I’m (checks calendar) 51. I vaguely remember as a very little kid that we wore polished shoes when we went to church. There were cans of shoe polish with kiwis on them, and my dad would take 15 seconds to polish the shoes and we’d go off. These fancy shoes were only ever worn for fancy events. And as far as I can recall that was the last time I wore shoes that needed to be polished. I must have been under seven years old.
Shoe polishing used to be a huge deal. You had to polish your shoes. There were shoeshine boys. In fancy executive washrooms there were little buffing machines where you could top up your shine just before meeting with a big client. People judged you by the shine of your shoes.
Yes, there were work shoes and boots that weren’t shined, but those were for work. When you got home, you took off your work outfit and your work boots and put on civilian clothes. And if you went out of the house, you put on shoes that could take a shine.
And then, around the 1970s it all started to fall apart. Yeah, people still wore shoes that could take a shine, for fancy things. Job interview? Wedding? Church? You better wear freshly shined shoes. But just going to the store? If you wore a tie you had shiny shoes, but if you weren’t wearing a tie you wore something else.
But now the only place I see shoeshine vendors is at the airport. And those shoeshine places are abandoned. Nobody is there. I guess there are people who wear shiny shoes and a coat and tie, but they must have to shine their own shoes at home, like animals.
So does anybody wear shoes that need to be shined? When’s the last time you shined your shoes, or wore shoes that need to be shined? This being the Dope I’m sure we’ll see 50 people chime in about how they shine their shoes every morning before leaving the house wearing a waistcoat, fedora and an ascot. But I haven’t worn shined shoes in over 40 years, like most people.
My Daddy died a few years ago. I used to take my loafers for him to shine. It always made me happy to see them polished. He always had his shoe shine kit next to his chair. I brought it home with me when I packed his house up to sell.
So it’s been 5 years since my shoes were shined.
I’ve had my own fully provisioned shoe shine kit since I moved out on my own. My dad taught me to take care of my shoes growing up. I take no small amount of pride in making sure my shoes are shined regularly and I have multiple color polishes and proper horse hair brushes. My kit includes stuff for suede shoes as well. And yes, most mornings I give the shoes I’m about to put on a quick buff. That said, I don’t wear hats or spats.
I’ve taught my son to take care of his shoes and I’ll give him a starter kit when he moves out on his own.
When I was in the military it was a daily task. Not sure if they still require it but I am guessing they do.
Other than that, about 5 years ago I flew into Dallas for a job interview, and had the shoe shine guy at the airport hook me up on the way to the interview.
My collection of shoes other than sneakers and sandals has gradually eroded due to wear and neglect. The leather shoes you shine are the ones that have held up best, so on those occasions and accompanying clothes that call for footgear that’s nicer than sneakers/sandals, that’s what I wear. I’ve got one pair of black leather shoes, and another pair of brown. (Cordovan, actually. Close enough.) I think I had occasion to wear the brown shoes a couple months ago.
Man this just brought back a long-forgotten memory. I’ve never worn shined shoes in my life, but I remember using shoe white a lot when I was a kid (in the 80s, maybe in the 90s). My family must have worn a lot of white leather shoes, as we always had a bottle or two of the stuff around. I’m sure my shoes totally looked like shit, but I diligently did it all the time.
I did just the other day find my old Doc Martens shoes from the 90s and pulled out my Doc Martens polishing sponge to give them a quick wipe-down. It was basically to get rid of the dust, tho.
I currently don’t wear shoes that would be polished. They have a “fuzzy” surface. I’d guess the last time I wore polished shoes was the rented shoes that went with the rented tux for my son’s wedding in 2003.
Yeah, I had fancy shoes that I wore at my wedding. They had sort of a gloss to them, but not shiny-shiny. They came that way and I didn’t polish them and haven’t worn them in 15 years. They’re still sitting in the closet though, ready for my next wedding.
I wear them every day at work and see lots of other guys wearing shoes that have to be polished. It’s still normal business wear. I have a couple pairs and only need to shine/polish each pair 1-2 times a year.
Last time I wore shined shoes was a few years ago when my eldest idiot of a son got into some trouble and had to go to court. The judge kept looking at me in a way I interpreted as “puzzled” because I was the only one there other than court officers and lawyers wearing a suit and tie, and was better dressed than most of them.
I’d say about seven or eight months ago. That’s an abnormal time period though. When I’m working in an office I generally wear shined shoes a few times a week.
