Shine your shoes!
November 13th, 2006I answered a post this morning about male managers’ dressing habits, and left something out.
If you can’t shine your shoes, you have on the wrong shoes.
Managers shoes are able to be shined. If yours are not, you’re leaving out an important part of your wardrobe.
If you don’t know how to shine them… maybe there’s a cast there. Mike and I are, thanks to school, quite adept at it. I stumbled over this early in my corporate career, and felt like a fool for not using the skills I had been given.
Ladies, many of your shoes are shinable as well…. and therefore, yes, we recommend it for you too.
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November 13th, 2006 at 10:09 am
Well … I’ve more problem in maintening ties (ironing??) then shining shoes!
Any suggestion?
Ciao,
PierG
November 13th, 2006 at 1:20 pm
Can’t wait to hear this cast! Having spent the past 34 years in an organization that was absolutely fanatical about shining leather, in all its forms, I’ll be interested to hear the USMA approach.
November 13th, 2006 at 6:55 pm
Here are some tips for keeping your ties neat:
Store them hung up on a tie hanger/rack with plenty of space so they are not being squished by other clothing
If your tie get wrinkled, heat your iron and make sure you turn on the steam. Place the tie flat on the ironing board and put a towel over it. Press the towel and give it lots of steam. When you’re done, leave the tie until it is totally dry.
November 13th, 2006 at 8:18 pm
Too bad those shoe repair/shine stores have almost all gone away. If you read up on how to really shine shoes you realize you don’t have the time, equipment, or talent to do it properly. I’d love to drop them off somewhere over lunch for a great shine.
November 13th, 2006 at 8:39 pm
At the risk of turning this in to “Dress For Success” (which is a worthwhile book, to be honest):
Shined shoes are one of the two best thigns you can do to look professional. (Clothes without stains or holes is the other.) If you do nothing else, follow Mark’s advice on that one. The best time to shine your shoes is when you take them off and put them away. They are already in your hands, so put them away freshly shined every time. Read that again: Every time. Always use shoe trees in leather shoes (you too ladies). Allow one pair of shoes at least one day between wearings. One pair of sneakers will do most people just fine, but two pairs of work shoes is the bare minimum.
In the old days, they taught us that the socks should match the shoes, not the slacks. I’ve heard people lately say the opposite. I am willing to compromise: If the shoes lace then the socks should match the shoes. If the shoes don’t lace then the socks can match the slacks and compliment the shoes.
Men can never go wrong with a white shirt and in 22 years I have only once seen a woman go wrong with a white blouse. I’m not in favor of the old IBM “white shirts and blue suits only” style book, but if in doubt go with white.
Accumulate extra clothes, and when possible have some being (dry cleaned)/(professionally laundered) while you are wearing others. It’s a bit expensive, but it’s the best way to assure your work clothing looks professional. They probably do a better job than you do and in less time. And get your shirts/blouses on hangers, not folded.
Let the cleaners deal with your ties as well, although echoag’s suggestion of hanging them with plenty of space is the only way to go once you get them home. If you don’t have enough space, you have too many ties. Fix it. I learned this one the hard way through years as a “suit.” I seem incapable of NOT soiling my tie. The higher the retail value of the tie, the nastier the stain I get on it. Thank god for casual dress environments.
Oh yeah, learn to properly knot your tie. You can’t go wrong with a properly tied Half-Windsor knot. Remember, a neat tie with a dorky-looking knot in it is still dorky looking. “Dress For Success” has a very good guide on that skill.
And one more vital thing you can do to make your attire look it’s best and you look professional: Comb your hair. Or brush it, or whatever. I promise, people will think that you are better dressed if you are also better coiffed.
November 13th, 2006 at 8:39 pm
PierG,
I had the same problems with my ties, and found a solution. It is probaly one of the best products I ever purchased! The PowerTie Motorized Tie Rack from Sharper Image. It holds 72 ties, fits on a standard closet pole, keeps the ties neat and in order, and looks great!!!!!
Here is the link:
http://www.sharperimage.com/us/en/catalog/product/sku__SI708GRY
November 13th, 2006 at 8:46 pm
skinnyOne,
When I was in college, I was told by a professional shoe shiner that it is impossible to do the job properly while wearing the shoes, and very difficult to do the job properly if you have to hold them in your own hand. He then admitted to me that he was overstating the case on holding them in one hand a bit in order to keep making a living, but he was serious about not shining them while you wear them. I went home and tried it. He was right. You just can’t do the job right when the shoe is on your foot, and it is in fact easiest to shine shoes that someone else is wearing.
No suggestion there, just a little trip down memory lane.
November 14th, 2006 at 3:40 am
Shoes are easily shined to a gorgeous luster by anyone with products available for less than $5 at any shoe store or general merchandise store, for that matter.
It is neither hard to understand nor hard to do, and the skill responds well to repeated practice.
I shine all of my shoes virtually every Sunday night, and I have some shoes that are 10 years old that you would never know it.
Promise to release a cast on this.
Mark
November 14th, 2006 at 3:42 am
The problem with ties is not just hanging them up. And you can do fine with using the trouser bar on a suit hangar.
The issue is UNTYING THEM in the reverse of the way you tied them, to reduce and to some degree reverse the strain on the fabric. Don’t just tear them off… they are SILK (one supposes) and therefore easily damaged.
Mark
November 14th, 2006 at 8:58 pm
I’ve seen a few “proper shine” sites. Here’s the total steps that no one follows:
1. Take off the laces
2. Clean off any dirt/debris with a cloth or brush
3. Repair leather if necessary for cuts/scrapes
4. Use a leather cleaner liquid
5. Let dry
6. Apply paste including the tongue (hence taking off laces)
7. Let sit from 5 minutes to overnight to soak in
8. Use polishing brush to buff (different brush per color)
9. Use a waterproofer/sealer as necessary
10. More paste and cloth buff for shine
Now, I do steps 6, 7, & 8 about once a month. So, the other 7 steps are left out. That’s why I wish that shoe guy at the mall was still there!
November 14th, 2006 at 9:23 pm
I’ll join the enthusiastic throng cheering for a shoe shining cast. No detail is too trivial. If it adds value, bring it on!
Now, I must buy another pair of shoes…
November 15th, 2006 at 12:08 am
Boy, I can’t imagine taking more than 20 minutes or so to shine my shoes… and I am talking SPIT SHINE so perfect you can see your face in it. You don’t need all those steps.
NEVER put leather cleaner or use shine towelettes…HORRIBLE for shoes.
The shine stands at airports do a quite serviceable job… but then, you have to be wearing something other than flip flops to take advantage of them.
More soon.
Mark
November 16th, 2006 at 10:34 am
Got agree with all of this. You must take your shoes off to shine them properly.
While I have always been disciplined about keeping my sheos shined it is with great shame that I now admit I went through the first 15 years of my professional career unable to tie a decent windsor or half windsor. The four in hand knot just does not “hold” for the full day and ironically more expensive, more delicate ties need the windsor to build them up into a respectable knot. Get to http:\\www.tie-a-tie.net and sort out your professional look
November 17th, 2006 at 12:19 pm
A couple of tricks that work for ties:
1) Mark’s advice on untying ties, not just slipping the knot over the end, is spot on. This will keep your ties looking new.
2) When traveling, roll your ties (starting at the thin end) before storing them in your luggage. You can store three ties in the same space it takes to pack a sock. The other advantage is that the tie will unroll with virtually no wrinkles on the business end.
3) Tie a full Windsor. Guys with Half-Windsor knots can’t be trusted.
Craig.
November 17th, 2006 at 1:33 pm
Well said, Craig… except for the half Windsor knot!
First off, one’s knot ought to complement one’s face and shirt collar. One’s shirt collar is a choice about style, facial structure, and level of formality. (Sorry guys, but a button down is actually considered LESS formal than most others).
A gentleman knows how to tie a Windsor, a Half, a Four In Hand, a Shelby, even a St. Andrews.
And a bloody bow tie!
My favorite (which is not to say it’s a recommendation unless you have my face (so sorry if you do) and like my shirt style) is the four in hand.
Tie knot styles also come and go. Gentleman are generally not too pulled by fashion, however, and stay within a narrower range than what is being sold in boutiques.
Rolling one’s ties when travelling is preferable to folding them.
Most ties I see look like hell, because they are tied poorly, of a poor quality (not that you need to pay a lot), the wrong length, the wrong color for a shirt or suit, or are too fashionable to be taken seriously.
And, yes, I do travel in flip flops, but genuinely love ties with great suits, and enjoy the hell out of looking better than those around me because I know only a little more than they do. It makes my work life easier - people pay more attention and grant me more credibility.
November 19th, 2006 at 9:02 pm
I just moved to South America and here well shined shoes and a full windsor
knot are the minimum. I showed up at the office with a tie tied in a four-in-hand knot and people looked at me like I was dressed in a speedo. Luckily there is a shoe shine guy that stops by the office every day. “Brilliar mis zapatas por favor” works to get my shoes shined.
November 21st, 2006 at 10:48 am
Brooks Brothers has a page about the standard knots for ties http://www.brooksbrothers.com/tieknots/tieknots.tem
November 21st, 2006 at 10:53 am
I worked in a shoe repair store for a few years. Mostly I did the stiching repair on uppers, but occasionally I did some of the other tasks.
One of the really nice things about the shoe repair was being able to get the sole edges black/brown. We had a small tank with a brush mounted to the burishing wheel base. You painted the sole edge, set them up to dry for a few minutes while doing the rest of the shoes, then ran them accross the burnishing wheel. They came out with a really sharp looking sole edge. I have never been able to reproduce this by hand.
November 24th, 2006 at 1:24 pm
As an ex-copper I am of the spit-shine crowd, and plead guilty to attaching perhaps too much importance to properly shined shoes during an interview. Sometimes I simply can’t get past an otherwise solid candidate who presents himself with shoes that have clearly NEVER been shined!
I take a bit of time with my family’s shoes each week, pour a nice Duncan & Taylor, and spent half an hour shining shoes. OK, sometimes a nice Partagas cigar (yes, the Cuban one - I’m Canadian!) plays a part in this ritual as well.
I guess it’s true…you can always tell a cop by the shoes (and the double wallet marks on back jean pockets)!
November 26th, 2006 at 12:20 am
A GREAT reason to move to Canada! I want to shine my shoes puffing on a Cuban!
I often have a margarita… but somehow that Cuban just seems insouciant enough in just the right way.
Thanks for the moment of envy. Sweet!
Mark
November 27th, 2006 at 4:11 pm
Hey, Mark - do a meet-up in Toronto and you can have one!
Honestly though, you folks are great. My “Manager-Tools time” is on the treadmill at the Y. Your brainstorming piece got me through a tough exercise, and I’ve been a loyal listener since then.
So - thanks, eh?
November 27th, 2006 at 5:18 pm
Eh indeed!
If I can make it work, I’ll come up in 2007.
Mark
November 30th, 2006 at 2:05 am
Regarding the edges of heels and soles: it’s easy. Kiwi sells “Edge Dressing” which comes in a smallish plastic container with an applicator head that allows you to squeeze-apply some to your soles and heels, and it works beautifully.
Who knows - maybe this will be our first video cast! (Hint)
Mark