Shiny shoes!

I’m just starting to get some new season stock in, quite a few are patent. I’m realising not everyone knows what it is. Patent leather is normal leather that has a thin coating of clear very shiny plastic over the top. This can create a few manufacturing problems as it’s not as flexible as non-coated leather, and it can be bulkier. The reason price can vary so hugely on patent shoes is down to the ratio of leather to plastic coating; a very thin piece of leather with quite thick plastic will be much cheaper than a nice quality leather with thin more flexible plastic. Check the pictograms; (the little drawings that should be on every shoe!) where the plastic is thicker than the leather it can’t be described as a leather shoe, so it will have a diamond shape meaning ‘other material’. If a patent shoe is described as ‘leather upper’ then it is a better material.  In wear, patent shoes are more susceptible to cracking, particularly ones with cheaper plastic. They are easy to look after though as it’s a plastic surface, so they can simply be wiped clean, and although you can get specialised patent sprays, I’ve always used Mr Sheen and it’s worked perfectly. (Sorry shoe cleaning supply people!)