Synonymous with mid-century fashion, patent, high-shine, and vinyl materials were all the rage, especially in the swinging sixties — think white Pierre Cardin mod coats cut to the thigh and knee-high ...

School’s in, and it’s not Grease. Author John R. Powers creates a different kind of romance with growing up in the ’50s in his oddly titled Do Black Patent Leather Shoes Really Reflect Up? Powers ...

It’s not often that a pair of shoes gets an ovation in a Broadway show, but that’s what happens for the title characters in “Kinky Boots.” The boots — which are red, patent leather and fabulous — are ...

Monica Barbaro is running through the looks. The “A Complete Unknown” star is hurdling to the Oscar’s finish line. Last week in an interview, her stylist Jeanann Williams said that she had done around ...

An 1857 issue of Scientific American explained the two-part process of making patent leather in olden times. First, manufacturers concocted an oil with which to prepare the hides for the varnish. It ...