Q&A - How do you take care of your shoes and some other things (?)

I’ve been really bad and lazy in terms of answering questions but I will try to mend my way on this. I will actually start going through the questions on weekly basis and have every Sunday a round-up of the questions with answers. So if you have something in mind - please feel free to shoot!

And starting with a few couple of questions I’ve got just recently.

Q: “I love the shine on your shoes! What method do you use to take care of / shine them?”

A:

First of all, thanks for this! Although I need to admit that for a while now I haven’t been really active in terms of polishing my shoes. For some reason I’ve more and more into the idea that just basic brushing and wiping with a soft cloth after use are enough to keep them in balance. And then I just let them age and get some patina…

So the most important thing to do for myself - every time after the use I take the pair and brush off the dirt from the uppers and from the soles before putting the shoe trees in and setting the shoes back to rack. And most of times when I take the shoes from the rack in the morning I give them a little wiping with a soft cotton cloth.

For polishing I’ve managed by mainly following the instructions by AFPOS that can be found from here.

To put it shortly - this how I do it.

1. Brush off the dirt.
2.  Use the renovator - to condition and moisturize the leather. Applying this with a soft cotton cloth - leaving it for a couple of minutes and then brushing / polishing it off.
3. After that I use the Pate de Luxe-wax polishes by Saphir, water and soft cotton cloth - going through the shoe piece by piece 

• Take a soft rag and stretch it over your index and middle finger. Twist the loose ends of cloth until the material is taut over the fingers. Hold the twisted ends as a ball between the thumb and forefinger of the same hand.
• Put a little water into the lid of the polish tin and dip your rag-covered fingers into it to moisten. Put a little shoe polish on the rag and rub onto the leather using small circular movements without using a lot of pressure. Rub on the same spot until you feel a hardening of the wax and slowly a greasy shine should begin to appear.
• If this is not the case after about 15 seconds of regular circular rubbing, take a little more wax, dip your fingers in water and repeat the procedure.
• If the wax still remains soft and you still cannot feel any change, then wait for 30 seconds, take a little more cleaning water and re-work the same spot. When a shine has appeared in one spot, begin with the next. When you have covered the whole shoe in this manner, then lay the next layer over it using more water, less wax and even less pressure. In order to remove the last fine smears the shoe is lightly rubbed with a damp cloth.

So this is mainly how I do it myself.

Q:Hey Atte, great blog! Especially love your SC outfits! I’m interested how your Bexley Jodphurs are holding up. I was considering buying that model instead putting lots of cash into expensive Jodphurs cuz its not the most universal type of shoe on the planet but still to have. How is the quality of the leather, how does it age? Thanks man!

A: 

Cheers! The Jodphur boots by Bexley are doing quite fine. I feel you as Jodphurs really aren’t the most versatile type of shoes and my idea of going with Bexley in the first place was exactly to give the type a try and go with a bit more affordable brand- 

The truth is that I haven’t been wearing them that much that I could really say much about how the leather is ageing but based on my experiences so far and my other pairs from Bexley the quality of the leather is even better than the price would give a reason to believe. In those boots of my it’s thick and beefy in a way but in my opinion for that kind of a shoe it’s just suitable.

The only thing I would change is maybe the that the last on the shoe could be a bit more sleek. But if you are looking all-around boot to be worn with denim, chinos + every now and then with suits or flannel slacks, I’d say the Bexley pair can do the job.

Q: Hello, I absolutely adore your blog, and I was wondering if you, by any chance, have a Twitter?

A:

Thanks for the kind words mate! Actually I believe that I might have a twitter-account (check @dresslikea) but it’s not active in any way though. I might need to get a bit more active on that one.

So again - if you have any questions in mind, shoot!

Best,

-A-