• English

• Florsheim
  Antik 6-Eyelet Cap-Toe Oxford
  Circa 1935-40
  Euro 720

  The classic firm of Florsheim has long been an admirable producer of fine shoes and remarkable for the use of the dramatically shaped lasts that we associate with pre-war shoes, narrow at the instep, flared at the ball of the foot, with a fairly pointed chisel-toe. The effect is wonderful and immediately recognizable as either an antique shoe or a custom-made one. And it is not style alone that distinguishes this shoemaker; I have tried (with little success) to show in the photographs how the sole is formed over the inner-shank, the subtle but telling curvature that is the emblem of the finest and most fastidious shoemaking and certainly far superior in construction to today’s ready-mades of all but the 3 or 4 best shoemaker in the world. All in all, this is a dramatic pair of shoes and beautifully made.

  Two other exceptional features of this shoe, not often seen, even in this period are, first, the embossed fold-lines in the vamp, behind and parallel to the margin of the toe cap and, second, the interlocking sewn decoration on the cap and on both sides of the waist of the shoe. See the close-up photos, #5 through #8, below. This is sometime referred to as a “French Cap-Toe”.
  In terms of rarity this shoe is in the first category. Florsheim’s descendent firm since 1980 no longer produce anything comparable to this shoe. Indeed any shoe of this fineness is a rarity today and to find this treasure in new condition after 70+ years is startling. A 1500 Euro plus value, to be sure, although I would hardly know where to send you to find the equivalent shoe at any price. This masterpiece is one of approximately a dozen treasures of similar vintage -1930s-1940s- deaccessioned recently by the Costume and Textile Department of a principal mid-western American museum. I had the great good fortune to count the curator among my old colleagues and, knowing the website, he agreed that these rarities should be placed with my cultivated clientele above all others. This important shoe, like the rest of this choice collection, is perfectly wearable, as if made yesterday. It is glamourous, authentic, highly evocative of the period and, most likely, something never to be seen again in this condition. Suitable for the advanced collector. This shoe has my highest recommendation,

  Size Details

  US 8D......UK 7E......EU 41D, for the mid-width foot.

  Condition

  New and unworn.

Out of stock