Resoling Goodyear welted shoes

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So my Loakes need new soles. I have worn through the stitching and the shoe and sole are starting to part company.

The shoe shop when i bought them told me to send them back to Loake if I want them resoled properly. Is that true, they charge about £50.00
 
Loake will do the job properly, so £50 for what will be a rebuilt pair of shoes, is good.

You my have a good cobler locally that can do it for you, but they are few, and far between, lMO.

Have a look on The Shoe Snob blog, for good advive.

Steve.
 
Have you got a proper old school cobbler near you ? Some do still exist, I'm not talking about one of these high street places that change batteries and "fix" shoes.

SWMBO's GrandFather and Uncle were traditional cobblers, sadly GrandFather as died and Uncle has retired. But he does still do a little supply of materials for cobblers from time to time, so there are some still around.
 
The other thing you need to take into account is that if you send them back to Loake they will resole them on the correct last so you don't run the risk of ruining the shape of your shoe. They will also give them a bit of a referb as well. You can choose a harder wearing sole like a dainite, commando or victory to increase the time between resoles as well.
In my opinion, £65 is cheap for a manufacturers resole and a lot less than a new pair.
 
Lb1 said:
The other thing you need to take into account is that if you send them back to Loake they will resole them on the correct last so you don't run the risk of ruining the shape of your shoe. They will also give them a bit of a referb as well. You can choose a harder wearing sole like a dainite, commando or victory to increase the time between resoles as well.
In my opinion, £65 is cheap for a manufacturers resole and a lot less than a new pair.
Click to expand...

Sounds like they will pretty much come back like a new pair.

I know SWMBO's uncle always says a pair of Loake or Grenson with care and the a good repair job they will last a life time.
 
Northam Saint said:
Lb1 said:
The other thing you need to take into account is that if you send them back to Loake they will resole them on the correct last so you don't run the risk of ruining the shape of your shoe. They will also give them a bit of a referb as well. You can choose a harder wearing sole like a dainite, commando or victory to increase the time between resoles as well.
In my opinion, £65 is cheap for a manufacturers resole and a lot less than a new pair.
Click to expand...

Sounds like they will pretty much come back like a new pair.

I know SWMBO's uncle always says a pair of Loake or Grenson with care and the a good repair job they will last a life time.
Click to expand...

There is a video on their website that shows the process for a resole. You'd be amazed at how they (or any of the manufacturers) can bring back an old pair of shoes. Look after the uppers and you'll get a lifetime of use.
 
Last time I used Timpsons for a complete resole on two pairs of quality shoes it cost £120. They did a fantastic job and both pairs looked as good as new. I doubt you will get a decent job for much cheaper even at a traditional cobblers. So, the Loake price is not too far away - just a bit more of a faff in posting them.
 
Loake charges £65, as stated above. For my cheaper work Loakes (L1 range etc) I use a local guy who who does a full leather sole and rubber heel for £40. My 1880, Design and Shoemaker examples will be done by Loake.

Interestingly they suggest 5 re-soles might be the most a shoe can take. Hardly a lifetime for something worn twice a week for work (for example).
 
OrangeSport said:
Loake charges £65, as stated above. For my cheaper work Loakes (L1 range etc) I use a local guy who who does a full leather sole and rubber heel for £40. My 1880, Design and Shoemaker examples will be done by Loake.

Interestingly they suggest 5 re-soles might be the most a shoe can take. Hardly a lifetime for something worn twice a week for work (for example).
Click to expand...

That's because you each time you resole you degrade the area where the welt is stitched. If you rotate your shoes and have a rubber or double leather sole (triple if you really want) you'll get plenty of wear out of them.
 
You do not say what state the uppers are in, if they are badly creased,worn,nicked,stained, are they worth sending back? Especially if just of the self and not MTO bespoke. But the original factory is the way to go.
 
I recently had a local cobbler resole an old pair of Loakes (with a Dainite full sole and heal in place of the leather); he charged £57 and did a pretty decent job. However, at £65 my Badmintons (still on their first sole) will be going back to Loake as it sounds like I'll get back a new pair of shoes rather than a simply a pair that have been resoled...

_
 
Just by way of contrast, I had a pair of shoes reconditioned by Loake (the now sadly discontinued Arundel 2) and haven't been hugely impressed with the job. The soles themselves are the type with rubber inserts and the inserts on both shoes started to come away within a couple of weeks of wearing. One was resolved with PVA glue, but the other (for whatever reason) refused to take and I eventually had to pull it off.

Whilst the fit of the soles themselves was actually very good, I didn't notice any particular improvement on the uppers. All in all, I didn't see it as much of an improvement over the job done at a local cobblers. Had I been local, I would have asked for the soles to be done again (to make up for the detached rubber inserts) but the effort of packing and posting seemed more than it was worth.
 
That's disappointing. I'm not hugely surprised in some ways though. I like Loake, a lot, but they don't always get it right. I had one pair come unstitched on day one of owning them and another with a nail sticking into the shoe which stabbed my foot. Another pair had a small nick in the leather from new.

When they do get it right though their shoes are very nice.
 
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