The Shoes Make The Man

It makes me kind of sad that I haven’t been able to do much in the way of bootblacking this year so far.  I have polished a couple of pairs of shoes and boots here and there, but overall, I have not really done as much as I or Master Pravus would like.  I have felt really bad about it, but Master Pravus has been very understanding because my wrists have been very problematic for me this year.  In fact, I recently had to have both wrists put back into place, because they just sublux so much.  They have been healing up pretty well though, and Master Pravus asked me if I would polish his (semi) new work shoes.  Truthfully, he got them a couple of months ago, but I have been dying to put that initial coat of polish on them anyway.

So, as the night was getting late, I sat down and set up my little area to set to work.  I promised Master Pravus that if my wrists got too sore, that I would go ahead and quit for the day, because I could always work on them again another day.  No biggie.  He put on an episode of Stargate Atlantis, and I began to remove his laces.  Here’s a before shot:

These particular shoes do have a nice shiny finish to them, so I knew I would be able to really bring that out even more.  I was also feeling the effects of a miniature latte he had bought me at that point, too, so I was feeling pretty perky.  (Tee hee).  I got them done in about an hour, that is with two coats of polish, and a coat of spit.  (I was getting wet, sitting there, licking his boots.  Mmmm.  <3)  When I finished shining them, I decided I was going to go ahead and apply a coat of edge dressing to them, because I love the way they really make the shoes POP.

Here’s an after shot!  I was really proud of myself, because they looked so shiny!  I could even see my reflection in them.  <3  Not only that, but the edge was just gorgeous:

Master Pravus kept telling me what a great job I did, and that he was extremely excited to wear them to work.  I am excited for him to wear them to work too.  I know that for him, wearing freshly polished shoes is a huge boost, and I totally get why.  It’s like wearing brand new shoes – they look so nice and well kept, and they can really make or break your self-esteem, I think.

One thing I have been working on, is different ways to lace shoes and boots.  I will probably do another post about that another day, but as you can see in the pictures, I made sure that the anchor eyelets were laced properly for a Dom, which is something I had not thought about in the past.  Lacing shoes and boots can be very intricate, and I am slowly working on learning some of the more advanced ties.  =^^=