Comments on: 30 Days to a Better Man Day 2: Shine Your Shoes

By: J. Lucas Simpson

J. Lucas Simpson — Sun, 18 Oct 2009 14:56:42 +0000

@ Daniel Jaffe
Sir.
I respect your opinion but disagree with you on the validity of this post, as well as your actions of labeling anyone who does shine there shoes/boots as a metrosexual/homosexual. I’ll do my best to not insult you and if you eventually read this and are insulted then it is your burden to bare. If i were you i certainly wouldn’t be labeling much less insulting my peers for wanting to improve themselves based on a personal opinion.

In your shoes i would feel ashamed for making such a comment and then hang my head and take solace in the fact that i am unable to see my own reflection.

J.Lucas Simpson.

By: Bionicjoe

Bionicjoe — Tue, 29 Sep 2009 06:06:26 +0000

Day 2 inspired me to finally go buy a pair of decent boots that can be worn to the office. I had been wearing sneakers everywhere and it was getting old.

Brought them home and ’shined’ with a healthy dose of Mink Oil. It’s not really a polish, but it is a ritual my dad used on his boots and work shoes.

My new boots are already darker, more pliable, and have a decent ‘well-worn’ look.

By: 6 Manly Ways to Settle Your Mind | The Art of Manliness

6 Manly Ways to Settle Your Mind | The Art of Manliness — Wed, 29 Jul 2009 06:13:58 +0000

[...] your shoes can seem like a chore, but as many of you discovered during our 30 Days to a Better Man Challenge, the task can actually be quite therapeutic. There’s something about the smell, the tools, and [...]

By: 30 Days to a Better Man Wrap-Up

30 Days to a Better Man Wrap-Up — Mon, 06 Jul 2009 00:52:18 +0000

[...] Day 2: Shine Your Shoes [...]

By: Adam Blevins

Adam Blevins — Mon, 22 Jun 2009 16:31:19 +0000

I keep a shine kit in my desk drawer and try to hit my shoes occasionally… old habit (and shine kit) from the military.

This was a welcome surprise for day 2.

I was just sitting here on my lunch break, shining, and had a client walk up behind me at my desk.

Think I should be embarrassed?

By: Julian

Julian — Wed, 10 Jun 2009 05:35:21 +0000

Great post. My black dress shoes have been neglected for years now since I mostly wear sneakers and Tims.

A question – How do I bring out the beauty in my class suede timberlands? I consider them my semi-formal shoes because with a decent pant leg covering the top they look like regular suede brown shoes.

Thanks.

By: Enhor

Enhor — Tue, 09 Jun 2009 23:37:51 +0000

@Spud
I wear sneakers too, always white ones (fits with everything, casual but just the right amount). What you can do is buy a shoe whitener. It’s a sort a white pain that’ll make you shoes look like new. If your sneakers are made of leather, you can use wax like you would for for any other shoes. Even if it wont make them better looking, it’ll make the leather more resistant. Also, don’t forget to wash the laces, especially if they are white.

Anyway, that’s what I did for this Day 2. Put some uncolored wax on my Adidas Superstars, whitened them, tried a cool new laces pattern. I love to care of my shoes and that’s one of the few thing my father taught me and I thank him for that.

Last thing, don’t hesitate to spit on your shoes, and rub them with an old piece of clothing. It may seem gross but it’ll make them shine like a brand new car.

PS : excuse my poor English

By: Finnian

Finnian — Tue, 09 Jun 2009 00:56:18 +0000

I’ve been looking at my shoes lately and thinking that they need a shine… I guess I had better get on it.

“Clothes really do make the man. Naked people have almost no influence in society.”

—Mark Twain

By: Sommelier

Sommelier — Thu, 04 Jun 2009 00:51:11 +0000

A young lady I know recently lost her position with a financial house and found a job with an upscale retailer on Madison Avenue. As part of her training she was taught how to know who might actually buy the expensive items her shop sold and who was not “in the league”, she was told to look at two things: the condition of a man’s shoes and his wristwatch.

By: Michael H.

Michael H. — Wed, 03 Jun 2009 03:04:56 +0000

This was a great day 2. I was expecting something deep like yesterday’s values definition/clarification. So shining my shoes was a bit of a surprise, but something that I don’t think I’ve paid much attention to since I was a boy. The shoes were in pretty dire need of the “attention to detail” and “investment in… personal appearance” that Mike S. wrote of.

By: Mike S.

Mike S. — Wed, 03 Jun 2009 02:58:24 +0000

Absolutely agree that this is a worthy post for day two. Well shined shoes reflect (no pun intended) multiple worthwhile traits…attention to detail, self esteem, and an investment in one’s personal appearance. Having done so many times even before reading this article, I can also attest that a boot and shoe shining session is relaxing and does bring a sense of having all one’s stuff in one sock and being ready for whatever’s next. As a retired AF officer I can say that discipline and miltary bearing took a distinct turn for the worse after the introduction of corfam and patent leather….absolutely cheating. Some professions can afford to be blissfuly unconcerned about appearance but all the services kind of like people who deal with lethal force and operate massively destructive systems to be obsessively detailed about all matters great and small.

By: Brett

Brett — Wed, 03 Jun 2009 02:27:10 +0000

@Spud-

I’m not sure about canvas shoes or shoes that are like fashionable sneakers, but when my athletic sneakers get dingy (and especially when they get smelly) here’s what I do:

-Sprinkle each shoe, inside and out with baking soda, and then stick each one in a freezer ziploc bag. I then put the sneakers in the freezer and leave them there overnight. This kills the bacteria that causes odor.

-The next day I just stick them in the washing machine along with my clothes. I’ve never had any problem with doing so and it gets them pretty clean. When they’re done, don’t stick them in the dryer. Just stuff them with crinkled up newspaper and let them dry.

This will give them a new lease on life.

By: Daniel Jaffe

Daniel Jaffe — Tue, 02 Jun 2009 22:25:15 +0000

i certainly don’t want to stop anyone from shining their shoes if that’s their thing—and I DO generally appreciate most of what I see on AoM—but this post is just stupid and, on Day 2, it certainly brings down the value quotient of your 30-day program.

Go ahead and be a metrosexual (or homosexual for that matter) and shine your shoes and go shopping and look your best for career and dating success. But don’t lay it on this unreconstructed slob and, even more important, don’t act like having a good shine on your shoes—or anything else fashion-related—has ANYTHING whatsoever with being a man.

In fact, if we’re dealing in images of manliness, MY image of a real man is a guy who is blissfully unconcerned with his appearance, his thoughts turned toward deeper things: philosophy, politics, alcohol, and the greatness of Ichiro Suzuki. That describes my dad (OK, not the Ichiro part) and pretty much my sons too, even though one of them has to dress sharply for his work (and does it well).

Each one his own, of course, but I’m having a hard time seeing what this has to do with manliness and I think you do your readers a disservice focusing even one post on this.

I wanted to post a link to the great Astaire singing and dancing to Shine on Your Shoes—but I couldn’t find it.

By: Spud

Spud — Tue, 02 Jun 2009 20:28:37 +0000

Great tip for shine-capable shoes. I have a question: what about other shoes, like sneakers or canvas shoes? What is the appropriate care for those? You can’t very well redeem that blaringly-white-and-fresh-out-of-the-box look with those (though, I’m not sure you would want to…-ha-).

By: Stephen M.

Stephen M. — Tue, 02 Jun 2009 16:37:08 +0000

Out on a business trip and left your shine kit at home? Some hand lotion and a quick buff with a towel or a sock will have give you a quick polish, not a shine though. Works in a pinch!