Allen Edmonds McAllisters Strip & Patina / 2 yr Review

In this video I do a brief review of my Allen Edmonds McAllister wingtip Oxfords that I purchased in September of 2017. The majority of the video is spent stripping the wax and finish off of the shoes to re-color them darker, and add a burnishing/patina back on. Both are done with Fiebings alcohol leather dye. The existing toe burnishing was done with dark wax, and is very delicate, as whenever I bump my toe against something it gets scraped off leaving a light streak.
0:46 My end goal with the shoes
1:39 2 year review of the shoes
4:25 Explanation of Allen Edmonds 65 Last
7:25 How and why I added leather padded insoles
8:13 Beginning of stripping the old finish with Saphir Renomat
11:26 Stripping the old finish with Acetone
14:00 The old finish completely stripped
15:17 Dying the shoes with an airbrush
21:08 The dyed shoes
21:23 Does it bring you joy? The old color irritated me
22:15 Conditioning the shoes with Saphir Renovateur mink oik based moisturzer
25:04 Brushing the shoes off; polishing them with Saphir Bordeaux cream polish
27:12 Sapir Pate DeLuxe neutral paste wax
28:18 Mirror Shining the toes with Saphir Mirror Gloss
33:46 The finished result!
35:10 Closing shots & outro
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2. "My Allen Edmonds McAllisters: 1 Year Review"
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3. "New 2019 Allen Edmonds Unboxing / Quality Check / 1st Shine"
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Music Credit: KZbin Audio Library:
1. "Bravado" by Rondo Brothers
2. "The Bywater" by the Mini Vandals
3. "Fond Memories" by SYBS
4. "No Good Right" by Freedom Trail Studio
5. "Patent Doll" by Freedom Trail Studio
6. "Sangria" by SaidbySed
7. "Two of Us" by SaidbySed
8. "Discofunque" by Francis Preve

[@goaztecs7549]

Amazing job as usual. I like your method of using an airbrush. Cheers!

[@thermann9]

I physically gasped when I saw you start spraying the dye without taping off the shoe trees and shoe edges! But you are a master with that spray gun. The end result is incredible.

[@CobblerBob]

thermann9 😆 thank you!

[@mattsitton6826]

Excellent job, Robert. A little help on dying leather. You always want to buff after dying to remove any excess pigment that doesn't penetrate. It would have also shown the color differences you found earlier in the process. I imagine the vamps seemed so dark from the over spray on the toe caps. I'm glad it all worked out for you and thanks for sharing what you do. It really does help us shade tree shoe affectionados.

[@tomsmith4795]

Great job, they look so much better.

[@joejustice9467]

Great job Bob, I just dyed a pair of Road Warriors wingtips that were walnut and now burgundy. I used the applicator and a small brush.

[@pavels470]

Thanks for sharing the process. I'm always thinking of doing this to my lighter coloured shoes.

[@CobblerBob]

Go for it! But try it out first on a pair you're not aftraid to ruin.

[@stevenjm12]

I love that Allen Edmonds has shoes with different width sizes. Very few mens shoes have widths outside of "D" or "E"

[@up3371]

Great improvement. Applying burnishing with shoe cream looks odd, so it was a great choice that you put efforts into it and changed it.

[@Se7enthsonSS]

I’m glad you said in-step for the 5 last. I was thinking it was the arch. As a person with flat feet I kept thinking I was buying shoes leaned for ppl with high arches

[@williamcoolidge9884]

Huge difference. Like the difference between a hardwood table top that was painted vs. stripping and using stain instead and then clear coating. Well done. I too have been been using polish/wax to patina and it's just not the same as stripping and re-dying. Big thumbs up!

[@coxdevj]

They look great! I'd love to do this to a pair of light tan cowboy boots I own!

[@nikhilsrl]

That's a wonderful job, Robert. Good you are not worried about that small spot on the toe box of the left shoe where the dye appears to be lighter. Things can quickly get out of hand.

[@donaldforsyth2986]

I'm not a fan of burnishing but you did a good job. After stripping the old layers I noticed the color seemed better than the original shade, maybe some patina.

[@norwaysgateway]

Great job redying this pair, the patina work turned out great. I love your hands on treatment of your shoes. No hesitation on completely stripping and redying your favourite pair of shoes. I surely believe the biggest reason for the vamp looking as stellar as it does, is due to regular conditioning and maintenance. Many may buy expensive shoes hoping to have them age as well as these, but to get shocked when the realisations kicks in that maintenance is just as important as good quality leather.

[@CobblerBob]

Frithjof Silden - yes! I agree! By the way, I wouldn’t say I had NO hesitation, LOL. I’ve been thinking about doing this to them for a year. These shoes i am very religious about keeping excessive water and salty snow off of them too, as well as conditioning.

[@gregorythomas2674]

Nice work. Toes were made a little too dark for my taste. Burnished not black. Too each their own and thanks for sharing ur techniques.

[@zuyichen9055]

Hey bob i don't own a pair of dress shoes but i love your videos. Your passion really shows and its a pleasure everytime to see your videos.

[@CobblerBob]

Zuyi Chen 🙏🏼 thank you!! 👊🏼

[@wt460]

Robert, I watched your shoe collection video. These redone shoes have got to be the best pair of shoes of the bunch! These turned out just beautiful!

[@CobblerBob]

Warren Timothy 🙏🏼 thank you!

[@vladapt]

Thank you for this video. You've done a great job! Your McAllister pair's appearance has improved quite substantially.

[@edf2953]

Hi Bob. I must say that you are courageous! I would have been scared to death staining such a nice pair of shoes, but you pulled it off! Great job! The shoes look awesome and I definitely like the new finished look much more than the original patina of the shoe. Another fine video. I’m curious as to how many hours you put into this project? Take care. Ed.

[@CobblerBob]

Remember, this is I believe my 6th patina due job, and the first time I did it on a pair of shoes that I paid any substantial amount of money for. So it took me a year or more to work up to this! I think it took about an hour & 15 mins to condition and polish up, and a couple hours to strip and prep... So prob 3.5-4 hrs total?

[@ga9d]

Nice job, look like new, huge difference.

[@CobblerBob]

Gunther Kruger thank you. I’ve got another video on these shoes coming out tonight or tomorrow... I replaced the top lifts with custom leather-rubber combo top lifts, stripped the edges of the heels and soles and re-stained them mahogany, and installed new protective half soles.

[@redwoodsquirrel432]

Lovely work Bob. They look gorgeous; I love red shoes! In the end if it makes you feel better to have your shoes exactly how you prefer then it's always the right thing to do😊

[@gearstyle2544]

Awesome! Yea unfortunately saphir renovateur does remove a little more that others, I like to use bick 4 after dyeing.

[@oscarhall124]

The shoes definitely have improved tremendously. Once again I thought you were going to overstep your abilities, but once again you proved me wrong. I would do the same treatment to a pair of shoes, the difference is I would start out with the Acetone and save the Renomat (cost wise). Time wise was very well spent for the splendid outcome you achieved. BTW! Did your dog ever come back inside? I seen where the door was closed in the video 😃😃😃😃Smile.

[@CobblerBob]

Oscar Hall LOL yes, that dog has NO desire to run away!

[@pclarin]

Turned out awesome. I'd wear a pair of shoes that looked like those. Excellent job.

[@dressshoeguy]

That is a really nice job on those shoes

[@Mario22149]

I'm sorry, but I laughed pretty hard when you pulled up a printed sheet of instagram screenshots. LOL!

[@elpuerco6059]

Love how and that you can pimp out your McAllisters. I’m waiting for mine to come in a few days that I got in Black Friday sale -$199. Hope I don’t get a poser F1 pair. I’ll report back my experience. Keep the vids coming! It’s a new era in footwear for me. No more throw away shoes.

[@CobblerBob]

EL PUERCO 👊🏼

[@davidlindsey436]

Beautiful finish!

[@conanmaltz8181]

Wow!! Really awesome transformation!

[@timravo5152]

Those look so much better than the original... Before they definitely looked too much of a contrast and very fake I could see why it bugged you..... Now they will only get better with age as a true patina should... Well done they are a credit to you... Remember to get them heeled ;-)

[@CobblerBob]

Yes, thank you! BTW, here’s the video of the re-heeling and new half soles! kzbin.info/www/bejne/Zoi6f6Cint-Jqq8

[@melijegasini2014]

I know this video isn't new but I agree with you about those black accents on the shoe. The look cheap. I do like just a hint of color on the toe and back of shoe but not stark black! That looks horrible. Your doing good. Keep it up!

[@CobblerBob]

LOL, yes, thanks!

[@MillyRue]

I see a big difference.. love them.

[@bTome9123]

Great job. I live near the Woodmere AE and have a pair of red Neumoks that would look better with the same treatment.

[@danielgannon9502]

Fantastic! Really enjoy these vids!

[@JosephSpadafino]

Amazing job! Those shoes look beautiful

[@r.douglas5695]

The difference is amazing !

[@sohaibh2204]

good job, I enjoy your projects.... which polish you used? like color in the end? Can you answer one thing? If I polish my tan shoes with dark brown polish what will happen? and If I polish a dark brown shoe with oxblood or mohangny colour polish will it be fine? Sorry I am new to this thing hence these basic questions. Thanks

[@CobblerBob]

Sohaib H - great question. Here’s a video by Kirby Allison that will help: kzbin.info/www/bejne/hoTWaWOofrplZ9k That being said, first off, there are 3 main kinds of (Saphir) polish: 1. The soft cream polish (like the Bordeaux in the square glass jar I used here). This soaks into the leather more and has a pretty high amount of color. 2. Saphir paste wax in the tin (like the neutral Pate DeLuxe I used here). It will give a higher shine and protect more. 3. Mirror Gloss, like the black and Neutra in the big round tin with the screw on lid that I used only on the toes and heels here. Did you see how dark the toes were before I stripped them? That was completely done with black Mirror gloss. It really takes a lot of coats to get it to darken that much. Those toes prob had 20-30 coats. The soft cream wax can darken shoes too, so it depends if you WANT to darken them or not. If they are 10 and you put one coat of dark brown polish on them, you may not really notice the difference. Put 3 or 4 coats on, and you absolutely will. Another problem is that you may get more polish in some of the wrinkles and creases, and it may not darken them evenly. If you want to test it out you can do so on the time, or if you mess up it won’t show. You should be able to strip the wax back off as well, but it’s hard work. I use Saphir Renomat to strip off wax, as you saw here. The best thing I can tell you is learn and practice on a lower quality pair of shoes, even if you have to go to a thrift store and buy one for $4-$8. Bottom line is that the polish doesn’t magically change the color, it TINTS it, so the more you put on, the more it tints it. Also, the larger the color contrast between the shoe and the new polish, the more it will tint the shoe. So, if you polish the tan she was a dark brown, it will most likely darken it for sure. If you polish the brown one with mahogany or Oxblood, you probably wouldn’t notice the difference until you put a lot on. The other problem with using the wrong color is if you have a scratch or scrape that is light color, it will fill it in with the wrong color.

[@sohaibh2204]

@@CobblerBob Thank you very much for taking out the time to reply in detail, very nice of you :)... One more small question, I understand AE are high quality expensive leather shoes, I have few normal leather shoes which are not that expensive but still I have them for years and they are holding up fine and looks leather is relativity good quality(hudson, Ben sharmans, M&S). So the polishes and all the things you do, do they react differently to good leather vs cheap leather? or leather is leather and it does not matter? What do you think about Saphir Surfine polish? they are not that expensive and are soft cream polish as well. Just your opinion on this type. Thanks to you and Preston from Elegant Oxford, I am going to probably polish my shows first time in last 5 years :D, I use to just use a shoe shiner to keep them wearable. Thanks :)

[@Tee-jx2ow]

Excellent job, well worth it... the difference is like night and day

[@CobblerBob]

Terry - 🙏🏼 thank you!

[@kevinbeverlyjr1864]

Looks really nice

[@KeenanModica]

I love those two pair of shoes

[@Mario22149]

Hey Robert. I hope you’ve been doing well. I haven’t seen a vid from you for a few weeks so I just hope all is well.

[@CobblerBob]

askemone - thank you for asking! I work in financial services, and since the quarantine, we switched our entire business from face-to-face visits to virtual meetings via Zoom. We moved all agent trainings onto the platform as well. I’ve literally been working 12+ hour days 7 days a week since mid March, but I still should have a new video out in the next few days! Another reason no videos, I’ve not been able to stop at any thrift stores, I feel like I’m going through withdrawal, LOL. No new inventory coming in to shoot, and I’m not scratching and scuffing up my shoes working from home.

[@Mario22149]

@@CobblerBob Glad to hear! I work for an industrial automation company and get to work from home now as well. I'm sure it sucks not being able to shop around right now lol. I'm going through the same. Cobbler Union is having a sale right now and finally bought a pair. I grabbed their Norwegian split toe derby and they fit perfectly. I can't wait to get back to work to wear all my shoes again!

[@freddieslaughter1107]

What do you think about Johnston Murphy shoes?

[@CobblerBob]

Freddie Slaughter - they’re all made overseas now. I’ve owned several pairs, and thrifted a bunch. The ones I gravitate towards are the “Aristocraft” and “Crown Aristocraft” lines. Most of those were made in the USA until about 2018/2019. The vintage Made in USA J&Ms are good too. I look for full grain (not corrected grain) leather and Goodyear welted soles. They make a lot of very cheap corrected grain shoes with glued on soles too. Their better shoes are over $200 new, but especially now that are made overseas, I’d rather get an Allen Edmonds that has more variety of widths and colors for $245-$315.

[@gulloorandhawa2287]

very nice

[@sheldondonohuekelly6]

Where can I buy shoe protector for my shoe?

[@CobblerBob]

Sheldon Kelly - the rubber protective half soles? eBay! Check out seller Nordshoe first. Just take your time and read the details and measurements. If your feet are bigger than mine (11.5 EEE) some of the ones made in China are not big enough.

[@stevenjm12]

Why did you choose to airbrush these shoes as opposed to using a brush?

[@CobblerBob]

TherealPatrickBateman - I’ve used airbrushes before to paint RC cars so I’m comfortable using it, and I just felt like it would be better to get that gradual fade from dark to light. Just a preference.

[@stevenjm12]

@@CobblerBob thanks for the reply. I've really enjoyed watching your videos

[@up3371]

Bob, how is it when you wear them? I once dyed shoes and highlighted the brogues. But I have to get used to wearing them as they appear “loud”.

[@CobblerBob]

Sorry for missing your comment... I love them. Because the color is darker, I don't feel like they're austentatious or brash.

[@MeToo-py1tq]

What color are these before the treatment?

[@CobblerBob]

The shoes came from AE as "Oxblood". As you see them in the beginning of the video, I had already darkened them a little with polish. AE states that because they're finished by hand, the shoes will vary in color. My oxblood is the lightest oxblood I've seen. It's generally darker. I believe I show in the outro shots of them as they came from AE.

[@alexandermaximiliandemgens24]

Great video👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻

[@johnmizrahi5910]

Hey Robert!! My name is Jon and I’m a 14 year old and I absolutely LOVE LOVE LOVE all of your videos. Thank you so much I’ve learned a lot. I’ve never owned a pair of luxury shoes and I was wondering if next time you go to the thrift store if you find a nice pair in a size 7 if you could get that for me? Thank for everything!

[@CobblerBob]

John Mizrahi - I’m glad you like them! 7 is a very unusual size though. VERY unusual. You’ll be easier to fit when you get up to at least an 8.5!

[@fransenfiets]

I’m pretty sure I just saw some shell cordovan vintage Imperials on eBay in a size 7 recently!!

[@johnmizrahi5910]

@@fransenfiets thank you so much! I’m an 8.5 now and I actually just bought my first pair of Allen Edmonds park avenue in the olive green color way and I’m in love!

[@fransenfiets]

@@johnmizrahi5910 rock on🤙🏼 I’ve got a pair of Cordovan babies I’m bringing some like back into and it’s amazing to not have throw-away shoes now lol

[@Sean-tn5nv]

I have a nice pair of Cheaney www.cheaney.co.uk/cheaney-arthur-iii-oxford-brogue-in-mocha-calf-leather-p605 I have only worn them around 8 times. I have however put a little too much polish on them I think. What would you recommend to clean it off? Renomat seems like its for older more worn shoes? I have the Saphir nourisher cream( I forgot the proper name), but this just soaks into the leather it does not strip off old polish. Thanks

[@CobblerBob]

I apoligize for missing your comment! You can use a hair dryer and a soft absorbant cotton clowth or towell to take off old wax. Just get the surface warm, not hot. I believe wax melts at around 120 degrees F or 49 C.

[@Javi_C]

:)

[@paulkissiah4729]

Do not try this at home!

[@CobblerBob]

Sorry for missing your comment... Whether or not each person tries this is obviously their perogative, but I'd say go ahead, but do it on an OLD pair of shoes you don't care if you destroy. Either find an old pair of your own shoes, or grab a pair of full grain leather shoes from the thrift store or ebay!