“The first impression is also the last impression, which is why it is important to always wear clean shoes. You don’t wish to be remembered as the stain on the rug.” — Lewis H. Lapham, 1998
Did you ever hear that people will judge you based on your shoes?
Often it’s one of the first things we notice about a person. Perhaps because we’re looking down at our phones all the time.
And it’s not just supposition; shoes accurately reflect aspects of the wearer in terms of status, personality, and politics.
In a 2012 study, researchers found that observers were able to correctly guess several characteristics about shoe owners, including:
Age
Gender
Income
Attachment anxiety (how concerned someone is about being rejected or abandoned in close relationships)
These judgments were made based on factors such as the style of the shoes, brand or designer labels, overall condition and upkeep, and color choices.1
The upkeep and condition are what we’re focusing on today.
With the demise of shoe shine stands in cities, it becomes incumbent upon shoe owners to take care of that duty. The good news is that it’s fairly simple.
How to Shine Dress Shoes
For leather dress shoes, first use a damp cloth to remove any surface dirt. Then use a cream, such as Saphir Medaille d'Or Pommadier Cream with a shoe shine chamois to condition and recolor your shoes.
Let it sit for at least 5 minutes, and then buff it using a horsehair brush.
For a higher gloss and a bit of protection, you can then apply more of a traditional shoe polish, such as the Saphir Medaille d’Or Pate De Luxe wax shoe polish. That also goes on with a chamois and gets buffed with the brush.
With both the cream and the wax polish, you can find different hues that match your leather. Or simply use a neutral color to avoid miscoloring.
You can watch Kirby Allison demonstrate the process in this leather shoe shine tutorial:
All of these products are available through the links above or via the Classy AF Store. When you purchase from these links, it supports the newsletter.
Thanks, and I hope you look Classy AF in those shiny kicks!
Omri Gillath, Angela J. Bahns, Fiona Ge, and Christian S. Crandall, “Shoes as a source of first impressions,” Journal of Research in Personality 46 (2012): 423-430.
As we were saddle soaping and polishing our shoes together fifty years ago, my father David W. Livingston said to me: "Take care of your shoes and your teeth, sweetheart, and nobody will know you are from the poor side of town."
He had an uncanny ability to get to the substance of wisdom, like the day he saw my 7th grade eyes covered in blue eye shadow. "Sweetheart" he said, "make up is to enhance your natural beauty, not cover it up." I never have worn loud make up since then, seeing that the best look is the one that let's your inner and outer beauty shine through. I still saddle soap and buff my leather shoes.