It was an exciting day when I was able to get my hands on these Carmina Captoe Oxfords, pre-owned, but un-worn (they were purchased and unboxed, but never worn). Not sure why the person didn’t just return them, but I am glad they didn’t! I wasn’t a huge fan of the style (punched captoe), or the color since I have a few pairs of medium brown shoes already, but I thought they would be great for a little experiment. I decided to take the finish down and re-stain them to a darker brown (a color I did not yet have). In doing so I wanted to create a textured effect so they weren’t just solid dark brown; this required 3-4 coats of hand brushing. Once the stain was complete and buffed, I polished them up, adding extra shine to the toe caps and the heels.