Because veg tan leather is not very soft, it will need to be broken in for the more optimal fit. To do that I break in each panel by hand which can be viewed in the curvy side panel with the rolled edge.
This will take about half and hour total which isn’t bad, but having to roll each one in 6 different angles can get tiring on the hands, but worth it as the shoe will shape to the foot a lot sooner.

Some original 1985s had a more matte collar while others would be a bit more shiny. For this iteration I went for one that was a bit more shiny just to see how I liked it.

When building the tongue, I was still fairly deep in my experimentation on the desired fabric. The photos of original ones showed what looked like a more subtle weave, while Nike’s reproduction of the “85s” shows a more obvious weave. I thought Nike knew best and went for that style which I learned on these was far from the correct one. It was a more stiff feel and fit and not like what would have been used.
The fabric I originally used on my Black Toe’s would later be reused as that was the closest I have found.

While this pair was far from perfect, one piece I am especially proud of is the top of the heel panel running perfectly parallel to the Swoosh. It was always quite difficult making it stay in place as the wheel on the sewing machine would sometimes cause the piece to shift, but I took it extra slow on this one.

This close up of the collar really shows off the aged corners of the Black and cracking of the collar, along with the faint debossing of the Wings logo.

1985 Black and Red