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I didn't like how my Allen-Edmonds have the edge of the sole and heel painted black. It is a thick black colour that looked plastic, and aesthetically the colour didn't fit with the cordovan of the shoe (see my previous pictures). So I sanded the black colour off to reveal the shades of layered leather.

I'm not actually sure what the top layer-edging material is. It's black, but I'm unsure if it's plastic.

The sanded leather was very pale, so I rubbed in some sno-seal which has created some darker-richer shades. It's not perfect, and my sanding is inconsistent, but it's a huge improvement on the black.

Allen-Edmonds Cambridge Cordovan

I'd been looking at this pair of AE cordovan shoes for the past 12 months. To tell the truth I felt that the colour looked muddy (it looks nicer in these pictures than in reality) and I was unsure if the wing-tip brogue style was something I could wear (I wear jeans everyday, and everytime I tried the shoes on they looked slightly odd). So I hesitated for 12 months, and finally decided to get them since they're the only cordovan shoes that I've seen in Australia, and they were at a bargain price.

I guess that they'd been in the store a lot longer than 12 months since AE don't offer the Cambridge style shoe anymore. They also have a few scratches and dings from shop handling.

I noticed this strange white deposit on the tongue of the left shoe. Perhaps it's cocaine...

Anyway, the shoes are a burgundy colour. The edges have black piping which I don't think is cordovan. The waxed laces are a bit sticky. You can see the irregularity of the colouring on the cordovan pieces on this next pic.

The sole is quite stiff and thick, but I'm sure it will break-in over time.

I'm quite excited to see how these shoes age over time. The descriptions that I've read about shell cordovan are very impressive. The shoes will probably outlast this blog.

You can read about shell cordovan:

here

and here at horween