Python Escalades, electric blue crocodile pimp loafers, and ostrich jackets are the very embodiment of tackiness—luxury writ large and rendered tragically cheesy. Exotic skins, the tidy stripes of silky eel, the beautifully imperfect patterns of snake, and the smooth rectangular gradations of crocodile, were treasured for their uniqueness and rarity. Used sparingly on cigarette cases tucked into the inside pocket of a flannel suit jacket, or as a delicate clutch in a gloved hand, restraint itself underscored the preciousness of each skin.
Crocodile on Deck of a Steamer in Africa, Courtesy of Gordon Mumford (Click on Image to Enlarge)
Shoe Shine
A well cared-for pair. Photo by Ryan Plett of You Have Broken the Internet.
Rather than give you another fanatical instruction guide on how to polish your shoes, we interviewed three experts about why you should do it. For me, part of it is ritual and nostalgia. I associate it with my father and grandfather getting their shoes and boots out on Sunday and polishing them all. But there’s more to it than the smell of polish and mink oil. I asked a leather guy, a style guy and a shoe shine guy about their takes on polishing and maintenance. Nick Horween breaks down shoe leather and how and why to treat it right, Ryan Plett displays some very tasty brogues and discusses his thoughts on style and investing in quality, and Nicolo Timore distills hundreds of shoe shines into one word: preservation.
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