Buying Guide: Vintage Shoes

Bigger than a blog post, this buying guide was originally posted at VintageVixen.com back in '06. We transferred it to our blog as we ready for a redesign of our website. Though it's long, it's a worthwhile find for the vintage shoe hound.

Finding great vintage shoes is no easy feat! We see old shoes by the thousands at Vintage Vixen, but we pick only the best available. And we can pick'em! Gorgeous leather, glamorous satin, funky vinyl and even fur & feathers can be had in vintage footwear. It's easy to get carried away with fabulous vintage shoes, but a smart shopper will know about more than just great style. One of the most appealing things about vintage shoes is quality. Many shoes of the last century into the 1950s were hand-lasted, hand-stitched and of incredible caliber. Finding a handmade shoe today is close to impossible, unless your budget is several hundred dollars per pair. For this reason, vintage shoes are an unbeatable value when condition matches quality. The other big reason for buying vintage is style. Whether you're going elegant or glam, hand-pieced kidskin and rhinestone-studded lucite heels simply don't exist in modern clothing shops. Vintage shoes provide an entirely unique world of options. The main challenge in vintage shoe-shopping is that they're often small sizes and narrow widths. Anything larger than a ladies' size 7 or so is relatively hard to find. Luckily, vintage shoes of the last century are usually carefully sized with numbers and letters that include detailed width information (see sizing below). Check for stamped lettering at the inside of the heel or ankle strap, or along the inside edge of a boot. Casual shoes and slippers sometimes mark this information on the outsole. The other tricky facet of shoe-shopping is condition. Vintage shoes are potentially the most used and yet still quite wearable. They may have seen miles of hard pavement but the uppers (the top part, above the soles) are still in excellent shape. So vintage shoes are often Jekyll & Hyde when it comes to condition, and if you see something described as "worn" that won't necessarily mean "worn out". Often it's the most well-loved shoes that have the most appealing designs, and if you love them too, they can be resoled. The cost we see is usually $30-40 minimum. On the other hand, finding shoes that have never been worn is not only possible, it's a heyday for the savvy shopper. New-old stock shoes are often best bets because their insoles are not yet molded into someone else's foot shape. Also, the only likely condition flaw is a heel tap to be replaced (under $5 at the repair shop), or perhaps a few scuffs from movement in storage.

From the Vintage Vixen Archives 1930s Black Patent Leather & Net Peep-Toe Shoes 1940s Open-Toed Snake Skin Heels Cinderella Clear Lucite & Rhinestone Spring-o-lator Heels Fantastic 1960s Floral-Embroidered Canvas Go-Go Boots

Vintage & Collectible Shoes Info at About.com

Sizing Unlike vintage garments, vintage shoe sizes have not changed to a substantial degree over the years. The size marked on a vintage shoe should correspond to roughly the same size of a modern shoe, though vintage shoes are often narrower than contemporary ones. Because of this, we list the actual marked size for shoes in our online catalog, instead of assigning a modern size equivalent. That being said, a lady with a modern size 7.5 foot may range from a 7 to an 8 in vintage shoes depending on the era of the shoe and the maker. To be certain of fit, you should measure a pair of your own shoes across the ball of the foot, and from toe to heel and compare. Make sure the pair you measure has the same heel height as the pair you're looking at on our site. Also take into account whether the toes of the shoe are pointed. A pointed shoe you wish to buy online may not match a rounded toe you're measuring because of the different "silhouette". You should not measure your own feet to compare with the shoes' measurements on our site. It's a nice perk that vintage shoes often have detailed width information. Width of vintage shoes is described by the letter after the shoe size (for example, a shoe size 7 B). Letters range from AAAAA to D, and better quality vintage shoes often have two widths for a custom fit - the first width is the toebox, the second is for the heel.

Care & Feeding Vintage shoes, whether they've seen pavement or not, have components like rubber, glue and leather that age differently than most garments do. Rubber can crumble, glue can lose adhesiveness, and leather can become dry and brittle. The older the shoe (or the poorer its quality or storage conditions) the more likely this will happen. Most shoes mid-1960s and later have little of this sort of wear, but 1930s to 60s shoes may need occasional care - and shoes earlier than this should be generally treated like the elders they are. Here are a few tips to help with maintenance: Rubber - Heel taps and sometimes the entire sole is made of rubber. You can see cracks or feel crumbling; if the shoe has been worn, you can see the angle at which the previous owner walked and scraped the rubber away. Heel taps are easily replaceable at a shoe repair shop, so they are not an issue when purchasing. They should be replaced promptly though, as building up the heel is the more expensive alternative. Rubber soles, if crumbling or tacky, will not get better with time. Glue - Can be a surprise problem, if the sole of the shoe suddenly falls away from the upper! This would rarely be a possibility except with some vintage sneakers or lesser quality shoes (where the sole is glued instead of stitched to the upper). A shoe repair person will have the right kind of glue to re-attach the parts, as regular craft glue is not strong enough. If we suspect a shoe may have this problem, we bend the sole to listen for cracking and feel for shifting of the sole. Most soles that have come unglued can be repaired for reliable use. Leather - Preventive maintenance is the key here. Leather becomes dry over time, leaving it less supple and more likely to tear. When shopping in-person, you should bend the leather a bit and listen/feel for cracking. Supple leather is strong leather. Cracking means it's brittle and likely won't stand up to hard wear. To avoid dryness, leather needs moisturizer in the form of saddle soap and leather conditioners. Some ridged or scaled leathers like alligator may not do well with saddle soap, if the texture makes it hard to remove all the saddle soap. You can also find liquid moisturizers for leather of this type. To clean a pair of leather shoes, apply a light amount of saddle soap, buff into the leather and then remove as much as possible by buffing it out with a dry, clean cloth. Saddle soap will lightly moisturize, but for preventive maintenance or dried-out leather, use a conditioner like neat's foot oil. If you should ever get leather wet, fill the shoe with newspaper to help it dry, and take it to a cleaners as soon as possible. Liquid lines will appear as the leather dries. You can lessen these by buffing the leather with a soft cloth as it dries, but they're hard to remove entirely once dry. Suede - The same rules apply with suede as with leather. Suede, however, is more testy than leather and less forgiving when wet. Fabric - Because shoes see much more abrasion than most garments, fabric is more likely to fray at the bottom edge of the upper. Brocades and satins are the most common to fray due to the way these fabrics are woven. You can stop fray with a product called Fray-Check, but this could discolor fabric as well (test first). Better yet, wear special occasion fabric shoes with caution. Utility fabrics like canvas are not likely to have these issues. Before you wear a newly purchased pair of vintage shoes, wear them around the house awhile. Make sure they're comfortable and strong enough for street use. Shoes that spent the last few decades in retirement may need some observation before you can wear them carefree. A walk-around may show you that a heel will need replacing soon, or that you'd like the soles evened out a touch. Foam inserts can also "re-size" shoes a bit while providing better comfort, and they give worn shoes a fresher interior. One last tip before wearing - better quality shoes often have hand-lasted leather soles that were molded and finished only as custom shoes would be made today. In new-old stock shoes, these smooth soles should be scored before they're worn so that the wearer avoids slipping. Scoring is a simple process - the smooth sole is marked up with criss-crossing slices of a sharp blade like an Exacto. This should be done carefully for the shoes' sake, but more importantly for the one wielding the knife! If you're afraid of doing this, the other option is to add a rubber tread at the cobbler's.

Anatomy of a Shoe

Sign of quality - Hand-molded patent leather appliques. 1940s era genuine snake skin with metallic finish. Maker stamped in one sole, exclusive shop stamped in the other.

Best Foot Forward To sum up, there's no better investment than exquisite vintage shoes with lots of life left. Shopping for vintage shoes is a rewarding task if you remember to seek out excellent quality and condition. These lists are a smart summary of hunting tips for the well-shod. Print them out and go shopping! Go for quality: genuine patent leather or full-grain leather genuine alligator, reptile or other exotic leathers hand-lasted soles shoes with real wood or leather stacked heels (not a stacked look molded from plastic) shoes made in Italy or Spain shoes with a maker stamped in one insole, and the shop that carried the shoe in the other insole (indicates exclusivity and/or expense) shoes with extensive sizing information (indicate they're custom and expensively made) Avoid these things if you want shoes you can wear daily: shoes made before the 1950s brittle, stiff or dry leather the beginning of breaks in the material at points of stress leather already repaired most suedes, although sueded leather is less finicky crocking suede (meaning that the suede dusts off little by little. This generally indicates lesser quality, though all suede crocked until the 1940s/50s) vinyl if it's cracked or peeling tacky residue on the insoles Happy shopping! ---April Ainsworth

To Wash Or Not To Wash?

When it comes to the clothing you wear every day, the answer to this question is obvious. But when talking vintage clothing, and especially antique garments, the answer is not often so clear.

We at Vintage Vixen include recommended washing instructions for all the vintage goodies in our catalog. These instructions are what we'd do to wash and/or care for the item. While you could read instructions item by item and learn our standards of care via the catalog, I thought a good overview of how we wash, dry, press & steam clothing would also be helpful, so you can decide how to best protect your vintage clothes.

I've divided the basic cleaning processes into various stress levels in the table below. The table outlines the kinds of washing processes, drying processes and wrinkle treatments you commonly use in clothing care, and it's sorted from most stressful to least. This addresses the question of "should this garment be washed?" based on its fragility, fiber and age. The question of whether a fiber is washable or dry cleanable (without considering its age) is addressed in our daily care tips .

Most Stressful	Dry Cleaning	Machine Dry	Hard Ironing	Durable dry-clean only fabrics	Many items, primarily 1940s and later
	Machine Wash	Machine Dry	Iron or Hard Press	Durable washable fabrics, post-1940s synthetics	Many items, primarily 1940s and later
	Gentle Machine Wash	Drip Dry	Pressing	Durable silk & rayon, some cottons, linens, wools	Most wearable vintage clothing in washable fibers
	Hand Wash	Dry Flat	Steaming	Antique cotton and linen, some silks & rayons, many types of knits	Items that are being conserved (with dual goals of display and preservation)
Least Stressful	No Washing	N/A	None	Antique silk, most clothing pre-1890 or so	"Retired" clothing; items that must be preserved

Please note that you could certainly combine a more "stressful" machine
wash with a flat drying and no pressing or steaming, for instance. Also note that this chart uses generalizations. For example, most antique cottons hold up to hand washing, not all. Most silks handle dry cleaning well, but some must be hand-washed. Many synthetics of the 1960s & 70s need no pressing or steaming, though they'd withstand the process. Myriad factors determine washability & other treatments, including the fabric's weave, the possibility of running dyes, the fragility & prior use/abuse of the fabric, etc., and each garment has to be assessed as the individual it is.

That being said, we can still make some good use of these generalizations. Let's start with the washing process. I've placed dry cleaning as more stressful than machine washing only because the dry cleaning attendant is not likely to be as observant as you are toward your own clothes. Cleaners should look for garments that potentially damageable (or damaging to other items cleaned in the same load). However, leaving a prized vintage garment in their hands is only advisable if you trust them already. If not, you should assume machine dry cleaning is acceptable only for very sturdy garments that are not rare or antique. Dry cleaning by hand (essentially an all-over spot cleaning) is also possible. We do this here, but it's rare to find a professional dry cleaner who will provide this service.

A dry cleaning machine is actually quite similar to the clothes washer you're already familiar with. The major difference is that its solvent is dry cleaning fluid instead of soap & water (dry cleaning isn't actually a "dry" process at all).

Regular machine washing is separate from the gentle cycle because the latter is indeed kinder to clothes - there are generally fewer and lower agitations in a gentle cycle. The gentle cycle is distinctly different than hand washing, however, and the gap between the two is pretty large, although the latest generation of washing machines is changing that, as some now offer both a gentle cycle and a "hand wash" in the machine.

In a traditional hand wash, not only can you work the garment as slowly as you like, but you can also observe it much more closely than in any washing machine. It's much easier to start a washing machine and forget about a garment than if it's in your hands. A hand wash will allow you to see dyes runnings, and perceive fabric tearing or wool shrinking as it occurs, so you can minimize damage or avoid it altogether. Also, the regular agitation of a machine can contribute to pilling, while hand washing does not.

If you prefer to use the gentle machine cycle over hand-washing, to alleviate the additional stress you can encase the item in a net bag or pillowcase to buffer its movements. For those considering traditional hand-washing, it can actually be quite meditative, if this helps persuade those averse to spending the time!

The one exception to not cleaning is when the garment has some known stain that would attract pests. While dirt alone does not attract pests (because it's not a food source), something like oil or starch would.

It seems pretty obvious that the least stressful way to wash something is not to wash it. Some antique clothing should, in my opinion, not be washed or worn. If respect for its age outweighs the thrill of the wear, then it should likely not be washed, except for necessary spot-cleaning under careful and well-prepared hands (see Wearability Factors). Antique garments in archival storage are not washed, as the stress of cleaning far outweighs any helpfulness obtained by removing dirt or dust. A sound archive will keep dust, pests, and other "enemies" out by prevention rather than cleaning.

Next, we're on to drying processes. The same agitation rules apply here - machine drying rolls clothes around (i.e. it stresses them), and the dry cleaner's machines are quite similar to home dryers. We often recommend that busy people who don't want to hand wash should at least drip dry/dry flat their knits, to reduce pilling and that worn, fuzzy-surface look that acrylic & cotton knits get. Drip-drying is more helpful for thick garments that need even exposure to all surfaces, while drying flat is better for knits and other items that might pull out of shape on a hanger. Make sure to use a molded, thick hanger that supports the garment if you drip dry.

How you remove wrinkles can make a huge change in the lifespan of your vintage clothes. I'll touch on fiber types as they relate to this subject, but I want to focus on the wear factor of ironing versus pressing & steaming. Some fabrics, like cotton and linen, need a hard ironing and/or pressing to make them look really great. Many wools, cotton blends & linen blends will need a gentler version of the same. Although you must press or iron to make your garment wrinkle-free, the friction and pressure of ironing is stressful to the fabric. Try to press instead of actually ironing; a vintage garment should be pampered in this department. Use a press-cloth (just a piece of plain unbleached medium-weight fabric) between your garment and the iron to shield against friction and unwanted shine marks.

What's the difference between pressing & ironing? Pressing is a drop-down & pick-up movement with the iron, while ironing is a back-and-forth movement of iron gliding over fabric. Ironing is faster, but it can stretch or distort fabric, while pressing cannot.

The next gentlest method of removing wrinkles is via a garment steamer. This equipment is one of the handiest tools in clothing care; it's definitely not a gimmick product though we suggest buying quality. A steamer boils water in its reservoir, then the steam arrives at the end of a handy wand that you apply at (or near) the fabric. The steam allows you to quickly remove wrinkles from fabrics that don't accept ironing or pressing well. It's very efficient and much less harsh than an iron, as it omits the friction & pressure factors.

Many garments we sell are wash and wear, as people's lifestyles dictated easy-care fashion in later decades of last century. Earlier decades largely went without the luxuries of synthetic blends and technologies like permanent press, so these clothes often need additional attention for this reason. Likewise, the greater the age, the more respect the item deserves.

When in doubt, go easy on the fabrics you care for. A careful choice at laundry time can mean a world of difference to the life of your clothing!

--- April Ainsworth

Silent Muses in Closets & Collections

Though this article was first published at vintagevixen.com in 2005, it's still relevant to the vintage clothing world today. We're posting it on our blog as we sweep clean our old site design, and gear up for a total facelift to appear in the next few days. Stay tuned! :) Magazines continue to proclaim wearing vintage is stylish, unique and shows no sign of letting up. The trend has become so mainstream that recent articles are beyond introducing vintage to readers; now they explain how to select vintage that meshes well with contemporary closets. Rummaging for vintage gems has become a conventional shopping trip. Lara Zamiatin, an Australian reporter, states "vintage is the trend du jour of the early noughties". Yet fashionistas sometimes point to vintage clothing as a passing fad, usually because of the perennial revamp designers seem to put on runways season after season. So is vintage clothing still a fresh idea, or is it old hat? Judging by our business, the popularity of vintage clothing with consumers is strong as ever. Why? It's difficult to replace the panache of a one-of-a-kind vintage design with the mass production available from designers, however "vintage" these mass-produced ideas may look. The level of quality attainable for a low price is also impossible to repeat when contemporaries remake vintage designs. The price point for a 1950s vintage cocktail dress is often half as much as a comparable remake from moderately-priced lines like Ann Taylor or Anthropologie. While it's possible to buy high-end remade vintage looks (think longstanding retro houses like Missoni and Pucci), prices are sky-high compared to vintage counterparts. Designers too have a long relationship with vintage clothing, which in turn has spurred the demand for authentic vintage. Many design houses have been "sampling" prior generations of clothing for inspiration for years, refuting the idea that vintage clothing was ever just a fad. One intriguing example is in the movie Fashions of 1934, produced the same year as its title. The plot shows style pirates traveling to Paris for the latest modes, where amusingly they discover that Parisian couturiers of the day are digging in local street markets for inspiration from illustrated Victorian books. This seventy-year-old film bolsters the notion that vintage inspiration is anything but old news. It's been more like a design tool for those in the know, and once was a chic secret... at least until the last decade or so. So vintage clothing is still hot, and was (in some capacity) even in 1934. Today everyone from American Eagle to Marc Jacobs uses vintage clothing as a jumping-off point for their latest lines. While we know that this process is not new, a second question arises - is such "borrowing" a sign of creativity or plagiarism? Despite fervent debate over this question, general consensus says that interpretation is legit, but line-for-line copies are not. A case in point: Yves Saint Laurent's legal victory over Ralph Lauren for a dress Lauren exactly copied in 1994. The original was from a YSL collection in the 1970s. So skirmishes over vintage-inspired designs have occurred, and at least some boundaries have been established. But what about vintage clothing sold as part of a modern clothing line? Vintage clothing is tagged and sold in contemporary boutiques like Ralph Lauren's Double RL, DKNY, Jill Stuart and Barney's. Vintage decor is displayed for sale at Anthropologie, whose own descriptor is "fashion : home : found". That last word found blurs the line between vintage and new. So when someone like Jill Stuart graces a vintage garment with her seal of approval, does its je ne sai quois double? Or is it bad form for a designer to pluck a vintage piece and openly claim it as a tangible muse? It could go both ways. For example, the value of designer-chosen vintage designs increase if buyers value the designer's judgment and selection. Buying the designer's own vintage choice is like having the designer shop for you... and they've pulled that one high-style score out of the vintage clothing jungle. In this case, the customer adores the vintage piece and appreciates its careful placement in the designer's shop. We could say it's savvy marketing on the part of the designer. One could also say that these designers have become vintage dealers. However, the display of vintage clothing alongside a designer's new creations turns the design house inside-out. It shows the buyer that the designer used someone else's ideas, and the true "original" comes not from the designer's hand but from some unknown source (probably a vintage clothing dealer with a good eye). Charlie Porter of The Guardian commiserates about Balenciaga: "The clothes sold by labels... are so good, you want them to be completely original. Often, it seems, they are not." And the vintage piece itself could've been found for less through the dealer himself, but no longer. And the customer might buy the vintage item but leave with the feeling that the designer's a copycat; or at least less creative than originally thought. Is this really good for a fashion house? Perhaps not, but Pandora's box is wide open at this point. Vintage garments parade the runways in contemporary collections and the clandestine sourcing of retro ideas is no longer really anyone's secret. This isn't necessarily bad, or the end of mainstream popularity for vintage clothing. Media attention shows it's just the beginning, although designers are now competing with the public for the best vintage available. They may someday regret the loss of formerly little-known vintage clothing contacts. Perhaps the advent of the Internet helped create this shift in vintage clothing sources, but designers have embraced showing their vintage roots for years now. And while we have a vested interest in seeing vintage clothing as enjoyable and wearable, decades of designers have also shown us old clothes are the foundation for new. And vintage designs will always sought-after for their irreplaceable chic. ---April Ainsworth Bibliography: Eden, Diana and Lintermans, Gloria (2001). Retro Chic: A Guide To Fabulous Vintage and Designer Resale Shopping in North America & Online. Toronto: Really Great Books. http://www.bc.edu/bc_org/avp/law/st_org/iptf/articles/content/1997121201.html http://www.guardian.co.uk/g2/story/0,,681586,00.html http://www.smh.com.au/articles/2004/05/25/1085442126328.html?from=storyrhs&oneclick=true