Oh shoes, glorious shoes. Rarely is a find as gratifying as a really wonderful pair of shoes for under $5. Coupled with the generally low prices, and the fact that Goodwill stockers generally seem to select the modern, plastic crap that still has price tags from Target attached for their “special price” department, it’s really not that unlikely to find a fantastic pair of high quality and even designer shoes for dirt cheap. Of course, there are a few pitfalls and snags along the way to watch out for! Let’s start with your basic, classic pump or heeled shoe.

Ok, these are a little awesomer than most of the vintage pumps I’ve found– in fact, I consider them to be some of the best of this style. Bow pumps were very popular in the late 70’s and early 80’s, along with the plain high-vamped heels that I like to wear with vintage dresses. These kinds of shoes hold up extremely well and often show up in thrift stores barely used or even brand new, like the Selby models above. Likely you’ll be able to find at least a pair of two in your size, although they more frequently appear in tan, black and navy– the staples of the 80’s businesswoman.

The failings of the vintage pump can be several. When you pick up the shoe, note the state of the leather. If they’ve been used, the place where the ball of the foot flexes as you walk can become cracked, worn down, and split. This is about an inch behind where you see the bow on the Selby lavender pumps. Alternately, the leather closer to the sole may “blow out” over time, leaving the shoe with a slightly lumpy and unsightly silhouette. I actually have a photo of this phenomenon, which sadly occurred for my cream Aigner pumps:

Turn the shoe over, inspect the places where the upper is joined to the sole, and make certain you don’t see any cracks or distressing. Secondly, and you probably already know to do this, check the tip of the toe and the heel. The tip is the fastest-scuffing area of any shoe besides the sole, and anything visible from the front is going to prove troublesome, since you’re only going to be scuffing them up more. The heel, even if it still has the cap on, can also be a failing point. Make sure the cap is firmly attached and that the previous owner hasn’t worn it too hard to one side or the other, which will make it very difficult for another person to walk in the heels. Note that if the shoe is high quality enough to merit the (minor) expense, you can just have the heel cap replaced. The toe is a lost cause, on most pumps.

Now, the classic pump is by no means the only kind of awesome vintage shoe out there. The second most frequent shoe that I’ve run across is the suede pump. Suede, of course, ages much more quickly than leather and is much more difficult to keep up. Here’s a vintage suede slingback from Saks Fifth Avenue:

These are in very good shape. They’re at least 10 years old, maybe more (judging from the tag) but as you can see from the upper right corner, the bottom of the shoe is still shiny and unused. In this case, they’re definitely worth picking up, but they still haven’t completely circumvented the ravages of time. Look here, on the heel:

Those are a couple of line-shaped indents in the suede. They won’t be noticeable when worn, but they’re typical of what happens to a suede shoe even when it’s left in the box. Any item– even a plastic shoe tree or the other shoe of the pair– will bruise and scar suede if it’s left resting against it over time. This can be somewhat repaired by a light brushing with a clean shoe brush, which can help raise the natural nap of the suede back to its previous height, but it’s not fully fixable.

The other major heartache with suede is water staining. It’s nearly impossible to get out, and it ruins the look of the shoe. If I see a suede shoe with water stains, I just shake my head and move on.

For both of these shoes, if they’ve seen some wear, the sole can be a concern. Here’s a well-worn vintage sole:

If you click through to the full size image you can really see what is going on with the shoe. Look at the pits on the leather. It has clearly seen some hard wear and tear and may not hold up for more than another ten or twenty wears– a line call, although it’s by a great designer and it’s a really cute d’Orsay pump.

On the other hand, this sole doesn’t have the real killer, the soft spot. When leather is about to give, it gets thin and soft, and you can press on the sole and feel it flex under your fingers. Generally this means that the shoe is about to blow, and you want to avoid, avoid, avoid. In fact, I’ve often found soft spots on the outer sole, raised the insole of the shoe, and discovered there were significant cracks already formed.

Lastly, the subject of fancy leathers, which are always interesting to run across. Vintage shoes are frequently either completely constructed out of or adorned with exotic leather, such as crocodile, ostrich, lizard, or even eelskin. Crocodile is harder wearing than cow leather, and almost always worth picking up if only because it looks really fascinating in person and is quite unusual to find in women’s shoes. Ostrich is more frequently an embossed pattern (that is, cow leather tooled with little dots to look like the feather patterns on an ostrich skin), but a lot of people really enjoy the look of the pattern and they’re certainly a conversation piece. Lizard or snake-skin tends to be fragile and doesn’t wear well over time, but it can look quite stunning (or amazingly ugly) on a shoe. Eelskin I’ve run across once or twice– it has a strange marking pattern, but it’s very shiny and attractive and wears quite well. Honestly, any time I run across an exotic leather I’m very tempted to pick it up just because the shoes are some of the most unusual and eye-catching.

I’ll finish off with a really fun, strange find, combining a little of everything:

These are from a maker named Lissak, whom I’ve only been able to track down in the form of his patent on platform shoes in the 40’s– which these are clearly not. They are quite unique, at least within my thrifting experience. The leather, which is in perfect condition, is perforated like an athletic or golf shoe. Then across the toe you see four bands of exotic skin, which I believe to be crocodile, snake, and lizard. These are all amazingly intact! The soles are barely worn and the stocky little heels are still perfectly solid. They’re cool, definitely retro and just a bit on the odd side: exactly what I’m looking for when I go vintage shoe shopping.