When it comes to style I believe that things should be worn, not kept in their plastic, sitting at the back of your wardrobe never to see the light of day until the one obscure occasion that you deem worthy enough to pull out whatever it was that you thought too precious to wear. This is also depending if you have in fact forgotten that you even owned the item. My wardrobe is practical. Everything in it is meant to be worn on the everyday, no matter what their age or price tag. I have a couple of dressier pieces that I pull out for extra-special occasions, but these few items take up a tiny portion of my wardrobe space.
Nice pieces are for wearing like you don’t care. This is style to me. Style is not letting your clothes rule your behaviour, and above all, style is feeling comfortable in your skin. How you carry yourself and your wardrobe says a lot about you, so while I’m telling you to wear things to death, and repair them when they get holes or fray. I think that these things that essentially ‘define who you are’ on a material level should be given a little love and attention, so that they can keep on faithfully doing what they do for you.
When it comes to my leather shoes, I like to give them a little moisturising-love with some refined coconut oil that I always have sitting in my kitchen pantry. Keeping your leather moisturised in-between their polishes will not only prolong their life (minimising the risk of cracking and becoming brittle as they age) but will also keep them more water resistant and those wear-creases will maintain their flexibility.
Here I use my little monogrammed saddle shoes to demonstrate how it all goes down.
You will need a mat to protect your carpet from getting a coconut oil shower, an old toothbrush, a rag or cleaning cloth, and a shallow dish of coconut oil. I think refined coconut oil is good enough, the extra virgin kind does smell much more tropical though.
- Remove any dirt trapped in detail work or creases with the toothbrush.
(The bristles will get into any small pocket of dirt easily.)
- Dip your cleaning cloth into some coconut oil. Not too much, or else you will have a very wet shoe.
- Rub the coconut oil liberally over your shoe, getting into every little nook and cranny.
(One shiny foot.)
- Leave them to slowly absorb the oily goodness.
- Once the oil has fully soaked in, you might want to give them one last wipe down with a dry cloth before putting them away. If you want a little shine to them, just squeeze a bit of lemon juice or apple cider vinegar onto your cloth to buff them with.
