Edwin Clapp…Vintage Extraordinaire

(picture courtesy of Classic Shoes for Men

Seeing vintage shoes is always a treat for me as it represents a time where our traditional oxford (the way in which we see it today) was relatively new and therefore shoemakers then were among the first to create many of the styles that you see today, like these spectators. While not as old as others (circa 1930’s-40’s), Edwin Clapp was a great American classic that made exquisite lovely shoes. They always appeared very narrow, which I am sure was due to the fact that everyone back in those times (not really in the 30’s-40’s but earlier clearly) seemed to be a lot smaller and slimmer, which equated to small & narrow shoes…. I quite liked that as I don’t find shoes in wide widths attractive whatsoever, so seeing them constantly slim looking, gives great appeal to me…..And look at that stitching!! That is probably what impressed me most about shoes from the old days; how phenomenal the stitching was! Flawless and always straight and even more amazing, that it is in stark white…it’s a lot harder than you think to make the stitching that white without dirtying it…… Anyways, now I am rambling. But I do love seeing vintage shoes, and these beauties are a good example of how amazing shoes were back then……now can anyone guess what type of leather the top shoes is???