broken in - dieppa restrepo cali oxfords

UntitledUntitled
UntitledUntitled

I've documented what I buy on the blog but l rarely follow up on how they’ve weathered the days since. Last month, when I was about to send my Dieppa Restrepos to the cobbler to replace the rubber heel cap, I thought I might as well capture how they’ve fared over 11+ months of wear.

Until I bought a second pair in October, I was wearing these at least 3 times a week, often more, because they really do go with just about everything. Also, around the same time, I had given up on several pairs of old shoes so these came in for extra rotation. I didn’t get any sole protectors for these, and neither did I spray the leather to water-proof them. I was lazy.

As you can, they are fairly scuffed, more so on one foot (the side pictured). I always wear out the same corners of the heel, and I always get the toe of the left shoe extra scuffed because for some reason this is the foot that gets always caught on things like stairs and scraped by escalators. I’ve stepped in many puddles and gotten caught in the rain a few times, and so far there is one clear water-mark. Rainwater always stains alarmingly but most of the marks vanish after.

I don't use a pedometer so I have no idea exactly much walking I've done in these, but I commute to work by bus or subway and I walk in between to run errands, go on work assignments, etc. Generally, I’m happy with how the shoes have fared. These aren’t true Oxfords with heavy duty construction, so given the thickness of the leather soles to begin with, I find their current state pretty acceptable and the rest of the shoe continues to feel nice and sturdy. I wonder if attaching a thin Vibram sole when they were relatively new would have helped. In any case, I did get Vibram soles for my second pair, so we'll see.

Comments

Joy said…
i would love to read a further update once you get them fixed by the cobbler sometime in the future. my own leather oxfords got completely drenched in the rain *tears* and i was wondering what i can do to not make them so wrinkly again...aside from taking it to the cobblers? i suppose hk labour costs are pretty cheap so it would costs much to take them to someone here.
Aïssa said…
It's good to know that the Dieppa Restrepo brand is not hype and that quality stands the test of time and use. I just got another pair of oxfords and it's really my favorite go-to-work style of shoes.
Ammu said…
They are beautiful, love the colour!
miss sophie said…
that looks like some good honest wear. love this series, i've been thinking recently about posting something similar on a few workhorse items :)
lin said…
Joy: I've only had that happen once, with a pair of ballet flats - when I got home I soaked up what I could with a towel, stuffed it with newspapers overnight to soak up more water, and just let it air out for a few days. I also applied some leather care cream a few days later to soften it up. They were never quite the same again but they were still in decent enough shape. I think different leathers react differently so I'm not sure if this is any help!

Aissa: I still don't like Oxfords that are too mannish (I just can't pull it off) so these Dieppas, which are somewhere between jazz shoes and oxfords. are perfect. I'm interested on how much wear I can get out of these.

Ammu: I can't get enough of the colour either, so rich and goes with everything!

miss sophie: oooh, would love to see such posts. I've been looking at my stuff and wondering which ones to pull out and post on...I do love looking at how things age and change, like how you're documenting the evolution of your APCs!
Jade said…
i own too many pairs of dieppas to count. they do wear well, and feel even more lovely with time. i always get a vibram sole and rain & stain repel. mine have marched through a good bit of ghana and chicago--still holding strong.

Popular Posts