Leather goods have come a long way…literally! They’ve been around for hundreds of years and have survived the test of time on sheer quality alone. Although it’s much easier to access good materials nowadays, thanks in no small part to technology and automated assembly lines, leather shoes and belts are chosen for their classic appeal in just about any style. Investing in exotic dress shoes is more than a one-time purchase, however. You need to put in a little extra effort if you want your wallets, belts and boots to look as good today as they did five years ago.
Quick Facts
There just isn’t anything quite like quality leather. Men’s dress shoes now account for 6% of the shoe market share, with more exotic leathers (like stingray skin or python patterns) account for 1% of globally traded leathers. Men’s designer footwear also saw a sales growth of nearly 40% between 2009 and 2014. Why is leather making such a comeback? It certainly helps that leather can be used in a wide variety of applications. Leather also grows tougher with time, combining longevity with a lush, old-fashioned appearance.
Rotate Your Shoes
While it can be tempting to wear your artisan shoes as often as possible, your love for fashion can actually backfire. It’s recommended you rotate your shoes at least once every other day. Because footwear materials compress and stretch whenever you walk, rotating them gives your shoes some much-needed downtime to spring back to their usual shape. There are other tools you can use, as well, to keep your exotic dress shoes from tucking in early.
Buy A Wooden Shoe Tree
What else can you do to make sure you keep the ‘luxury’ in your luxury Italian loafers? Buy a wooden shoe tree. Shoe trees are highly recommended by fashion experts to keep your shoes healthy and beautiful year-round. These help retain the shape of your shoe and dries them out faster than if you’d just left them by the door frame. Wooden shoe trees, in particular, use wood’s natural strength in absorbing excess moisture and odor.
Invest In Shoe Polish
The days of the old spit-shine routine are over! If you want your luxury Italian loafers or Impronta shoes to keep their traditional sheen, you’ll want to look up some shoe polish. Leather polish is able to increase the lifespan of your shoes up to 10 times than if you’d gone the more neglectful route. This is due to helping bring out the natural strength of leather as well as providing a waterproof barrier to discourage stains and disrepair.
Buy A Few Different Pairs
Buy some luxury crocodile skin shoes alongside your luxury Italian loafers. Invest in luxury leather belts to top off your designer Goodyear welted shoes. This is a great way of not just rotating your footwear to prevent them from wearing out, but also shaking up your look once in a while. Studies have shown first impressions can be formed in as little as seven seconds. When you let your fashion fall to the wayside? It can be a lot harder getting that promotion or snagging a hot date.
Let Leather Guide You To Greatness
Now for a refresher course on why leather goods might be the missing ingredient to your closet. Leather shoes, belts and wallets all have one major thing in common and that’s a classic appeal that lasts for ages. Leather shoes can be well-maintained through a combination of a wooden shoe tree and the occasional application of waterproof shoe polish. You can even combine a handsome pair of shoes with any casual or fancy outfit. With shoe purchases only continuing to rise from here, sometimes it’s freeing to just go with the flow.
Luxury Italian loafers and exotic skin shoes can seem like a lot of work, but that’s because they never stop doing you favors.
