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 ...

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 ...

John R. Powers, the author of the made-in-Chicago hit “Do Black Patent Leather Shoes Really Reflect Up?” and a nostalgist who helped thousands laugh at their complex memories of rigorous parochial ...

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 ...