This Handmade Shoe Deserves a Second Chance 

Man I watched one video of yours to see what the pros use and now I’ve got my steel toed boots mirror shined with Saphir while I’m marathoning all your videos.

I love watching this I am a 26 year old female who works as an apprentice embalmer and i wear a full 3 piece suit and i love my leather dress shoes. I work with all kinds of crazy chemicals and I'm on my feet all day. This has helped me save my shoes from some crazy embalming mishaps though out the work day. Thank you so much

Seriously, I prefer how The Duke looks. Much more regal, less painted. Although, what do I know about dress shoes, I watch your videos purely because of the extremely satisfying aesthetics.

These shoes are beautiful, I love everything about them, the colors, the shape, the sole, everything. I'd really like to own a pair, maybe in the future, for now I'll just enjoy watching your videos

I love mirror shined shoes that arnt black, they look so good!

I love watching your videos and learning from them!

I remember back in the days when men use to have swagger wearing nice dress shoes and all that what happened to those days.he is doing a good job in shining them shoes.

I loved your lounge music which was missing today please don't forget that the next time it makes the video so much better

20 mn of joy and beauty. Everytime !

Great great content! On a side note, you have such a relaxing voice. I suffer with bad anxiety so listening and watching u is great for me thanks! 🇬🇧

Man the shoes look like art master pieces too good to wear just look at like fine art work. Wow just Wow.

I agree! Good shoes deserve a second chance!

Incredible pair of shoes. You have the best content Preston. Great job on the mirror shine. Great info!

Im finally understanding now that Im methodically watching the japanese shoe shining and your videos. The details definitely matter and I think the biggest thing I did wrong on my first polish was caking on the polish along the vamp 🤣🤣 thank god for your videos.

Made my first purchase from the online store. Very easy process and the site is well put together and easy to navigate. I will be coming to you for all my Saphir needs from now on. Plus I absolutely love your channel and want to see the greatness continue so if it helps that happen I'm all about it. Cheers from Grand Junction, Colorado!

That looks COMPLETELY different and much better. I really thought they were black at first! Well done as always!

I had Triumph toe plates installed on my new Allen Edmonds “cigar” Strands by Potter and Sons (via mail). They did a beautiful job and I highly recommend them!

These shoes are incredible and perfectly reasonable!

Yeossal is awesome! Really considering to get the Duke!

I like the darker colour !

@elegantOxford would you ever consider doing a Chelsea Boot shine? Reasons being: I can’t seem to figure out where to end the mirror polish, and also where to mirror polish on a boot like this?? Anyway thanks love the content! You’ve inspired me to try my hand at this skill!

No, Preston, you're not wrong about the mirror shine! The quality of the leather; the number of coats of wax; the quality of the wax, and the water/alcohol mix, are indeed what make the difference in any mirror shine! I discovered that if I use at least twelve coats of wax, and mix my water and alcohol 50/50, the mirror shine almost jumps off of the shoe, and that's with barely *any* Mirror Gloss!! I laughed when you were blowing the lint off the shoe, when you were waxing it! It's a lesson I learned the hard way, with my very first mirror shine. I knew it had turned to glass, because I could see two pieces of lint, perfectly clearly. It looked like you could pick them off the toe, but of course you couldn't. Fortunately, none of my friends seemed to notice them. I guess that's why they're friends!!

Those are Beautiful shoes. I need a pair

You seemed in good spirits in this video. Keep up the great work, brother!

I agree I prefer the fidleback

Hey Preston, if possible, how would you decontaminate shoe polishes/creams?

Saphir appears to have a number of products that can be used to clean leather shoes, e.g., Cleaning Lotion, Reno Mat, Creme Delicate, and Renovateur. Can you comment on the differences between them and when to use one over the other?

I found that once you have a fairly good shine I find the shine will improve with just water

Burgundy is my favorite color.

Hi, love your videos. I see that you always use acetone. Do you need clean it off with any solutions before renovateur and cream? Thank you.

I watch all of your videos love all of them. I have a question is there anything you have made for matching polish for shoes? I am buying a new shoe/boot and looking for a dark brown to match.

Beautiful job Preston. I'd love to see you get your hands on some Berluti at some point.

I'm from China and I definitely think Chinese factories can nail down shoemaking. The thing is, however, the dress shoe market in China is too small so nobody get attention to it.

I love the shoe strings……… where do you get yours??

Hi, just shined a new pair of shoes and now I wonder when should I re-shine them and when I do, do I just go conditioner - >cream - >wax like the first time or do I do something to get the old product out before I begin the aforementioned process?

Do you always have to go over the shoe with acetone before polishing or is it okay to apply the polish and then buff?

Can you make a video using Pure Polish products? I use Saphir and Pure Polish, but I cant make that mirror shine with Pure Polish

Hi i am in highschool i bought my first pair of goodyear welted boots about a year ago and they have leather soles i was walking to the football field to get ready for a game and i slipped and scuffed my boots i have sanded them untill they got smooth but i was just wondering if i could send them in to get them stained ill pay whatever you want me to i just love these boots and i want them to look new again

Where have you been Preston!

The Duke all day long!

So when I'm matching a polish to a shoe color just use the closest color? I remember you said you liked using red on burgundy shoes

where can I find the video on water baths to remove creases?

Dear Preston, I had a question, could you maybe make a video in which you explain how to repair patent leather shoes ? I bought a pair from a thriftshop but it has some wrinkles on it. I suppose it needs a diffrent kind of attention than full calf grain leather shoes do. I hope to hear from you, Warm wishes, A regular watcher of your video's

Good afternoon, I have a pair of Paul Evens Double Monk Strap in Oxblood. I purchased them back in January 2020 but did not receive them in the mail till May 2020. They have been in storage with shoe trees and shoe bags since, Now that I am going to an event I would like to wear them. What do I need to do to them so they are ready to wear? Do I need to condition them? What will happen to the dye or color job, will the conditioning, polish or wax damage the factory color? Thank you for your assistance as these were not a cheap pair of shoes.

Good

What's the colour of your shoe 1:37,,,they look amazing

Hello do you shine shoes for normal people if so how much And how long will it take. I tried doing it myself but I just made the shoe look worse even after listening to your video I tried going to an actual shoe shine shoe repair shop but all they did was remove the mirror shine from my shoe and it’s really important to have it because I’m in my school JROTC program and my military shoes are supposed to be extremely shiny or just I can send you a picture of the section that I did because I honestly don’t know if I’m doing right

Do you recommend ways to remove pigmented shoe cream from your bare fingers? My fingers get stained and I have difficulty getting it off. Thank you.

Your videos are always very pleasant,and relaxing in a way,😁merci 👍(unfortunately,the discount code doesn’t work in France)TYou,anyway Bravo

Remember the painter Bob Ross? Dude- you are the Bob Ross of shoe shining

Beautiful Craftsmanship

Sir..From one of your new subscriber.. I have a question regarding the mirror shine.. I used kiwi product and my mirror shining captoe have cracked and easily peeled off within a small steps..All my work of three days have been crashed within a few steps which is a devastating experience..Could you please give me advice regarding my issue??

May you kindly share the link/name of where I can get affordable spade sole shoes.

Hi, I'm Italian and I always follow you. How can I have your work on my shoes? You tell me where to ship and how I will pay you. Thanks and look forward to hearing from you. You are the number one.

Hi I was looking through your videos but I could not find how to take care of patent leather shoes and how to fix scuffs on them. Thank you.

You're the Bob Ross of shoes

What are some good shoes for business majors

I can get the same shine using Lincoln polish.

Can you please get a exotic leather, from snake, lizard, or alligator leather shoes and do the clean/and care of it? Please

Hello.. I love your work. One question. Can i use Isopropyl instead of acetone?

Hey bro I need some help. I have a black pair of magnanni derby’s about 4 months old. I bought all the saphir products and used them like your video now the shoes look super creased up and almost like dry and cracking. I have no idea what to do now

Hello hopefully you can give me some advice. I have been trying to mirror shine a pair of shoes that look close to these in this video only they cost $70 US dollars. Is there a difference in the leather that is used in a cheap pair of shoes like will a cheap pair not absorb the wax like a nice pair does? Thanks. I would like to see you try to mirror shine a cheap pair of shoes to see if it can be done. I am new to all of this

In your opinion, what is the best black cap toe oxford under $500?

I seem to be missing the part, in all of your videos, where you shine the rest of the shoe. I understand it’s not this heavy layered, shine to a reflective finish, as the toe and the heel, but can you point me to a video where you show the method for the middle of the shoe?

Though not quite the same thing, White's boots are hand lasted and hand welted in America.

Handwelted is the strongest point. 😄

The hermes red that I've bought is much more purple in tone than that

What is a good cheap200$ or under shoe? Id rather have a few than just one

Off topic, but is your watch a SKX007?

Hi, I'm Italian and I always follow you. How can I have your work on my shoes? You tell me where to ship and how I will pay you. Thanks and look forward to hearing from you.

OOHRAH! Semper Fi

Hi. I just thought of something while polishing and does using hot water for a mirror shine change anything?

Go can you provide the spelling for that Singapore show brand you mentioned please? Dope video as always Thank you!

@ The Elegant Oxford do you still gift people entering the workforce a restored pair of dress shoes? If so, I have multiple pairs of Allen Edmonds in 9 eee and vintage Florsheims in bc Sirius sizes I’d like to donate to your organization.

Can you use neutral when you don’t have colored wax

If I purchased a pair of these how much would it cost for you to lighten and shine them like this for me? Thanks.

So, if I want to restore a pair of shoe, this would be the order in which to apply stuff: remove everything with acetone, then dye, then apply renovateur to hydrate, then shoe cream, then wax for a mirror shine. Is that correct?

Where are you located? I wanna send you my shoes

is the logo on the toe cap going to stay after a few wears?

Hola saludos desde Bogotá😷😱🙏

Aren't shoe waxes toxic? I have always been hesitant to use my bare hands for that reason.

love the videos and channel,... can you PLEASE do a video on how to care (condition and polish, and mirror shine) a pair of Alligator shoes/boots? I just bought a pair of Gaziano & Girling made to order Burnham Chelsey boots in Alligator for close to $10,000 and want them to look amazing for life!

Do you offer mail in services to work on shoes?

Where can I get those shoes?

Call me crazy but I prefer the shape of the Yeossal. 🤔

Why you don't use saddle soap?

How come this channel hasn't made any new videos recently :(

What is the chinese brand called? Hard to spell out lol

Algo

I love a fair price for higher quality! Dukes looks sexyest aniway! That baby ❤️

Yeah, I'm not supporting China when I'm able to not suppot them, and more people need to try to do that too.

G&G makes beautiful shoes, but as a matter of personal preference I've never really been in love with the way they do shape and proportion. Preston, I think that's why I loved your other video with the G&G patina makeover so much; you really beautifully created an illusion that gave the shoes the contour I felt they were missing. Yeossal's lasts are much more in line with my aesthetic preferences, and I find myself attracted to the execution of refined-yet-still-aggressive aesthetics that you find with a lot of East and Southeast Asian welted shoemakers. Graziat, Hephaestus, Winson, Jim&Jun, Acme, and Sapatero are some of my personal favorites in addition to Yeossal. The pricing across these shoemakers runs a pretty wide gamut to fit a range of budgets, too. Also, I like your idea of doing an educational/discussion video on country of origin. I really don't think a lot of people are fully aware of how geopolitics (or more specifically, the media's skewed reporting of geopolitical issues) as well as preexisting racism and xenophobia play a huge role in shaping how we collectively assign value to products and artisanal labor. It's not surprising either that this is an issue that pervades the "classic menswear" world because so much of its history cannot be uncoupled from colonialism, and imperialistic ideas of Europe and Europeans being the epicenter of quality, innovation, and even tradition. Even within Europe, the west turns up its nose at the east as if Central and Eastern Europe aren't brimming with incredible craftspeople and rich histories of artisanal making of all kinds. Makes me appreciate people like you, Justin Fitzpatrick, Ashwin from WeltedWare, and others who go out of their way to highlight the fantastic tradespeople working in parts of the world that the rest of the classic menswear set willfully ignore. Don't even get me started on how this issue comes up in the tailoring community. I get so mad and could honestly go on about it forever lol.

You're not paying for the name. The longer you keep the side by side comparison on the screen, the more I see why they're 1200 and the others are cheapos. Great job, but there's no comparison

I love your videos, but I think your comparison to GG was completely one sided and never mentioned obvious flaws in the Y (sloppy brouging, huge gap in the throat, and presumably the poor factory polish you corrected in this video). Not saying the Y isn’t good value, but it makes me less inclined to trust your reviews.

You're not American sir. Promoting a Chinese product lmao 🤣

Freakishly shiny shoes need to go away. This was required when I was in boot camp fifty years ago and was weird looking even then. We viewed it as more punishment than useful because after boot camp it was never again required. The only thing that should be that shiny is jewelry.

Does toetapsbyivan have an IG?