Boots / shoes to wear with your flight jacket s...

[Dany McDonald]

Absolute beauties, Dany. Viberg are masters, have my eye on the 2040 in this dark wooly chromexcel!

Thank you. the 2040 was also on my list... Yeah masters is well-put! Go for it!

 

[Drzdave58]

Vintage John McHale shoes thrifted for $28.

 

[Earloffunk]

Lofgren - well made and comfy

 

[Jennison]

Beautiful Lofgren service boots!!! I think that’s a nice segue into what service boots NOT to wear with your flight jacket. Sorry, I saw these and I just had to post them. Billed as authentic repro WWII boots, they’re a combination of smooth cap toes and some kind of rough out junk. No, it’s not the lighting, they’re really that red. Looks like they were colored with a red highlighter. For fun, I’ve posted photos of a pair of SM Wholesale repro service boots, an original sole from a 1941 pair, and our lovely subject boots.

Like me, I’ll bet you guys never knew Ronald McDonald was a G.I. during the Big One.

 

[Micawber]

Nut brown Barkers with a daring splash of colour…

…simply because one is not obligated to wear footwear that looks government issue

 

[B-Man2]

Nut brown Barkers with a daring splash of colour…

…simply because one is not obligated to wear footwear that looks government issue

View attachment 158881

 

[Jennison]

When I was a little shaver, my father was a young U.S. Govt lawyer in Washington. Every Day he wore the same shoes, Florsheim “Imperials” in black. He referred to them as “GI shoes” because all the Govt lawyers seemed to be wearing black Florsheim Imperials. Not just any wingtips, Imperials. These have the brogue holes going straight back along the sides, 360 degree welting and a weight of about 1,000 pounds each. I vividly recall one Saturday morning going to the office with my father while he caught up on work. While there, another lawyer, about 10 years older than my father, came in and said hi. He’d been a B-17 pilot over Europe some 30 years earlier, and spent 2 years as a POW. When he walked into my father’s office, he’d just arrived to the building and was wearing an A-2 jacket (I don’t recall it being painted or patched) and his Black Florsheim Imperials. Neither man had a suit on, but they were wearing their “GI shoes.”
Today, Florsheim sells the same shoe (with some small mods) as the “Kenmore.” I wear them with a suit mostly, but man, they do look sharp and they “click-clack” as you walk in them, a sound rapidly fading into the past. I think I’ll try them with my A-2 (I’ve got both black and brown Imperials) as a nod to those guys.

These:

 

[B-Man2]

When I was a little shaver, my father was a young U.S. Govt lawyer in Washington. Every Day he wore the same shoes, Florsheim “Imperials” in black. He referred to them as “GI shoes” because all the Govt lawyers seemed to be wearing black Florsheim Imperials. Not just any wingtips, Imperials. These have the brogue holes going straight back along the sides, 360 degree welting and a weight of about 1,000 pounds each. I vividly recall one Saturday morning going to the office with my father while he caught up on work. While there, another lawyer, about 10 years older than my father, came in and said hi. He’d been a B-17 pilot over Europe some 30 years earlier, and spent 2 years as a POW. When he walked into my father’s office, he’d just arrived to the building and was wearing an A-2 jacket (I don’t recall it being painted or patched) and his Black Florsheim Imperials. Neither man had a suit on, but they were wearing their “GI shoes.”
Today, Florsheim sells the same shoe (with some small mods) as the “Kenmore.” I wear them with a suit mostly, but man, they do look sharp and they “click-clack” as you walk in them, a sound rapidly fading into the past. I think I’ll try them with my A-2 (I’ve got both black and brown Imperials) as a nod to those guys.

These:

We used to refer to them as “Wing Tips “ back in the 60s

 

[Jennison]

Burt, did you wear them too?

 

[B-Man2]

Burt, did you wear them too?

Yes …. They were worn by just about every guy who worked in the Government or Business world , along with a grey suit, white button down shirt and a striped tie. It was the uniform of the day. If you wanted to go a little wild you wore a powder blue or a pin striped “Eagle Brand” shirt . The Eagle Shirt company was located in Eagle Pa and made some top tier quality dress shirts .

 

[mulceber]

These have the brogue holes going straight back along the sides,

Apparently the current(?) term for that type of wingtip is "long wings."

 

[Jennison]

Because of the continuous brogue on the sides?

 

[mulceber]

Yep.

 

[Drzdave58]

When I was a little shaver, my father was a young U.S. Govt lawyer in Washington. Every Day he wore the same shoes, Florsheim “Imperials” in black. He referred to them as “GI shoes” because all the Govt lawyers seemed to be wearing black Florsheim Imperials. Not just any wingtips, Imperials. These have the brogue holes going straight back along the sides, 360 degree welting and a weight of about 1,000 pounds each. I vividly recall one Saturday morning going to the office with my father while he caught up on work. While there, another lawyer, about 10 years older than my father, came in and said hi. He’d been a B-17 pilot over Europe some 30 years earlier, and spent 2 years as a POW. When he walked into my father’s office, he’d just arrived to the building and was wearing an A-2 jacket (I don’t recall it being painted or patched) and his Black Florsheim Imperials. Neither man had a suit on, but they were wearing their “GI shoes.”
Today, Florsheim sells the same shoe (with some small mods) as the “Kenmore.” I wear them with a suit mostly, but man, they do look sharp and they “click-clack” as you walk in them, a sound rapidly fading into the past. I think I’ll try them with my A-2 (I’ve got both black and brown Imperials) as a nod to those guys.

These:

Im on the lookout for a pair of vintage longwings .

 

[Jennison]

Im on the lookout for a pair of vintage longwings .

Excellent choices on eBay. The one significant detail the new ones didn’t retain is the famous “V” cleat on the heel. A small metal wedge. This would slow down wear and is a very cool detail IMHO. Adds to the “click-clack”sound, too. If you get a pair, look for that. There are shoemakers who can restore them too, if needed.

 

[Drzdave58]

Excellent choices on eBay. The one significant detail the new ones didn’t retain is the famous “V” cleat on the heel. A small metal wedge. This would slow down wear and is a very cool detail IMHO. Adds to the “click-clack”sound, too. If you get a pair, look for that. There are shoemakers who can restore them too, if needed.

View attachment 159075

Yes..I like those. I have checked out the ebay offerings. There are some decent ones for sure.

 

[Jennison]

Actually, after Burt mentioned how prevalent these were in business as well, I read a bit about them. He’s right; apparently, they’re one of the most iconic pieces of American footwear in history. When referring to “gun boats,” these are the very shoes responsible for the coining of that term. I read a bunch of articles which were quite interesting and they all discuss how “American” these shoes were (no wonder why my father called them G.I. Shoes). Even the “Stridewise” boot expert guy on YouTube wrote an article about them, and I include the link here:

A Beginner’s Guide to Vintage Florsheim | Stridewise

Which models are worth seeking out, how much should you pay, and how do they fit, and how do you wear them?

stridewise.com

 

[Drzdave58]

Actually, after Burt mentioned how prevalent these were in business as well, I read a bit about them. He’s right; apparently, they’re one of the most iconic pieces of American footwear in history. When referring to “gun boats,” these are the very shoes responsible for the coining of that term. I read a bunch of articles which were quite interesting and they all discuss how “American” these shoes were (no wonder why my father called them G.I. Shoes). Even the “Stridewise” boot expert guy on YouTube wrote an article about them, and I include the link here:

A Beginner’s Guide to Vintage Florsheim | Stridewise

Which models are worth seeking out, how much should you pay, and how do they fit, and how do you wear them?

stridewise.com

A fellow in Ottawa Ont. has quite a collection of them for sale in 10.5 in various widths.

 

[Jennison]

I was in a small boutique shoe store with my wife last week and I was kind of shocked to see a pair of shoes that were dead ringers for those WWII German POW shoes provided to allied prisoners of war. The son of a downed C-47 pilot showed me his dad’s such shoes some 10 years ago and I never forgot what they looked like. However, I doubt the original shoes were $350 a pair(!) like the ones I saw today, The brand is called “cydwoq” and they are 100% handmade in the USA. I tried them on and wow, they were comfortable, even with the hard leather soles. I immediately wanted a pair, but not for that price. I went on eBay and sure enough, I snagged a pair of lightly used ones for 60 bucks. They may not be everyone’s cup of tea, but they mimic some interesting history and I think that’s neat. Heck, the King of Cool himself might very well have been wearing something like these instead of those rough out service shoes….

 

[Earloffunk]

A change from the usual brown and black footwear.