Earlier generations may have seen their parents or grandparents restoring old leather shoes with a wash, a shoe tree, leather conditioning, color shoe cream, and a mirror polish. These days, it’s likely a rare sight. Shoe styles and materials, shoe repair services, and disposable trends no doubt conceal the process of shoe restoration.
Apparel project The Elegant Oxford wants to teach people how to restore old shoes and demonstrates the process on their YouTube channel. In the video above, they share how to “totally look great on a budget” with a $15 thrift store purchase. The right supplies and some elbow grease reveal results.
Watch more shoe videos including how traditional Chinese cloth shoes are made, Her Shoes, and how a failed invention lead to a potentially life-saving new idea.
Watch more videos about repairing things, including how to repair a wet, damaged book, how art conservator Julian Baumgartner restores damaged paintings, and Kintsugi & kintsukuroi – The art of pottery mending with gold.
This Webby award-winning video collection exists to help teachers, librarians, and families spark kid wonder and curiosity. TKSST features smarter, more meaningful content than what's usually served up by YouTube's algorithms, and amplifies the creators who make that content.
Curated, kid-friendly, independently-published. Support this mission by becoming a sustaining member today.