Shoes crease, that’s a fact and everyone knows it, yet it’s likely the thing that dress shoe buyers obsess the most about. I’ve been writing several posts on the topic (links below) to give a better understanding on how and why shoes crease, and what’s healthy creases and what might not be. Shown on the photo here surely is an example of some very fine creasing on the Spanish leather.
The shoes are a pair from TLB Mallorca’s main line in the Old England leather, which is from a Spanish tannery, and of truly great quality. Spanish leathers certainly doesn’t receive much attention in the quality shoe world, but there are some tanneries that have great products that easily can go head to head to the best French and Italian ones.
Read more about how shoes crease in this article, and in this article here you can learn more about leather quality vs leather properties which helps give you and idea of when you have shoes with lesser quality leather and when you have shoes that just has a property that you mistake for bad quality.
Having bought some good quality leather shoes, and not so good quality leather shoes, I now appreciate ‘healthy creasing’ in leather. I have a vintage pair of Church’s black cap toe oxfords (hard to date them as I bought them from a charity shop near my house) with original shoe trees. They are almost certainly pre-Prada and possible 1960s/1970s. They have creasing on the vamp behind the cap where the foot naturally bends when walking. Not unusual, of course. But they creasing is micro and subtle. I condition them and keep the trees in. I actually like the fact they have history and character. Even better, I think, to see on a brown leather shoe!
Thanks
Tony
Anthony: Yeah, few things are more beautiful than old well worn brown shoes with good creases and character.