An "old friend"

Embarking on this cosplay project, I knew it was only a matter of time before I would have to face an old nemesis from the darkest recesses of my mind. One I thought to be rid of forever. It has to do with these...

My old jungle boots, which of course we wore in the deserts of the Middle East. A required component of my Soldier A cosplay outfit. Unlike the more sensible footware issued nowadays, the black leather parts are supposed to be polished, something these haven't been since the middle of 1991. I can't walk around with raggedy-ass footware! Which brings me to the "nemesis" part:
 

Mr. Kiwi. We meet again. Old. Friend.

I found and broke out the old shoe shining kit, also not used even once in the past 22 years. It's all held up surprisingly well. The polish is just as messy as I remember it.

Nostalgia!

 Now they look like this, hardly a mirror finish and I got kiwi on the canvas, but good enough for now...

Ready for combat, I guess?

Polished combat boots. The idea always seemed strange, especially when I had to be polishing them all the time! They've switched to non-shine boots since then, which seems practical when the objective is to not be shiny.
Anyways, I'm thinking it's a go for cosplaying Matsuricon! Still tight around the middle but so what...

Two weeks to go!