A Gucci Chelsea Boot Given A New Personality With Patina

These Gucci chelsea boots were lying around on Ebay without a home and I could tell that nobody had bought them because of the colour of the leather. It was a light olive that had so little it could be paired with.

Using a bit of elbow grease, some leather dyes and Saphir waxes (which you can get from Double Monk in Melbourne), I decided to embark on the perfect brown patina boot. I am not sure that I got there entirely, but I will let you make that decision.

Firstly, I washed the boots with saddle soap and then stripped them with leather strippers using cotton balls and pads.

Before I begin with the explanation of dyeing I wish to say that the lighter the leather you have as the base, the more options you will have when it comes to patina. This leather was light enough that I made my first layer of dye a brushed on yellow and then orange. Graduating from yellow at the front to orange at the top of the boot.

The next process was to begin bringing the browns in using tan first with a beaver brush that gave a certain stringy brush stroke which allowed the patina to soak in unevenly giving me the beginnings of that patina which is more like old wood. I followed this by using the colour whiskey on the shoes and then finished with a more viscous dye called antique mahogany which was applied with a different, smoother brush. The final act was to use a cotton ball dipped in black to try and give the toe box and heel some additional tonal depth and to 'dirty' up the boot a little so that it did not look too much like a 'manufactured' treatment.

The result was here for me when I arrived this morning. It was a very exciting brown because the colour of the base had allowed me to stay in a rich brown colour range rather than something heavy. This morning, to finish the boots I used Saphir Renovateur to give the leather back some nutrients and then I finished with Cognac and Tabac waxes from Saphir.

NB: These boots are now sold. Thank you for your enquiries. 

These shoes are brand new, they've never been worn before. They are a UK 10, a European 43-44 and a USA 10.5. Since I don't fit the shoes I am offering them for SALE. The price is $495.00 AUD plus postage. If you like the look of them, please drop me a line on www.lenoeudpapillon.com 's contact page and I will be sure to respond ASAP.

Stage 1: right is the original colour boot after washing and stripping, left is the beginning of the yellow dye brushed on.

Graduating dye from yellow on the to box and heel to deeper oranges towards the top of the boot.

Adding in brown begins using beaver brushes to streak the boot.

Additions of black to toe box and heel to add some scruffy tonality and to not make the boot look too manufactured. 

The final result is a rich brown patina with hints of orange and yellow through the toe box and heel.