Would you risk buying a pair of shoes where one has faded?

[Musicalstatues]

Passing my local shoe shop today and saw a lovely shoe out on display in the sale. Tried it on and it was just right for me which is quite unusual for shoes!! However when they went to get the other one it was obvious the display one had faded in colour compared to the one in the box. They were the last ones and they’re last season so aren’t available otherwise. They were happy to knock a bit more off the price but the colour difference is quite noticeable so I left it.

Now I’m really regretting it as I really love them!! Is it worth taking the risk and trying to fade the darker shoe? They’ve swapped them over in the shop now to try and start fading the other one but should I just buy them?? By the time they’ve knocked a bit more off the price they’d only be about £20 so not the end of the world..... but nonetheless irritating if I I can’t get them to match!

Would you go for it? I wouldn’t be so bothered but like I say, I usually really struggle with shoe shopping! It’s quite rare to find ones I like.

I'm sure a good cobbler could help. Are they a colour you can polish?

Depends on the colour, I brought some turquoise shoes back to life with a high pigment shoe polish.

Have you looked for them online instead? Depending on the brand, you make get lucky as lots of websites like Yoox, Brand Alley etc carry previous season's stock.

If you're stuck with the half-faded pair, I probably wouldn't get them since you say the fading is so obvious. Silly of the shop to leave one show in the window so long that it faded. Unless when you say they're now only £20 but originally they'd be £500.

Schuh often sell display pairs for cheap due to fading etc. It's a common retail problem. I bought a pair of vans once that was faded but it wasn't obvious in person. If it's very obvious I probably wouldn't.

I used to work in a shoe shop, even after leaving a shoe in a window for a week it will fade. We used to sell loads of faded shoes at a huge discounted price.

Yes I did once. When I got home I put the unfaded one in the window and the sun faded it to match.

They are Earth Spirit shoes, I can find them online still in black but it was the brown ones that I really liked.

You could dye that type of fabric quite easily or sun bleach the other one by leaving it in behind a sunny window for a few weeks. Turning it every couple of days to get an even fade. If it’s a really good discount and you love the boots then I would go for it.

I did this with some suede shoes once - took weeks in the sun to get them to match
What was really strange was that when I wore them in the rain they reverted back to being odd again

I would have bought them and polished them up, or dyed them both dark brown

this stuff is good

things always turn up here, save a search on Ebay

I did with some dark blue suede kurt geiger mocassins that were discounted to around £18 from £90... They were so comfy and cute, how could I not?! Literally no one but me would ever look at them long enough to notice, hadn't thought of sticking the non-faded one on a windowsill though - that's just genius!

Musicalstatues your second photo probably shows your address and name.

Ooh thanks for pointing that out, I’ve reported it to mnhq x