Pursuits
Spring-Clean Your Shoes
It’s about time for a postwinter polish up. Here’s how to find a great cobbler, restore leather yourself, keep sneakers pristine, and choose the tools you’ll need.
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Getting shoes fixed is never convenient. You gotta lug them to work, run out at lunch, find a place, then wait around. Cobbler Concierge, a new online service, has a better way. The company sends you a box (holding up to five per order) with return postage for easy shipping. You scribble some notes about problem areas, and the shoes all get renovated at a Queens, N.Y., workshop before landing back on your doorstep a few days later. This works surprisingly great, though the flat rates aren’t cheap: Women’s are $40, and men’s are $80. So it’s best if they’re truly messed up, like the two we tested here. cobblerconcierge.com
A co-ed guide from David Mesquita, vice president for New York’s Leather Spa