Hey ladybugs and boybugs!
Anna wants ta know:
Dilemma #1: Animal prints, and the judicious use thereof. I discovered Zappos recently, thanks in fact to your blog, and also discovered an abundance of gorgeous leopard (rowwrr!) and zebra patterned pumps, which I would never see locally. Also recently, I found a nifty zebra patterned bag. Not wanting to look like a walking zoo, I wouldn’t use both shoes and bag at the same time, but uh . . . when do you wear animal print items, anyway? The last time I wore anything leopard print, Reagan was in office, and I wore lots of things I wouldn’t wear now . . . Are these items you could wear to work, or would I have to save them for date night? (I work at a church in the East, in a town where people dress rather conservatively.)
Dilemma #2: My husband claims that the rather worn black leather purse I was planning to get rid of, due to wear marks, can be saved with shoe polish. (It is a great bag and I’ve gotten a lot of use and enjoyment out of it, and the mileage now shows.) I am afraid that my jackets would in turn be sacrificed to shoe polish. Can you rescue purses with worn leather? And is shoe polish really the way?
Simple dimple, darling.
Dilemma #1: Save animal prints for fun time. If you’d like to include them in your professional wear, keep them to a neck scarf under a blazer or a pair of pumps or boots with a tailored suit. Or use the fun zebra bag with a very classic outfit where you don’t have any other patterns going on.
Dilemma #2: Why, I have no idea! But it seems to me that shoe polish might be a mess. Perhaps you might take the bag to a leather-worker or cobbler and ask them. Or maybe the readers of this blog might have some suggestions.
I know nothing about animal prints so will leave that alone.
But as for leather polishes, I’ve gotten AMAZING results from Doc Marten’s polish. It’s clear, so it works on any color, and it has *Transformed* bags and boots. It removes scuffs and smoothes out wrinkles, and adds shine. The only down side is that it doesn’t last. You have to reapply it periodically, but I’ve had the same little “tin” of it (it’s actually a plastic container) for years. A little goes a loooong way. It cost like $20. [GIRL! TESTIFY! – PB]
Ok. I don’t mean to show my age here, but aren’t animal prints something that women of a certain age wear? I was sitting at a church meeting a few weeks ago and I noticed that 6 lovely ladies over 50 had some form of animal print. I am afraid even considering them means you are, well, older. Stay away from the zoo and think young!
[Hmm, that’s a good point, Jax. Perhaps one does need to have achieved un certain age [ironic French to drive Jane crazy) to rock the dead animal look. A friend told me recently that he could “totally see me as a cougar someday,” a remark at which I was nonplussed until I found out that a cougar is basically the new, hip term for a sexy old broad. So, thanks Steve! Rrrrowl. Does that mean I should wear cougar? Am I too young to start?- PB]
I refabed a very worn navy Coach purse with navy shoe polish. I did several thin coats and once they dried they seemed to not rub off and buffed to a nice sheen.
This was a 20$ purse from ebay, and it was totally unusable otherwise (sometimes you do get what you pay for). I only use it with my navy suit, but it hasn’t rubbed off at all so far as I know.
Shoe polish is often a bad idea — unless you never encounter rain, snow, heat, friction, hand lotion, or dog saliva. It works for a while, until the top (cured) layer is no longer there… then it starts leaving smudges on other surfaces.
Shoe polish can be somewhat cured with a waterproofing spray… but I do not like the resulting texture.
Here is what works for me… my cobbler sells color aerosol sprays that are marketed to refresh the color of leather — but I have used then to change the color of shoes, too (from taupe to brown, nothing too dramatic). It is a very fine spray, and goes on in a thin layer, picking up the texture of leather you’re trying to match.
It even works on leather furniture.
Until I read the above posts I would have said no, no, noooooo! to shoe polish on purses. I still say, Use extreme caution. I thought I was a very smart, eco-gal, taking to my cobbler my black bag that was perfectly good, though worn white at the seams and corners. When I picked it up, it looked lovely – brand-new. Such faith had I, I wore it with a cream SILK blazer to a wedding rehearsal dinner. Whutta disaster. Skid marks (Forgive me, but that’s how icky) all over my shoulder, at the sides where the bag touched, ETC. They came out at the dry cleaners, but still. Bottom line – your cobbler may have no experience with purses or knowledge of which polishes will stay put.
No, animal prints are not just for old ladies. If done well.
And, PB, cougar does have a certain predatory connotation of seeking out young men to hit on and, well …devour… [oh CRIPES. – PB]
Here is a link Dr. Marten’s “Wonder Balm.” I was wrong; it’s only $11. [Wait! I’m having a stroke of marketing genius! I see a commercial…. “there is a WONDER BALM, in Gilead, to make the purses who-ole…”]
Coach and Stone Mountain (I don’t know about other manufacturers) will repair and re-dye for free. I had a lovely stone mountain bag re-dyed a few years ago, and I still love it, and I have another SM bag that I’m thinking of sending off, because it has been a favorite for 10 years or so. The problems with plain polish are circumvented when you have them re-dyed for free by the very manufacturer. I guess these days one would google it.
Yay! Thank you all for your help!
I like a funky look from time to time and I would totally wear a animal print shoe in church on a Sunday morning. The rest of the look would be really classic, lots of black or neutrals, but I would totally wear a great animal print shoe for worship. Probably not for a funeral, (unless I knew the deceased had a penchant for style) but definitely for worship. [I was going to say that I wouldn’t and then remembered that I wore a pair of purple Burberry plaid pumps to worship. Just once. -PB]
Black purse? try a Sharpie marker. It won’t rub off like shoe polish will. Don’t use it on big areas, but for a worn seam, a scuffed toe, etc. it’s great camouflage.
Hubby tried shoe polish on a belt once. Very bad outcome.