Jumped into leather dying. I'm not buying used shoes like tabby.
New mismatched factory defects in brown. One 9.5, the other 10, which strangely enough matches my feet. Attempts to match the shoes with colored polish failed. One shoe was reddish brown, the other dark flat brown. I've worn them to work twice.
All in.
Stripped in acetone, re-dyed in cordovan brown, routed/installed toe plates, and sanded down the sole on one to match the other.
Best part was not wearing gloves with the dye. Now my hands are permanent brown.
After stripping with acetone-
Slowly applying dye-
Sanding the larger shoes sole to match the smaller shoe-
routed out/installed toe plates-
gratuitous watch/first polish shot.
Incredible satisfaction making something you can actually wear at work.
