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The Suggestion: Brown Stafford Boots + Black Shoe Creme

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JCPenney Stafford Wingtip Boot – $60 – $70.00 (ships free with JCPSHIP)

Click here for the original review/post about these boots.

One of the problems with inexpensive leather is that the color can be so uniform that it can look unnatural.  Think of that guy who’s fighting off some grey hairs by turning to a box of cheap hair dye.  Instead of getting any kind of natural color variations in his hair, all of a sudden it looks like he’s dumped a bucket of paint on his head.

The leather on JCPenney’s Stafford Wingtip Boot isn’t half bad.  But that doesn’t mean it couldn’t stand for a little experimentation and improvement.  And with the price on these boots being so low ($60) the risk is lower than most even if you don’t like the results.  Here’s how to do it:

  • You’re going to shine these like you do any other pairs of shoes
  • Only instead of using a matching shoe creme, go with black.  (Sounds odd, but it’s not.)
  • Don’t gob it on (you shouldn’t gob even if this were a standard shine job).  Apply a thin layer with a dauber and work it in with circular brush strokes until you get some decent coverage.  Not blanket coverage.  Decent.
  • Step away for 10 or 12 minutes.  Let that creme dry.
  • Buff the hell out of them with an old t-shirt or buffing cloth.  You’re going to take a lot of this black shoe creme off with the buffing, but that’s the point.  You want some residual creme left in the leather, but not all of it.
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Left: Before.  Right: After. 
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Up close with some of the color variation.  It’s more subtle the farther away you get.

You’re left with a darker brown pair of boots with some slight marbling in the leather when viewed up close.  If these boots were suiting fabric, they were a standard solid and you’ve now turned them into a worsted.  The marbling of the black shoe creme in the brown leather won’t be consistent, and you might end up with a couple of streaks, but as long as it’s not too noticeable from a few feet up you should be golden.

And speaking of, if you bought the Staffords because you wanted a more golden/cognac brown, then ignore all of this.  They’re more than just fine out of the box the way they are.

Comments

  2. I’m still trying to decide between the shoes or boots. I like them both. Leaning towards shoes b/c I already have a few pair of desert boots.

  5. I did this to my AE Fifth avenues and my “thrifted” bostonian crown windsors to tone down the brown. I’d use neutral.

  7. Like everyone else said, they’re enormous. I had to size down to a 9.5 (I usually wear a 10.5 or 11.) I haven’t been a 9.5 since 7th grade.

  8. Um. No. If you read the original post: http://dappered.com/2012/08/in-person-jcpenneys-stafford-wingtip-boot/ … this was mentioned from the get-go. I liked the original color just fine and they’re super comfortable. But at $60, these boots are less of a risk to give this black on brown thing a spin.

    But if you prefer your deer-stalker to be tin-foil lined and the style conspiracy theories to be extra rich, well then by all means my man, lurk in them inky shadows.

  9. Absolutely. Did the same thing with my McGill’s when they dropped to $35 a few weeks back and the oompa loompa orange is replaced with a much richer tanned look.

  11. Thanks for this post. I’m pretty happy with my Stafford boots as they are, but now I’m inspired to try something with them. While I may go with the black I might try to find something more like a walnut brown…

  13. Did a similar thing with my UO boots, but not black. I used a plum-colored wax (kiwi calls it cordovan) and the result was a rich, deep brown.

  17. Speaking of dark brown shoes (from JCP) what do you all think of this color? I dont know if Im ready to jump right to cognac/walnut

  18. I went down on my lunch break to check these things out. Not bad! However, I already own a pair of dressy boots (AE Bayfields) so in a rare act of sheer will-power, I was able to pass… And then I went after work and picked up a pair of Bronx Dekimo double monks from DSW. 😛

  19. I went to try on a pair tonight. I usually wear a 9.5 – 10. The smallest they had was an 8.5 and when I tried them on, I still had a good 1 – 1.5″ from my toe to the end of the shoe. I really like them, does anyone have any idea how to make them work at that size? Would inserts help?

  23. I did this last night and I am very, very pleased with the outcome. I wasn’t really thrilled with the original color of the boot so this wasn’t a huge risk for me.

    One step I added was to go around the side of the sole of the boot with some black shoe creme to make it darker, which I thought looked much nicer with the now-dark brogue. Don’t know how long that’ll last though.

  24. how did you manage to get a wide size? i’ve been waiting for one since these seem to run a little narrow

  26. Picked up a pair of these over the lunch break. Looking forward to trying out the contrasting polish this evening.

  27. i own some what dark brown cap toe and this works with it too. it gives it a nice polish and just makes it look a little nicer.

  28. From a shoe-shine greenhorn, do you protect with mink oil prior to or post polish? Is mink oil applied in the same manner as polish?

  29. i have these and gave it a try. They came out beautiful. The only thing i would warn against is be cautious around the edging to keep the black from building up and getting spotty.

  30. Sorry to hijack the top comment, but these shoes have been significantly cheapened since this post. They are now only leather uppers and cheaper leather everywhere else. They are no longer the boot they were. Just a heads up to those trying to score a cheap Allen Edmonds knock-off, like me.

  31. Don’t put mink oil on a dress shoe. Use a milder conditioner meant for dress shoes (Meltonian, Kiwi, Allen Edmonds, or some higher end ones). Let it dry before putting polish over it, but condition the shoe first.

    Mink oil is meant for tougher leathers, like workboots. It will ruin your polish if you use it.

  32. Old article, I know, but I just picked up a pair of these and wanted to try this out. It worked very well. Give’s them a nice, rich finish. Bit of advice- he wasn’t kidding about keeping the coat thin. It can streak rather easily, though heavy buffung with a t-shirt will take care of most of that. After I was done, I went back over it with brown wax polish, which really made a difference in giving the shoes a nice, warm blend.