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Considering Color 8 Indy's - Looking for pics

I'm strongly considering my first pair of Aldens (Indy) and thus my first cordovan color 8's. If anyone would be so kind as to post pics of your broken in/older pairs of anything color 8, I'd love to see how they mature over time. I've found some pics online but you gents typically provide more insight than I could find on my own. Thanks all. I
 
This quite an interesting article about aging color 8. http://horween.com/products/brownout/ . I have a pair of color 8 loafers that have 4-5 seasons on them. Some areas are showing a dark green cast, some definite lightening in the overall color. Also have some
dark brown (basically AE's color 8) chukkas - these are developing nicely.


$AEChukkas.jpg
 
This quite an interesting article about aging color 8. http://horween.com/products/brownout/ . I have a pair of color 8 loafers that have 4-5 seasons on them. Some areas are showing a dark green cast, some definite lightening in the overall color. Also have some
dark brown (basically AE's color 8) chukkas - these are developing nicely.


View attachment 522056

Rick, those look spectacular! It's quite interesting to see the various stages of shell and the possible variations. Thanks for
posting and also sharing that article.
 
I have some wolverines in color 8 chromexcel.

My suggestion would be to NOT get color 8 unless it is actual cordovan. Chromexcel looks like garbage, is very hard to get decent shine on, and the shine fades and scratches quickly. Which is a pity, because I like the color itself, the leather is just not good for my purposes.

Your intentions and requirements may be different, of course. I work a white collar job in a blue collar environment. I need to go from a shop floor to doing presentations and the like, and the color 8 chromexcel just goes from shined to absolute dull and scratched up in the course of a single morning.

After much frustration, I bought a pair of redwing beckman's. They don't scratch as easily, and they take a nice shine that lasts the week.

Just my two cents.

Even in the photo above showing an example of "good" color 8, you can see a pasty, waxy cast that makes the leather look old, but not in a good way. Apologies to the owner, I intend no offense.
 
Even in the photo above showing an example of "good" color 8, you can see a pasty, waxy cast that makes the leather look old, but not in a good way. Apologies to the owner, I intend no offense.
No offense taken thery do look a bit rough I agree. In fairness to shell cordovan though, I just returned from a one week trip to Glasgow (plenty of rain) and wore these every day all day and just gave them a very quick whisk over with a dry brush before the pic. They will take and hold an amazing shine - almost hovers above the shoe - more than adequate for all but the most formal business meeting. I think that Chromexcel tends to develop a matt finish and it doesn't surprise me that it might not shine up well.
 
Those shell Alden's look great. No comparison to CXL. Shell is more of a dressy look vs CXL. And I'm a big fan of it. Here are some #8 CXL toe caps.
 
Those shell Alden's look great. No comparison to CXL. Shell is more of a dressy look vs CXL. And I'm a big fan of it. Here are some #8 CXL toe caps.

So those toes are shell and the rest CXL? Those are wild!
 
So those toes are shell and the rest CXL? Those are wild!

No, only the cap and heel counter are #8 CXL . The rest of the boot is what that company calls "distressed " brown. You can see that CXL just doesn't have the deep burgundy like shell and that is about the best shine I can get. I think shell can get a mirror shine.
 
No offense taken thery do look a bit rough I agree. In fairness to shell cordovan though, I just returned from a one week trip to Glasgow (plenty of rain) and wore these every day all day and just gave them a very quick whisk over with a dry brush before the pic. They will take and hold an amazing shine - almost hovers above the shoe - more than adequate for all but the most formal business meeting. I think that Chromexcel tends to develop a matt finish and it doesn't surprise me that it might not shine up well.

Ah, those are actual shell, and not chromexcel. That explains why the look so much better than mine.
 
No, only the cap and heel counter are #8 CXL . The rest of the boot is what that company calls "distressed " brown. You can see that CXL just doesn't have the deep burgundy like shell and that is about the best shine I can get. I think shell can get a mirror shine.

Got it. Didn't realize they made CXL color 8.
 
Found some pics of broken in cigar shell as well. Wow, just stunning. I envision some color 8 and cigar in my future...
 
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