Dyeing leather shoes

[MrsMarigold]

I had some lovely cream leather shoes for my wedding they are leather with a snakeskin bit in the front and silver trim, I would love to wear them again but cream isn't for me does anyone know about dyeing shoes either yourself or a reliable service.

Also have a crepe dress (ghost) I would like to dye. Is material easier or should I get in done professionally?

[Pantsalive]

I'm not sure about dyeing shoes but I have dyed various Ghost items. They dye brilliantly just with normal Dylan. The only thing is that the thread used to dye but on the last dress I dyed, the stitching stayed white.
I'm not sure whether there is some test you could do to check if the thread would dye.

[Pantsalive]

Dylon not Dylan obvs!

[MrsMarigold]

thanks

[florascotia]

In most clothes today, the thread is polyester, which does not take dye anything like as well as natural fibres, such as silk or cotton. If you are dying a garment dark blue or black, and have a steady hand and a lot of patience, you can try 'colouring in' the pale stitches with an indelible laundry marker, or even a permanant ink felt-tip pen.

There are specialist dyes for polyester fabrics: www.thedyeshop.co.uk/acatalog/Polyester_Dyes.html

You can buy bottles of shoe dye from shops that repair shoes/cut keys and such like. There are different mixtures for leather or suede. But it is a very messy business. You need rubber gloves and newspaper. Also, if the 'snakeskin' on your shoes is plastic, it possibly won't dye as well as leather.
The website in the link above also sells leather dyes, that might work on synthetics. I don't know.

[MrsMarigold]

No plastic involved I might get it done professionally.

[florascotia]

No offence intended re snakeskin - just that some delicate fancy leathers have a special coating - not plastic but similar in some ways - that makes them more durable.