Trip’s Find: Double Monks (Before & After)

I’ve recently been looking for a pair of shoes wear for an upcoming trip to Italy. I wanted something comfortable that I can wear all day, but also wanted something that didn’t scream “American” in quite the same way as a pair of Nike Air Monarchs.

I had been looking for a pair of Chelsea boots, but switched over to looking for a pair of suede double monks. In my hunt on eBay, I stumbled across a pair of a Sid Mashburn double monks in leather in my size. The uppers looked like they needed some TLC, but weren’t beyond repair, and the soles looked like they were in great shape. The seller had them listed for $120; quite a bit below the $595 for a new pair. They weren’t suede, but the deal seemed too good to pass up. I shot them over to JRS to give a second opinion and he said to pull the trigger. The buyer had the “Make an Offer” option active, and my attitude is that if you’re going to offer that option, I’m going to use it. I offered $100 and hit “Submit.” I really didn’t think that they would accept, which would have been fine, but about 10 hours later I got an email saying that they accepted. With shipping and tax I was in for $124.

When they arrived, they were actually in better shape than the pictures made them look. I wasn’t sure if I was going to need to strip them all the way back and redye the leather, but figured I would just start with an application of Saphir Renovateur and follow up with a coat of burgundy cream polish as I did want them to be a bit darker. In the end, that was all I did and I am very pleased with the results. They picked up the color well and the scuffs on the toes seem to have polished up nicely. I could still probably hit them with a coat of wax polish.

I’m still debating whether these will be my go-to shoes for Italy, but at the very least they’ll make a great addition to the wardrobe, and for a fantastic price.

Trip Reed is a stylish guy and a good friend.  We are grateful for your contributions…more to come…

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7 Comments

  1. GBB
    01/21/2020 / 8:21 AM

    Bad news… I searched for Sid Mashburn on eBay and that’s the only pair out there. Sorry guys.

    I miss Trip’s blog – he should bring it back.

    • Trip
      01/21/2020 / 10:24 AM

      Ha, thanks for the kind words. Although I do toy with the idea of bringing back the blog every now and then, when I look at how much work Jay has put into RCS to get it to where it is today, it’s overwhelming to say the least. But he has asked me to write some other pieces, so maybe you’ll see some stuff from me here a bit more often.

  2. KD
    01/21/2020 / 8:47 AM

    great find…. i was eyeing those a few weeks back. Was worried they wouldn’t fit. Happy they found a proper home!!

    • Trip
      01/21/2020 / 10:25 AM

      I was a little apprehensive about fit, too, but figured it’d be worth going for. Even if they didn’t fit, I figured I could likely flip them after getting them looking better.

  3. Fritz
    01/21/2020 / 10:15 AM

    Pete Carroll would like to have a word with you regarding Nike Air Monarchs

    • Trip
      01/21/2020 / 10:25 AM

      Haha

  4. JRE
    01/22/2020 / 10:46 AM

    Monk straps are the PPPP of the dress shoe world. About time someone said it.

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