# Dress shoes are too SLIPPERY!!!



## zegna (Mar 4, 2009)

I have seen some dress shoes that have slippery (wooden?) soles on the bottom. Others have rubber or something of the sort so they don't slip. How do you guys keep yourselves from falling with these slippery dress shoes?

I have generally avoided slippery shoes in favor of rubber-like ones, but would like to buy some high end shoes (see below). I noticed that high end shoes tend to not have the rubber-like soles. But I don't want to spend $200 on shoes that I'm going to slip and kill myself on. Can a cobbler make them less slippery?

https://www.amazon.com/Mezlan-Mens-Knowles-II-Slip/dp/B003K177QQ

If not these, anyone have recommendations on shiny burgundy lace-less shoes? Thanks!!!


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## RogerP (Oct 31, 2012)

A thin Topy (or similar) synthetic outsole applied by your cobbler will solve the problem.


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## cdavant (Aug 28, 2005)

+1 on Topys. Leather soles on wet floors or slippery surfaces can be dangerous. Just don't assume a Topy will be anywhere near as good as a full synthetic, just a lot safer than nothing.


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## TradThrifter (Oct 22, 2012)

It is the sacrifice we make for style my good man. Haha, today I actually wore Allen Edmonds shoes with rubbers soles since the grounds were a bit damp.


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## deliberate1 (May 12, 2008)

Consider: https://www.bnelsonshoes.com/maintenance2.asp


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## Spex (Nov 25, 2012)

I've had rubber sole guards added to a pair of leather soled shoes and I would do it again, but I've noticed that for those shoes where I didn't add them they had plenty of grip on the smoothest of marble floors after the leather sole was worn in from walking around on concrete sidewalks. If you take this route I would highly suggest paying careful attention to the weather and not wear new, bare leather soles on any days where there's even a chance of rain.


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## Mr. Rider (Jan 5, 2009)

I make a point of scuffing up the soles for more secure footing. Think doing the "Twist" on the sidewalk.


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## Buffalo (Nov 19, 2003)

Just walk on the sidewalk for a few minutes and your leather soles will lose that slipperiness quite quickly. What's the point of having good leather soles if you cover them with rubber?


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## RogerP (Oct 31, 2012)

Wet leather is slippery whether scuffed or not. Wet leather on marble or tile is very slippery indeed.


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## Flanderian (Apr 30, 2008)

While I acknowledge that leather soles can be slippery to a degree, I've never found it a problem. I grew up wearing nothing else, and even played football in them, as did most of the kids with whom I played it. As stated, once scuffed, traction isn't bad on most smooth surfaces. And while I now prefer rubber soles for casual shoes, they also have negatives.

I've found that the problem with leather shoes on polished marble floors isn't the leather soles, but often the nails in combo leather/rubber heels which can take you for a ride. And if a rubber sole is wet and fairly smooth, walking with them on polished marble floors is akin to walking on ice.


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## Youthful Repp-robate (Sep 26, 2011)

The worst traction I've had in shoes was with wet dainite rubber on polished tile. I haven't had much trouble with leather soles on most stone floors, though a really mirror-polished one would be a problem. You don't see a lot of floors that polished, though.


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## drlivingston (Jun 21, 2012)

Youthful Repp-robate said:


> The worst traction I've had in shoes was with wet dainite rubber on polished tile.


X 2!! (and I have the bruises to prove it)


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## Shaver (May 2, 2012)

Simply learn to walk with style and grace, this will _almost_ eliminate the possibility of slipping when wearing leather soles in the wet.

The manner in which a great deal of my gender choose to perambulate is a matter of great concern to me - from 'flat-footed penguin' to 'tough-guy gorilla' walks and all the laughable permutations in-between.

I have considered starting a thread about this subject on many occasions...... one of these days I may just get around to it.


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## TsAr (Mar 21, 2013)

Leather soles do tend to me slippery on wet surface......Topy's does the job for me....Rest assure you are not wasting money when you are buying quality shoes with leather soles...


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## RogerP (Oct 31, 2012)

TsAr said:


> Leather soles do tend to me slippery on wet surface......Topy's does the job for me....Rest assure you are not wasting money when you are buying quality shoes with leather soles...


Indeed. My morning commute takes me through two train stations - up and down marble stairs and across what seems like acres of polished floors. When it's raining or snowing outside, water gets tracked in by the tens of thousands of fellow commuters such that all walking surfaces are wet and slick.

I have a number of dress shoes that are Topy'd and a few that are not. Having experience with both options in essentially the same conditions, there is absolutely no question in my mind that wet leather is FAR more slippery on such surfaces. There's a reason you don't see too many winter boots with leather soles.


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## eagle2250 (Mar 24, 2006)

Rubber Topied soles, while providing much more secure footing on wet hard/polished surfaces, are not any less visually appealing than the unaltered leather soles...unless someone is looking at the bottom of one's shoes/boots. Should such be the case, one might ask, why are you standing on the poor fellow's face! :crazy: If traction/footing is a problem, just have topys applied to your soles.


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## RogerP (Oct 31, 2012)

^^^ I wish I had just said that - so much more concise.


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## Jovan (Mar 7, 2006)

RogerP said:


> Indeed. My morning commute takes me through two train stations - up and down marble stairs and across what seems like acres of polished floors. When it's raining or snowing outside, water gets tracked in by the tens of thousands of fellow commuters such that all walking surfaces are wet and slick.
> 
> I have a number of dress shoes that are Topy'd and a few that are not. Having experience with both options in essentially the same conditions, there is absolutely no question in my mind that wet leather is FAR more slippery on such surfaces. There's a reason you don't see too many winter boots with leather soles.


The other reason is that leather soles which come into repeated contact with water tend to soften over time and wear more quickly. Always use overshoes in wet conditions or at least footwear with a storm welt and rubber sole. (Even then, I wouldn't trust those little Dainite studs for traction.)

Topys are all fine and well if you want them, but don't rely on them to keep water out of your shoe. In fact, I believe they can cause even more damage if used in wet conditions since water will get under the Topy and stay there.


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## Flanderian (Apr 30, 2008)

Shaver said:


> Simply learn to walk with style and grace,


Or just learn to totter about like an arthritic old man such as me.

You'll learn to mind your footsteps soon enough! :icon_smile_wink:


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## RogerP (Oct 31, 2012)

Jovan said:


> The other reason is that leather soles which come into repeated contact with water tend to soften over time and wear more quickly. Always use overshoes in wet conditions or at least footwear with a storm welt and rubber sole. (Even then, I wouldn't trust those little Dainite studs for traction.)
> 
> Topys are all fine and well if you want them, but don't rely on them to keep water out of your shoe. In fact, I believe they can cause even more damage if used in wet conditions since water will get under the Topy and stay there.


To your last point, while the water damage to which you refer is a theoretical possibility, I haven't observed it in the 25 years or so that I've been regularly wearing dress shoes - some with plain leather soles and others with rubber outsoles. Have you experienced this water damage yourself?


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## alkydrinker (Apr 24, 2012)

I'm generally ok with the lack of perfect traction provided by leather soles, but I did recently discover it can be embarrassingly difficult walk to up even a small little upward incline on grass, including dry grass.


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## Flanderian (Apr 30, 2008)

RogerP said:


> Have you experienced this water damage yourself?


As a boy, yes. Though this may have had something to do with the quality of leather, and also how worn. The inexpensive shoes of my boyhood would often have to do being worn in deluges for an hour or more. The result was that even after the sole dried out, the leather would seem somewhat swollen, or puffy, with the pores much more visible. But since I tended to wear out soles quickly in any case, I can't help with any opinion of how that might have reduced durability.


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## RogerP (Oct 31, 2012)

Flanderian said:


> As a boy, yes. Though this may have had something to do with the quality of leather, and also how worn. The inexpensive shoes of my boyhood would often have to do being worn in deluges for an hour or more. The result was that even after the sole dried out, the leather would seem somewhat swollen, or puffy, with the pores much more visible. But since I tended to wear out soles quickly in any case, I can't help with any opinion of how that might have reduced durability.


Fair enough, but your example embraces:

a) cheap shoes,
b) getting completely saturated, as opposed to just the soles getting wet from walking on wet pavement, and
c) advanced wear due specifically to the saturation of the leather - not due to any decrease in ability of the leather to dry out as a result of the application of a synthetic outsole, right?

I think what Jovan was getting at is that with a Topy installed, water could seep in _through the side or edge of the sole_, then become trapped and unable to evaporate due to the presence of the synthetic outsole. This seems theoretically possible, though rather improbable to me. And while I have heard the same muttered here and there on the internet, I have never come across any Topy-user who has reported experiencing this side saturation / lack of evaporation / sole damage phenomenon. I know I haven't seen it myself, and I have had ample opportunity to do so.


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## Shaver (May 2, 2012)

alkydrinker said:


> I'm generally ok with the lack of perfect traction provided by leather soles, but I did recently discover it can be embarrassingly difficult walk to up even a small little upward incline on grass, including dry grass.


My experience is somewhat contrary to this. As I have remarked occasionally, I only ever wear Northampton made, goodyear welt, leather soled shoes. They go wherever I go - and I go wherever I like, up hill and down dale. I wonder if it is the roughness of my leather soles, plenty of grit ground in, which allows me to traverse the rolling pastures with nary a slip nor stumble?


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## peterc (Oct 25, 2007)

There are several dress shoes available, including the very lovely Franciscan by AE, that have a rubber sole, or partial rubber sole (like the Franciscan). I personally dislike dress shoes with topy glued to the bottom, especially since the cobbler who affixed topy to the lovely vintage-y "Brooks English" NM oxfords I found recently, stripped away 1/8" of the leather sole to affix the topy. Can you imagine the horror of finding NM 23 year old shoes, only to remove the topy and find that the sole had 1/8" stripped away? Mind boggling.


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## Flanderian (Apr 30, 2008)

RogerP said:


> Fair enough, but your example embraces:


It sure does!

(My homey.) 






RogerP said:


> a) cheap shoes,
> b) getting completely saturated, as opposed to just the soles getting wet from walking on wet pavement, and
> c) advanced wear due specifically to the saturation of the leather - not due to any decrease in ability of the leather to dry out as a result of the application of a synthetic outsole, right?


Right!



RogerP said:


> I think what Jovan was getting at is that with a Topy installed, water could seep in _through the side or edge of the sole_, then become trapped and unable to evaporate due to the presence of the synthetic outsole. This seems theoretically possible, though rather improbable to me. And while I have heard the same muttered here and there on the internet, I have never come across any Topy-user who has reported experiencing this side saturation / lack of evaporation / sole damage phenomenon. I know I haven't seen it myself, and I have had ample opportunity to do so.


I have no direct experience with topies. However, I do have a pair of casual shoes into which the manufacturer elected to imbed a rubber insert in a leather sole. And while I've never worn them in really bad conditions, I have worn them in the wet, and happily report that brother Jovan's concerns did not materialize!


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## Jovan (Mar 7, 2006)

RogerP said:


> Fair enough, but your example embraces:
> 
> a) cheap shoes,
> b) getting completely saturated, as opposed to just the soles getting wet from walking on wet pavement, and
> ...


Perhaps because they're smart enough to use overshoes? 

I personally don't understand why so many guys here would rather get new, expensive, weatherproof shoes rather than get a $30 pair of Tingley.


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## Chouan (Nov 11, 2009)

All of mine are Topy'd. Apart from the Topy limiting the rapid wear of leather soles in the wet (wet leather soles wear away much faster than dry) they do limit the slipperiness. 
Two examples, in the same shoes. Trying to walk down to the parade ground from "Hawke" at BRNC, along a rather steep tarmacadamed track; seeing a crowd of people in Number 1's trying not to slip over was funny yet disconcerting. Whilst running, in the rain, from my teaching room to the main building, my specs slipped out of my pocket. I tried to stop and turn at the same time. Both feet slipped, such that they both went to knee height at least. I landed on my right hip, which swelled alarmingly. I, of course, had to pretend that nothing was wrong to the onlooking sprogs who quickly gathered to view my discomfiture. The brass nails in the heels (to prevent sparks on steel decks) hadn't helped me keep adhesion......
Topying the soles helped, and rubber heel surfaces.


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## Fatman (May 7, 2013)

Does anyone treat the sole leather on the bottom of the shoe with Lexol NF or other leather conditioners? After reading about the warnings of wet/salty roads, I wonder if this would help reduce water damage?


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## Jovan (Mar 7, 2006)

Fatman, just wear overshoes god damn it. $30 versus damaging your leather soles.


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## MRR (Nov 19, 2009)

Shaver said:


> Simply learn to walk with style and grace...I have considered starting a thread about this subject on many occasions...... one of these days I may just get around to it.


I look forward to such a thread. It seems like one of the many lessons people should be taught but never are, because it is just assumed that they were taught correctly in the past.

Back when my congregation actually shook hands during mass (before mass hysteria from some form of flu) I often wanted to correct young boys' handshakes, but you never know how he or his family will react when you grip his hand a little tighter and ask him to shake your hand like he means it. For that matter, I apparently had a bad handshake as a boy but, despite knowing it and disliking it, my mother never bothered to correct me.


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## Fatman (May 7, 2013)

Jovan said:


> Fatman, just wear overshoes god damn it. $30 versus damaging your leather soles.


Jovan,

I mean sole protection for even sunny mornings where the grass is still wet; not so much the overshoes for bad weather. I have used Lexol Neatsfoot for leather for many years, and I only recall one shoe dealer here who mentioned "sole tonic" without clarification.

Fatty


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## Jovan (Mar 7, 2006)

Well, I wouldn't worry too much about that myself since that little bit of moisture will probably dry quickly. But going onto salted, snowy roads or a downpour without overshoes is bad.


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## momsdoc (Sep 19, 2013)

Well you've opened my eyes to a piece of equipment i found buried in the back of my closet. Upon restoring all my shoes and arranging my new ones I came upon a pair of overshoes I must have bought 20 years ago. I don't know what possessed me to purchase them and then not care enough to use them. Now that I have things properly organized I can see my shoes in their entirety, and take pride in wearing them. I will never venture forth into the ongoing or potential rain without taking my overshoes again.


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## NH102.22 (Oct 25, 2012)

Youthful Repp-robate said:


> The worst traction I've had in shoes was with wet dainite rubber on polished tile. I haven't had much trouble with leather soles on most stone floors, though a really mirror-polished one would be a problem. You don't see a lot of floors that polished, though.


It is a good idea to exercise extreme caution on such surfaces, whatever soles are on your shoes. The last time I slipped and hit the ground hard was wearing combat-style boots with a direct-moulded synthetic sole on a freshly polished, damp tile floor. I was 18 years old and the fall didn't hurt me or my shoes. Would a nicely scuffed leather sole have been any better? Maybe, but while wearing leather-soled shoes I am far more careful where I step. Wet floors and puddles are to be avoided wherever possible. With rubber, I have no such fear and am less cautious, which probably increases the risk of slipping in itself.

I am a big fan of Dainite and highly recommend it.


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## Shaver (May 2, 2012)

MRR said:


> I look forward to such a thread. It seems like one of the many lessons people should be taught but never are, because it is just assumed that they were taught correctly in the past.
> 
> Back when my congregation actually shook hands during mass (before mass hysteria from some form of flu) I often wanted to correct young boys' handshakes, but you never know how he or his family will react when you grip his hand a little tighter and ask him to shake your hand like he means it. For that matter, I apparently had a bad handshake as a boy but, despite knowing it and disliking it, my mother never bothered to correct me.


Ahh the merits of a proper handshake. :icon_smile:

Meeting a fellow who can provide a good manly shake is a minor, yet appreciated, pleasure as I go about my daily business.

Ladies can be forgiven a limp half-hearted 'shake but a chap who cannot gauge the 'shake just-so is highly suspect: either he knows no better or he simply does not care - both of which are questionable attributes.


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