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Doesn't anybody polish their shoes anymore?

Luc

"To Wiki or Not To Wiki, That's The Question".
Staff member
I brush and polish all my shoes and boots yes. Even by bright blue Doc Martens!
 
I find that shoe polishing has the same "zen-like" quality as shaving. I polish my shoes regularly even though I almost always wear trainers. At least when I do wear a pair of lace ups they look good.
 
Not much more to say

Denny


thank you....

one of the problems that I see today is the quality of the shoe brush that is available. the ones that my father and I have are very very dense with horse hair, while the ones i see for sale on the internet are a lot less quality.

mine is probably from the 60's and my fathers is from 1959 (when he went into service).

does the military in the px sell a high quality brush anymore ???
 
Admittedly, I don't polish my shoes, and this is coming from someone who learned how to polish shoes at a young age. It is mostly laziness, and the need to remove non-essentials, and re-balance things that seem like burdens that are not. Another reason why I do not really like polishing my shoes is to go for the vintage inspired look when it comes to certain shoes. This does not apply to my dress shoes, and looking good for church.
 

Alacrity59

Wanting for wisdom
Yes I am my own manservant . . . I'm a massive believer in maintenance and before that buying quality. mostly I'd rather do without until I can afford things that will last . . . and when you buy shoes that will last . . . well you polish them.
 

OldSaw

The wife's investment
I wholeheartedly agree, but I think it goes far beyond the shoes.

I work in health care (clinical pharmacy), and in the department most of the staff is female. They all dress reasonably well, but the men dress horribly. Most of them work in jeans with baggy sweaters or crumbled up shirts. Aside from the boss, I'm the only guy in the department who actually wears a dress shirt to work (ironed, nonetheless). As for the shoes, wearing clean shoes seems difficult (one guy works in dirty Converse shoes of mismatched color with holes and no laces...).

I believe they do this to "stand out" by not conforming to standards, but as it is, I'm the one who stands out by dressing well.

I believe this is the new rebellion. You rebel you.
 
I agree that well cared-for shoes are essential to a man's dress wardrobe.

I would use caution in over-doing it to the point of making my shoes always look spotless.

I think there's a point where a woman will take a good, long look at a guy who spends as much time thinking about his shoes on a daily basis as she does, and make the assessment that he is really not someone who could be swayed into her corner, if you know what I mean . . .

The ladies always act like they want the impeccable-dresser, but experience has shown me that they're more comfortable with the one who lets certain little details go.

But for job interviews, I say polish away.
 
I can't believe the number of people I see on the train in the morning heading to work that have a suit and tie on, and shoes that look like they were stolen from a homeless shelter. How hard is it to give them a clean and polish once a week? It seems like another one of those simple tasks that has fallen by the wayside.

When was the last time you saw a train full of people with polished shoes? This kind of thing went out with DE razors...
 
When my office was in Manhattan, the shoeshine guy came around 2-3 times per week to shine your shoes right at your desk, so my shoes were always perfect.

Now that I am in Garden City, shoeshines are not as easy to come by. There is a guy who comes to our building, but at most he shows up twice a month, so I either do them myself or bring them to the cobbler. Sadly, this means that my Allen-Edmonds aren't quite as impeccable as they used to be. :blush:

Where's Mark when you need him?
 
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I've come to hate dressing nice and/or wearing a suit but I'll tell you what, should I have to wear a suit or dress nice you'll never catch this guy without the shiniest shoes in the house and the most well appointed set of clothes a man could ask for.

My drill instructor said one time, "It's better to never put the suit on then to put it on wrong".

My thought on job interviews (besides wanting to never have to go to one again) is that a suit is mandatory no matter what the position.

My thought on sandles..... :thumbdown
 
Interesting how many of us weigh in on this thread. I'm guessing the attention to shaving applies to other areas of our life.

I'm not super fastidious about it, but I don't let the shine degrade much. I too am bewildered by someone nicely turned out with shabby looking shoes.
 
If shoeshines are like anything else sold on the streets of NYC, all the spots are tightly controlled and you'd be risking a beatdown if you just showed up and started working one day!


I wouldn't work the street...i was invited bya B&B member to his office. I would think it would be a hoot to travel around and do that. If a person had the time and money to do it...:thumbup:
 
I wear steel toe boots to work and barely dress up. Only for special occasions.
That being said, my shoes only need a quick dusting from sitting in the closet all the time. As far as sandals and flip flops go, I have a nice pair of leather Merrell flip flops that I like to wear in the summer. I don't see anything wrong as long as they are in good repair. However, I do not wear them with long pants.

Aaron
 
I wear Red Wing steel-toe boots to work everyday. Monday morning I always take the time to polish them. Like shaving it is a relaxing ritual. Time to get started!
 
I just wanted to clarify on my sandle comment above. It's not that I care if someone wears sandles (flip flops) or not, just that maybe some of these folks should consider when it's appropriate and when it's not. Sitting in your back yard - appropriate.....attending a wedding - not so appropriate. :biggrin1:
 
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