Men's Italian shoes: Winklepickers, yes?

MagsRags

MagsRags

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Men\'s Italian shoes: Winklepickers, yes?

They're dark brown suede, size 11. The maker is Maxtegani, Varese Italy. I couldn't find much online about Maxtegani so would love some input from the footwear experts about era.
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Winklepickers is a very English term, so you might confuse American buyers! However, that really sharp toe is typical of men's shoes from the mid 60s (1962-66) The pointed toe is used on men's shoes well after they first appear on women's shoes in 1956/57. Varese is an American importing company that buys shoes from smaller makers in Italy and sells them under their own brand - Amalfi did the same thing at the time.
 
So do you think these are 60s, Jonathan? Lynn emailed me that she thought they might be Martegani rather than Maxtegani, and it appears Romano Martegani makes wonderful and expensive shoes, but their logo of the last 20 years at least bears no resemblance to the insole logo here.
 
The shoes are definately 60s, the only other time men had shoes with toes that pointed was the early 80s. I don't know the maker's name - there were hundreds of Italian shoemakers and it would take decades to track them all down to find out where they made shoes, who they supplied shoes to, and when they started and stopped making shoes.
 
I used to call them needle point shoes until I learned of the winkle-picker term but that might have been just me.. I'll take a look in some catalogues and see what what the period term was for them here in Canada, which was probably the same as the U.S.
 
i have a question for you, too, Jonathan ~ you said these MIGHT be early 80s, which was my first impression of them...i thought that round-ier buckles (like on these) was an 80s indicator, as 60s buckles were more box-y ????
 
I know the early '80s ones well because my muso friends all wore them with their op shop paisley shirts - these look very much like the original '60s versions, including the buckle.

Nicole
 
I'm curious...what about the shoe in particular tells you that they are 60s not 80s? There were a LOT of pointy toed shoes in the early 80s too.
 
I'm no expert on shoes, and I hope Jonathan will give us the explanation, but I agree these look like the real-deal 60's versions. Just like the British Invasion bands used to wear with their skinny pants. I really can't pinpoint exactly "why" they look 60s and not 80s to me. I "think" it is something to do with the shape at the front of the shoe when you look down on them And the font on these shoes that says "The Personal Shoe for You," being all in caps and italics, looks like an older style than one would see in 80's shoes.
 
Its a whole bunch of little things that suggest they are 60s to me. The buckle being gold instead of silver, the typeface of the printing in the sock liner, and the slogan 'The Personal Shoe FOr You' - that's a very Mad Men 60s thing, the brown finish to the leather sole (I would bet the early 80s shoe would have a black finish to the sole), I assume the monkstrap works - it looks like it does - whereas an 80s version might be purely ornamental, or have an elastic attaching the buckle through the strap so that you don't have to undo it to put it on, the 60s version is cut a titch higher on the foot, covering the instep, while the 80s version would be cut just a titch shorter so you could slip the shoes on, and the curved cut on the inside of the heel - I would expect a straight cut on an 80s shoe. I wore the 80s version myself and believe me I would have KILLED For this pair then (I could wear an 11 then too, although they look too narrow) because the 60s versions were just ever so slightly more finessed in their construction. The 80s shoes used bigger stitches and thicker leather or cruder suede. The 80s ones were often made by George Cox in England who continued making them well into the 80s with thick, Doc Marten soles. I don't think you could find a pair with this pointed a toe made by any Italian maker in the 80s - The Italians were doing Armani looking jazz oxfords in smooth grey and caramel shades in the early 80s, or moccasin loafers - this type of shoe in the early 80s was being worn only by men under the age of 25 who were into neo-romanticisim or rockabilly.
 
Thanks so much Jonathan! Your knowledge of footwear runs so deep that it's always an education when you give a guided tour of an individual shoe like this. The monkstrap is functional, and the buckle is hinged in the center.
 
Suzanne -- I think you mean shit-kickers, I think they were also sometimes called 'Roach-killers' because you could step on a roach that was hiding in a corner.
 
Jonathan,

Thanks for all that information, as always you are a storehouse of knowledge on shoes and footwear.

In the mid 60's, my older sister had a few boyfriends (OK she had a LOT of boyfriends cause she was so darn pretty) some of whom wore this exact type of shoe. My dad called them roach killers too! There was also a bad, East Coast ethnic slur term added which I will not say here.

So, I am wondering....is a "winkle" an English term for some sort of crawling bug? As in picking off the winkles with your pointed toe?

Fun!

Barbara
 
If I remember correctly, Winkles are like cockleshells - small crustaceans that have to removed from their shells with a ling narrow tool in order to eat.
 
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