mens shoes – Herring Shoes Journal

Choose almond toes for elegant footwear

10 January 2024

Dress shoes and boots come in four classic shapes, dictated by the last they are made on. It’s important to consider the toe shape as although the saying is “best foot forward”, it’s usually the toe of your shoe or boot that everyone sees first! If you imagine putting your best toe forward, you may want to consider an almond toe.

For this journal article, we are going to focus on the almond toe as identified as one of the 17 best shoes for men you’ll always want on your rotation by GQ magazine. While GQ suggested almond-toed footwear features an extra piece of leather, it is more about the shape this extra piece of leather covers.

An almond toe has a narrower end than a rounded toe. This does not mean your toes are all scrunched up, of course. We would never recommend that! The narrow part of an almond toe is elongated so gives your footwear a sleeker look without being too extreme. For comfort, the shoe widens where the ball of the foot is, so no pinching at all, just endless elegance.

To emphasise an almond toe, some shoemakers do add an extra layer of leather or decorate the toe area. Barker’s Lerwick semi brogue is a good example of this, but I think an almond toe almost looks sleeker if it is unadorned.

Our Chaucer wholecut is the most unadorned of all shoes and it really stands out as a result while the Carroll has the Derby-style lacing system but is as sleek as they come from the facing through the vamp to the tip of its almond toe.

If you like some decoration, then our Dunkeld (below) and Roche monk shoes are among the most elegant in our range featuring delicate brogue detail or check out our classic Henley spectator shoes.

Man in work clothes wearing Dunkeld slip-on brogue black shoes — The Dunkeld

Loafers have not escaped the almond toe treatment either. Our perennially popular Dillon, plus the James style, have also been made on the appropriately-shaped last.

For boots, the Wilson Chelsea or Orwell double-monk styles will give you the elongated toe you might be craving.

Any of these styles will give you modern elegance and a dress shoe that GQ approves of! These are ideal for formal office attire, business meetings, and special events and occasions. An almond toe is where sleek meets chic.

Shop almond toes here.

Herring Shoes

Why shoe care really matters

3 November 2021

We get excited when we choose and buy our shoes. We are even more gleeful when they arrive, and we get to wear them. But we get sad when they end up looking scuffed and past their best. This does not have to be how the story goes. All you need is a little shoe care.

Shoe care seems to be a lost art. My grandmother used to regale me with stories of her family leaving all their shoes by the back door every Sunday, ready for my grandfather to clean and polish them. As the breadwinner, it was his one domestic chore of the week, but it was written in stone!

How many of us clean and polish our shoes every week? My hand is so far from being up, it is under the table right now! But it is important, especially during the winter months when wet weather creates mud underfoot, and puddles and rain do their worst along with salt used on the roads in icy or snowy weather.

What does shoe care entail? We have split this helpful advice into ‘Leather care’ and ‘Suede care’.

Leather care

Remove dirt

Before you start, ensure you have inserted shoe trees and removed the laces – you don’t want them in the way and getting covered in cream. The trees will help push out the creases and make it easier for you to get to the leather and produce a solid surface for you to brush and polish. Then you need to remove the dirt as it will not come off on its own. Remove it with a brush making sure you get into the folds and welted areas of the shoe or boot.

Renovate

We advise our customers to use renovator cream, such as the one made by Saphir. This is designed to clean, hydrate and nourish leather before applying the polish or cream. Gently massage the cream into the leather with a soft cotton cloth using small circular movements, then leave it to soak in. After 5 minutes give the shoes a good brush to even out any excess and leave a cleaned surface.

Cream

This step is not mandatory, unless you are skipping the previous renovate step in which case you will need to use a cream. Shoe cream (more specifically, Saphir 1925) has higher pigments of dye so not only will it aide in nourishment it will also help to cover up any scuffs. Apply with a cloth in circular motions, rub in and leave for 5 minutes, then buff off with a brush. You are now ready for the next step.

Polish

The finishing touch to add that layer of protection and give a lovely sheen. Apply Saphir Pate De Luxe using small circular movements with a soft cotton cloth. You do not need too much. A little goes a long way. Once dry use a brush to buff them up to a lovely polish. Brushing is designed to heat up the wax in the cream so it melts using the friction of the bristles to leave a smooth and shiny surface – top science fact for you there! The more friction you create the shinier they will come up so give yourself a mini-workout for the best results. If you wish to go further and create a ‘bull shine’ follow this link to our Youtube channel.

Suede care

As above, ensure you have inserted your shoe trees and removed the laces. Suede care is naturally different to leather, where polish is not going to work. There is a whole host of advice in our blog Brush up on your suede knowledge, but we have collated the care information below for your convenience.

Remove dirt

Brush off any loose dirt. We recommend a crepe or brass suede brush to brush out any dirt or marks. Simply brush against the pile lightly and work your way around the suede to focus on any dirty areas.

Deep clean

Give your suede a deep clean with Saphir Suede Cleaner Omni Nettoyant – mix 50/50 with warm water- to not only cleanse but to bring life back to the suede and to protect it from staining. Use the brush provided and apply it against the pile. Once your suede has darkened, due to being wet, you have put enough on.

Rinse

Rinse the cleaner off 5-10 minutes later with clean warm water. Just dip the brush into the clean water and brush the suede. Try and brush from lots of different angles to get the suede cleaner off.

Dry

Leave your shoes or boots to dry. This takes around 20-30 minutes. Do not rub the suede with a cloth as any loose bits will come off and go onto the suede.

Clearly, you need some tools and products to help achieve what should be a routine job. We have valet boxes to give you a one-stop-shop for all your shoe care needs.

I hope this has given you (and me) a timely reminder to look after your footwear. If you are prepared to spend your money on quality shoes and boots, it is worth investing some time into them too to ensure they last and look great for many years to come.

Browsing Tag: mens shoes

Choose almond toes for elegant footwear

Why shoe care really matters