Shoe restoration advice please!

Dilly Day

Dilly Day

Registered Guest
I have recently bought these gorgeous Norvic shoes. They are in very good condition apart from the heel of the left shoe. The shoes are red leather but the heels seem to be covered in some sort of red coating and the left shoe has quite a few areas where it has come off. Would anyone have any advice on the best way to restore the colour please? I have been looking at acrylic shoe paint but am not sure if this would be the best route to take.
Any help or advice would be much appreciated.
20240313_165027.jpg
20240313_164151.jpg
20240313_164619.jpg
20240313_164208.jpg
 
Oh, they are pretty. What a shame about the flaking. I have had shoes where at a certain point it starts peeling off in sheets.

If they were mine, and I wanted to wear them (as opposed to sell them), I might try fingernail polish, in part because there are so many shades available. And then apply it to one of the tiny areas and wear them around the house for awhile. Because don't you always wear red vintage pumps when you're relaxing at home? And if there were no unintended consequences after a few weeks, expand your painting.

Please understand that I may be totally off base here. I have no experience trying to resolve this sort of shoe problem. Hopefully, one of our shoe experts will stop by and give you a better idea!
 
Thanks for your reply. I like the nail polish idea- I could take a shoe with me to the shops & try to find a matching shade.
And yes of course I always do the housework in full make up, high heels & a frilly pinny! You'd never catch me in jeans, t-shirt & flip flops, oh no, not me!!
 
That's paint - so its just a matter of matching it with the right colour. Nail polish is high gloss, so that is the big drawback with that, but it is durable. You could look for an acrylic paint, but matching the colour will be the issue. You might be better off taping off the leather upper and the breast (side of the heel that faces the sole) off, and then sanding the entire heel (lightly to scratch up the surface and remove any hard line between the existing paint and where it has peeled) and then repainting the entire heel with as close a colour as you can find. Ask at your craft or paint store what paint would be the most resilient to wear.
 
Thank you for your advice. I will take my time thinking about the options & decide which would be best for me - I really don't want to make a mess of it!
 
I've redone pair that had the same issue. Some scuffs/scrapes too. I cleaned them really well and them painted two coats of acrylic shoe paint. I matched the best I could, and it came out pretty close. I used a top coat to seal it all in. It's not "authentic" but they're personal shoes.
 
Thank you, that's good to know. Annoyingly only one heel is damaged - the other is totally unmarked but I suppose I will have to paint both heels so that they match.
I will probably sell them at some point so really want to get it right!
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top