Royal Vintage Shoes Now Have Leather Soles!

Daphne wedges are wonderfully danceable - they lace up securely on the foot, are soft and comfy with a low heel, and have leather soling.

Big news! This Summer season we have made the switch from rubber to leather soling. There are a couple of reasons for this and a few things you will want to know, so here goes...

Leather soles are great for dancing. You can swing the night away on real leather soling, but not on rubber, which is one reason for our switch thanks to ample feedback from the dance community.

Broadway also chimed in with some vital information - did you know you can adhere rubber to leather, but you can't glue leather to rubber? Broadway performers often prefer different kinds of rubber for their soling, so giving the option to customize was important.

If you live in a wet and slippery climate, you might prefer the rubber soling. No problem! A shoe repair shop can easily put on a rubber sole in any "stickiness" you like.

Gorgeous new "Cora" 1940s sandals in soft suede, now with leather soles.

Our leather soles are sealed for durability. Leather soling, being a natural material, needs protection. When your Royal Vintage Shoes come new, they have a topically-applied acrylic sealer over the raw leather that helps form a barrier from moisture. As you walk, this sealer scratches off where your soles impact the ground, but remains around the edges and areas that do not make contact. To keep your soles from sucking up too much water, we recommend regularly applying mink oil to the raw leather portions, or painting on acrylic sole paint/sealer.

It's easier to try-on-and-return now, thanks to the sole sheets. Because leather soles are softer than rubber, they can scratch and scuff easily when trying your shoes on. We always recommend trying your new shoes on carpet, a towel, or a clean soft surface. We've also left the sheets on, which are adhesive plastic barriers that protect the soles. (these are a normal part of footwear manufacture that are usually removed before completion) Once you decide to keep the shoes, peel the plastic sheets off (they're slick otherwise!).



All of our shoes *except winter boots* will have leather soles from now on. With styles like "Aspen," meant to be worn outdoors in cold and wet weather, we're sticking with the rubber soles for safety and durability. The first collection to feature the leather soling is S/S2019 "Foxtrot." You'll still see rubber soling on our heeled shoes on RoyalVintageShoes.com for now, as we phase out these older styles.

We hope you like your new shoes and enjoy the quality, danceability, and feel of the leather soling. It's just one more step towards comfort and authenticity.

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New Colors for Aspen Boots - Poll!

Fancy leopard print? Hate it? Let us know in the poll below!

Hi! We're already thinking ahead to Fall (I know, whattttt?) and we need your help to decide on new colorways for our popular Aspen Booties.

We currently offer black/black and red/black, but we'd like to expand into something new...please let us know what you like!

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Meet the New "Poppy" Oxfords - Foxtrot Summer 2019

Practically perfect in every way - Poppy Retro Oxfords in blue suede + leather, with a contrast shoe lace in bright red, by Royal Vintage

Opening for pre-order in April, our fresh and fabulous new "Poppy" Oxfords live up to their name, available in a bold blue hue or a rich red. We were inspired by sophisticated textures, eye-catching color combos, and heroines of yore.

The new "Poppy" Oxfords in gorgeous red suede and leather, paired with bright blue ribbon laces. Poppies also come with matching red laces.

The Poppies are made of luscious suede foxed with matching calf leather in a very 1930s design with the teardrop toe and broguing. The oxfords lace up with a contrast ribbon lace, but we've also included a matching lace in every box.

Oh this blue! Delectable blue suede and leather and bright red ribbon laces. Each pair also comes with a matching pair of laces. 

The Poppies rise on our 2.5 inch 1930s heel, perfectly balanced for all-day-and-night comfort. Plus, for the first time, all of the new Royal Vintage shoes come with sealed leather soling, great for all types of wear including dancing.

Snag a pair of Poppy Oxfords at RoyalVintageShoes.com

Pre-Order is Open

April 25 - May 17, 2019

Royal Vintage "Poppy" Oxfords in red with blue laces - wowza!

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Pre-Order Now Open - Foxtrot Summer Shoes

Well it took us awhile, but all is ready for the new Foxtrot Summer collection pre-order!

You all know the drill...

Pre-Order is Open

April 25 - May 17, 2019

at

RoyalVintageShoes.com

- $20 off all pre-order styles
- All USA orders ship FREE
- All USA orders get free returns* & exchanges
- All orders qualify for EasyPay Layaway

The new "Daphne" wedge - yup, 2 inch wedges! - in red, also available in navy blue.

"Cora" 1940s Sandals in teal suede with contrast coral shoe laces (matching shoe lace also included)

Oh the joy!

We hope you enjoy all these bold and beautiful new 1920s, 1930s, and 1940s shoes! You'll be excited to know, as well, that all of these new shoes come with *LEATHER SOLES,* which means you can wear these for swing dancing as well as daily wear.

Shop the Pre-Order Sale

at

RoyalVintageShoes.com

* Free return for store credit - or - return for a cash refund with the supplied shipping label for a $6.95 fee.

Stunning new "Poppy" oxfords in red with blue laces (red laces come with them as well) - suede and leather gorgeousness

Lauren's fave - "Maria" pumps in gorgeous pine green. These leather pumps have suede teardrop toes, standing tongues, and bows.

A fan favorite - "Lillian" 1920s/30s shoes now available in buttery yellow and ivory.

Bright and beautiful "Poppy" oxfords in blue with red laces - matching blue laces are also included.

"Maria" pumps in luscious red leather and suede. These have a standing tongue and perfect-fit elastic insets at the sides, making these shoes very secure and comfortable, even for dancing.

Our popular "Lillian" Art Deco Mary Janes are now available with leather soles.

Top-selling "Marilyn" 1940s / 1950s pinup pumps in black leather are back and sporting leather soles.

The new 2 inch wedges, "Daphne" is made in canvas and leather and really is as comfy as she looks. Wear these all summer long and for swing dancing too.

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I'm "Daphne!" - New Summer Sandals - Foxtrot Summer 2019

Beautiful new "Daphne" wedges in Navy Blue, by Royal Vintage

We'd like to introduce "Daphne," a totally new style opening for pre-order April 25 - May 17 at RoyalVintageShoes.com ! Yup, Daphne is our new wedge heel and offers a casual, adorable, practical comfort and style for Spring and Summer.

Based on original 1930s and 1940s designs, Daphne pairs a hard-wearing canvas textile with leather quarters. She has a small peep toe and a lace-up vamp, paired with leather soles, making Daphne a wonderfully danceable wedge as well as perfect for all-day wear.

Daphne in red - the winner of our color poll!

Daphne sits beautifully on our new 2 inch wedge. She's available in navy blue (yes, I said navy blue!) and red, two beautiful neutrals (yes, I said neutrals!) for your warm-weather dresses, skirts, and trousers. They're every bit as comfortable as they look, too.

Don't miss these lovely ladies!

Daphne and all of the piping hot new

Foxtrot Summer collection is open for

pre-order April 25 - May 17 only at

RoyalVintageShoes.com

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Designing Footwear Collections from the Ground Up

Today I'd like to share some insider information with you...that is, how we come up with new designs and collections for the coming seasons.

We usually start working on a new collection about a year in advance. It's a good time to muse and get inspired because it's the same time of year as when the new collection will come out. It's genuinely hard to design a Summer collection in the middle of Winter, and even harder to take photos when it's snowing outside, so we try to work far enough in advance to help us with mood and media both.

Our designs always start with original vintage shoes, advertisements, and images. Here are just two we referenced for color, bows, and tongue ideas.

Speaking of mood, that's where it really all begins. Working with the design team (me, Nicole, and Abby), we throw out a bunch of ideas and feels and impressions. When we all circle around one, a color scheme starts to come together. As an example, Foxtrot Summer came from the feeling of dancing at an evening garden party on a warm night, surrounded by flowers, jazz, and champagne...then the color palette developed from several original 1930s fabrics, the kind of diaphanous printed silk chiffon found on puff-sleeves '30s tea gowns.

Our color palette with Pantone callouts for Foxtrot Summer 2019. We pulled these swatches from illustrations, original shoes, textile designs, and more.

Once the feel and the palette are a go, we agonize over the shoe designs themselves. We try to stick to some "rules" (guidelines, more like) in terms of what kinds of shoes to include in the collection. For instance, there ought to be a low-heeled or flat shoe, an oxford, a pump, a sandal if it's summer, and a nice spread over different heel shapes and heights.

When designing a collection we want everything to feel cohesive. It should feel both cohesive in color palette (not TOO many reds or yellows or blues) and in style (they can't ALL be sandals). We also don't want entirely two-tones or entirely suede, etc. To keep everything balanced, we place all of the design and colorway mockups on one page together to take a look at the whole.

Taking a look at the whole Foxtrot Summer collection together, to make sure everything feels balanced. We check out both style and color on this tear sheet.

Once everything is approved, it's off to sampling. This is the fun part - we pick leather colors, component colors (like shoe laces and other decoration), and see the designs come to life. But it's almost never a winner right out of the gate! Sometimes colors in real life don't work so well together and we have to figure out why - for instance, is that yellow just too YELLOW? Does that blue actually work with that red? We typically go through two or three rounds of samples getting the materials, colors, and fit just right.

The protoypes are almost never correct on the first try - take the first sample of Daphne, for example. WOW YELLOW, right? Fix that! But we also made a lot of changes to the design, which created a better balanced design in the second sampling round. 

And the rest...well, you know what happens next. :-)

If you'd like to see the result of the examples I've shared here, head on over to RoyalVintageShoes.com - Foxtrot Summer is on pre-order April 25th - Mary 17th, 2019.

"Cora," one of the new designs in the Foxtrot Summer collection.

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Oh "Lillian" - New Colors for Foxtrot Summer 2019

One of our most popular designs, "Lillian," is now revived in our most requested colors!

Our beautiful two-tone spectator Mary Janes, perfect for 1920s and 1930s, are now available in soft yellow/ivory as well as an updated navy blue/ivory.

Lillian Art Deco Mary Jane Shoes in soft yellow and ivory. These are ridiculously cute!

Additionally, Lillians now feature our sealed all-leather soling, making these mary jane pumps epic for dancing.

The Lillians come with a true-button strap closure (move that button to make them fit perfectly, ladies!), leather lining, and our oh-so-comfortable 2.5 inch 1930s heel.

Top Seller - Lillian Art Deco Mary Janes in navy blue and ivory. Now with leather soles!

We hope you love these new color options! We can't wait to see what you pair your fresh new Lillians with.

Lillians and all of the new Foxtrot Summer collection is open for pre-order April 25th - May 17, 2019

at RoyalVintageShoes.com

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Hello "Cora" - Our New 1940s Sandals of Foxtrot Summer 2019

We'd like to introduce Cora, our simply divine new summer sandal opening for pre-order April 25th at RoyalVintageShoes.com.

Cora was inspired by the soft colors of warmer climes, whether you find the pink and turquoise in a Southwest desert landscape or kissing the waves of a South Seas sunset. It's these soft, pastel tones that feel so warm and modern but also very vintage and familiar.

The beautiful new "Cora" suede sandals in coral, the hot color of the year. These 1940s sandals feature a small peep toe, open sides, and a 3 inch heel. They come with both contrast and matching shoe laces.

Cora's been making waves all over social media, and we think it's because she's just so pretty in her soft, very trendy coral pink suede and contrast teal ribbon lace. Cora also comes in teal suede with a coral lace, and every box has a matching shoe lace included too.

Cora in teal is so incredibly beautiful! Cora sandals are made in luscious suede with contrast shoe laces - but we've also included a matching shoe lace in every box.

The suede is butter soft, but structured enough with a leather lining. The cutout design shows just enough the foot while keeping secure. Cora stands on our 3 inch 1940s heel and the design has a small, accurate peep toe.

You'll absolutely love Cora! Pre-Order is open

April April 25 - May 17, 2019 

at RoyalVintageShoes.com

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