Reminds me of my Dad polishing and giving his shoes TLC. His were always with shoe trees in them also.

My dad was lawyer in a downtown Atlanta firm in a big building. As long as he was there a shoeshine guy had a station in the back of the lobby and Dad had his shoes shined everytime he went into the office (not every day, he traveled a fair bit). He taught me to take care of my shoes and I keep mine stuffed with tissue in boxes. Before they are put away they are either brushed or cleaned with a leather cleaning wipe (and the insoles wiped with a baby wipe). Some are brushed AND cleaned.

Love those cognac leather shoes, Pal!

The cordovan leather shoes are so burnished that they seem almost purple. I laced the two pair differently because they seem to be almost identical. I would like to have a Horween #8 (that's the color apparently) belt bag to wear with the shoes, but that will have to come later.

Beautiful classics!

My dad's shoes looked like new no matter how old they were. He was almost 90 when he died and you would never know it if you judged by his shoes. My DH's are kept that way as well. Neither ever had monk straps, though they both did/do have loafers.

I like loafers but I have to wear tie shoes.

I had to look up monk straps. Learn something new each day. Nice shoes.

One of the plagues of my childhood was orthopedic shoes in two different sizes. Which seemed to be mostly burgundy until I went to parochial school and they could get one kind of black shoes that was almost orthopedic.

And this playsuit, which I didn't want to wear because babies wore them. Note I still have a baby bottle.

This may be why I like the shell cordovans now.

This would be an aspirational shoe for me, but I will never buy a pair at $900 plus in #8 Shell Cordovan. It's not the color, it's the leather which makes the difference.

And these. You can find a fair number double buckle, but there is frequently--to my eye--something a little off as to how they are executed. There is a fine line between getting something like this right, or getting it wrong.

The first one above is a spectacular👞

Vintage wingtips!

Sigh.

Fabulous shoes!

Excellent taste, Pal. I agree with Outside, they are fabulous!

Fabulous shoes, Pal.

I have fond memories of watching Dad polish his shoes. His wooden shoe shine box has been kept on one of my closet shelves since he passed.

I should clarify that these were all my father's shoes so he was the one with the good taste in shoes:-)

Those are great Pal. I'm happy for you that they still fit!

My feet grew a little bit after I was pregnant. And then really grew after I was on my feet for hours on end, in sneakers, chasing after elementary school kids. I can not fit into shoes I wore 25 years ago.

My feet relaxed a bit because when I was in college, these were too big. I can wear my old shoes from back then but the left one is a tiny bit tight to get on.

Pal, you are lucky those beautiful classic shoes still fit. In my 20’s I was a 7.5; many years later I’m a size 10!

I love all of those, but especially the brown wingtips.

My dad still has a pair of my grandfather’s cowboy boots, and wore them for years. He (Dad) still has his old shoe shine box and, like Allison, I used to watch and help. Just typing this out brings back the smells of the polishes and waxes.

I’m guessing your dad would be tickled that you’ve kept his wonderful shoes.

(Beautiful rug!)

Very nice shoe collection.

This brings back memories of my dad polishing his shoes. He was meticulous.

It also reminded me what a male coworker told me many years ago. He wore a suit to work every day and said getting his shoes shined was the male equivalent of woman getting a pedicure. He loved it and found it very relaxing.

Beautiful shoes Pal. It's so nice you are able to wear and enjoy your father's classic style.

My father had the wooden shoe shine box and one of these gizmos:

There is nothing that ruins an outfit more than scuffed, unkempt shoes. That's how old I am.

@Kswl, I need to borrow your chic granny turban. 😉

I have the same "gizmo" and use it frequently to polish our shoes - works great and kept in garage

Nice collection! Well made leather shoes can last a lifetime when cared for.

I had to wear orthopedic shoes in elementary school, with hard plastic orthotic inserts - boy did I hate that. Along with the dorky glasses I mostly wouldn't wear, I got made fun of a lot. The forms left big calluses on my heels that lingered well into adulthood.

I come from a 'shoe' family - my grandpa started his own manufacturing company, and my dad worked for them as a sales rep. That made it all the harder that I couldn't wear cool stylish shoes like the other girls. I sold shoes in a dept. store too - both men's and women's.

I do miss those days when regular shoes were made all from real leather instead of plastic. Now that's virtually a luxury.

I had a lovely pair of cordovan leather oxfords back in the 80s. I'd love to find another pair.

I miss the days when your foot was measured prior to trying on shoes. Maybe that’s why I can’t remember any of those shoes hurting my feet 🤔

So glad I learned how to properly fit shoes, and what to look for when judging quality. Whenever I brought home a pair of shoes, my dad would always want to examine them to see how well made they were 😏

I remember well having a shoe salesperson measuring my feet for my new school shoes, most likely a pair of cordovan weejuns. Leather, real leather, everything. Which reminds me, from another thread, leather soles allow grounding to happen and that today's rubber soled shoes prevent it.