Help me fix my shoes?

[sheepstache]

The leather is worn away on the toes, any ideas how to patch it? I'm hesitant to take them to a cobbler because they're falling apart in other ways so I'm just trying to baby them through the end with something a little better looking than electrical tape.

[Frankies Girl]

I've got shoes like that as well, so I'm following this thread. Hope someone has a good idea.

[DrSweden]

Well they look hard to repair since it is leather (?) on top of a textile. Maybe you could use some kind of rubber repairment substance. Have you seen the kind you can patch rubber boots with?

[pbkmaine]

 Piece of leather cut to look like a toe cap applied with epoxy or some other glue that bonds with leather. You could use a suede elbow patch for the material.

[Holyoak]

Shoe goo is your friend...  God I love the stuff to fix a million different things around the house, auto, anywhere.  Maybe marker color to match, then a layer of shoe-goo?  They make black tinted I think too.

http://www.eclecticproducts.com/shoegoo.htm

[Holyoak]

I've used shoe goo to reattach the soles of my chucks and it always leaves a plastic sheen.

To stop that, I'll press lightly on the repair while it is still "gooey" to knock of the shine, or that plus dab the area with cornstarch, talc, whatever...  It works.

[thurston howell iv]

Go to some of the local good will stores. Good shoes can be had cheap.  $3- $20 for Good well made shoes.
(Some will even be new or near new- it's worth a look.)

[Big Boots Buddha]

Shoes are not expensive! There is no need to wear damaged shoes no matter how frugal you are.

Places to get shoes cheap as hell.

1) Goodwill/Salvation Army

2) Swap Meets - I found beautiful leather shoes for 10 bucks a piece, perfect old rockports (made in portgual not china like the new ones) for 10 bucks.

3) Shoe Carnival, Shoe Warehouse - This also work, but DONT go here. Go to 1 or 2.

4) Ebay shoes you like - I found more pairs of those old rockports made in portugal for 20 bucks a pair on Ebay. Better than new shoes now since the quality of leather and production was better then.

[m8547]

FYI, I've found that McNett Freesole lasts much longer than Shoe Goo. It is stronger and has better adhesion, but it's more expensive and harder to find. Repairs with Freesole last about 3x as long for me, compared to repairs with Shoe Goo.

[PMG]

I'm almost embarrassed to admit... I've had good results with rubberized silicone roof caulk...  You can get it in many colors too. $5-10 a tube.   I was on a job and made do with what I had, by that might give you more color blend ability and it's possible to get that stuff really smooth and nice is you use a plastic tool or wet your fingers first. 

[sheepstache]

An update, because I know you have all been breathless with anticipation:
I happened to have both shoe goo and black polish so I went with that combination. The first layer blends in visually (bearing in mind people's eyes are pretty far away from my shoes. but a vast aesthetic improvement over electrical tape.) but shrank a tad as it dried so there's still a concave area where the wear was. It's still holding up after a couple commutes so I'll put on another coat or two to fill it in.

Also found a seam that had given way that I stitched back up myself.

Re: the suggestions about replacing them, I've never had much luck with cheap or used shoes. I don't see many ladies walking shoes at thrift shops and they need to be walking shoes not sneakers because I don't like sneakers because they're too mushy and I need a really good fit in the upper because my feet are bony and I've never had good luck with men's shoes maybe because my feet are narrow. To top it off, I need them to be black for work. And maybe there's something weird about how my feet break shoes in because used shoes always feel way different to me than new shoes. It's like the creases are in all the wrong places.

I did take a look on ebay, though, given the suggestions. I had been thinking since this model was from many years ago there wouldn't be any available but there are several, often for around $30-$60 depending on condition, so now I've got an alert set for the correct size and color.

Thanks y'all!

[sheepstache]

Update:

The shoe goo / polish compound didn't hold up in the snow. so I did it with just shoe goo. Didn't look as good but was holding up a little better.

Then I spotted a pair of mephistos in my size on ebay for $17! Always nice when incorrect listing / terrible pictures means no one else really knows what it is being sold. So now I have $350 shoes.