“The Imperial”
by
FLORSHEIM
Shell Cordovan – Pferdeleder
Full Brogue Budapester
“The finest and most durable shoe ever made in America.”
Euro 440

The whole idea of cordovan is that it ages beautifully. The various panels of the shoe may take on different tones and the whole will develop a depth of colour, a patina, that calfskin simply cannot compete with. The best cordovan shoes are the ones you inherited from a very well dressed relative who wore them for half a century. Of course, we are not all so lucky as to have such a gentleman in our history. It is left to us, then, to invest the time and use and repeated care in our cordovans to be rewarded with the richness of colour they will achieve.  Or, on those rare occasions, we find a shoe like the one shown here, one of the great Florsheim Imperials of the last century, meticulously cared for and even newly professionally restored and, above all, already possessing the famous and much to be desired patina of song and story.