During the London Super Trunk Show on May 13 there will be the first World Championships in Shoe Shining, in collaboration with Saphir, where three finalists will have 20 minutes to polish a shoe as beautiful as possible. This competition is open for amateurs and professionals, and we now open the qualification for the final where you send in a picture of a well polished pair of shoes.
In this post you can read all the info about the London Super Trunk Show, hosted by Shoegazing and The Shoe Snob, and here you’ll find the Facebook page for the event. As a short summary, this will be the world’s largest open event for classic shoes, held in the central parts of London on Saturday May 13 in the venue The Music Room. We will gather no less than 11 brands from all over the world: Barbanera, Carlos Santos/Skoaktiebolaget, Caulaincourt, Hiro Yanagimachi, J. FitzPatrick Footwear, Norman Vilalta, Ramon Cuberta, Stefano Bemer, Vass, Yanko/Skolyx, plus a new shoe store that will be introduced later. Main partner of the event is the shoe care brand Saphir, partners are Fred & Matt overshoes and the bag and accessory brand Oppermann London. We’ll have a VIP opening between 10-11 in the morning for 150 pre-registered visitors, there’s still some spots left, e-mail supertrunkvip@gmail.com. There will be a panel discussion with people from the British shoe industry, and then, of course, possibly the main attraction of the day and the topic of this post (the “scene” area is quite small at the event, we expect a big audience, and hope that you all will understand that it might be very crowded and that there might be limited vision for people further in the back).
From an earlier edition of the Swedish Championships in shoe shining. Now it’s time for the first ever World Championships.
This is a very special happening. At 15.00 during the event day it’s time for first ever World Championships in Shoe Shining in collaboration with Saphir, where the winner will receive a pair of shoes from Loake. At the final, one Loake 1880 Aldwych in tan is to be polished as beautiful as possible. We’ll not only look at the highest shine, but the most beautiful polish work is rewarded. The finalists will have a can of Saphir Medaille d’Or Pate de Lux in the colour of their choice, water, a brush, a polishing cloth and a nylon cloth, and they have 20 minutes to polish the shoe. During the three Swedish Championships that’s been held, all in the same way as this with the same shoe, it’s been some impressive results even if the time is very short. The winner will be titled the World Champion in Shoe Shining 2017, and gets to keep the shoe he (or she) has polished and its sibling.
The tool to create magic. Picture: The World of Shoes
To qualify for the event, send in a picture of a pair of well polished shoes. It could be taken of the entire pair, just of the toe box, the shoe in profile, anything’s fine. What will be judged is how well the pair is polished, not necessarily the highest shine but also other parameters will be taken into consideration, as the depth of the shine, any eventual color variations etc. Only one picture per contestant can be sent in, and it should only be maximum one pair of shoes in the picture (for example not a shoe collection with polished shoes). The shoe in the picture should be polished by the one who sends in the entry, and the person has to be able to attend the final in London on May 13. It’s open for both professionals and amateurs, so both patina artists or professional shoe shiners as well as random shoe nerds can enter the competition. You are allowed to make minor adjustments to the picture in for example Photoshop, but more significant changes or filters etc is not allowed. We have a professional photographer who will examine all entries, and if we suspect that these rules have been violated the person will be disqualified. And please note, it’s the beauty of the polish job that is judged, not how beautiful the picture is.
Jury checks the finalists work in the Swedish Championships 2016. Pictures: Milad Abedi
The jury consists of Jesper Ingevaldsson of Shoegazing, Justin FitzPatrick of The Shoe Snob, one representative from Saphir and one representative from Loake. All will choose their five favorites, and the three entries that receive the most votes will be qualified for the final. Jesper Ingevaldsson will be the only one who knows which picture is from which person, the other ones will vote without any info about who has sent in the entries. In the case of a tie, Justin FitzPatrick’s votes will be the deciding factor. The jury decision can’t be overruled.
Send in your competition entry to shoegazingblog@gmail.com no later than Sunday March 19. Enter “World Championships in Shoe Shining” in the subject field. In your e-mail, also include which color of Saphir Pate de Lux you would like to use during the final (here you can see all the available colors, click “see colors” and a color chart comes up) and which size you wear in Loake Aldwych on the Capital last (it’s a large last, so if you hesitate between two, choose the smaller one). Good luck!
The picture that qualified Anders Ericson for the latest edition of the Swedish Championship in Shoe Shining, a final that he eventually won.
