Hi everyone, i was recently told by an nco at my squadron that a female shoes needs to be highly poished on all sides not just the toe cap, so i polished the rest of the shoe to a high standard then during an inspection my oc told my my shoes were “too shiny”. I didnt realise shoes could be too shiny now im confused about how a female shoe should look polish wise. Any advice?
Never have too shiny shoes - well done for being one of the only cadets who must have got that comment!
There’s a lot of to’s and fro’s about shoes - technically shoes (male and females there is no difference between them) should just be highly polished the whole way round.
For competitions and course absolutely we tend to go bulled - again that would be the whole way around whether male or female.
I always say the old “toe cap” only for males came from the fact the style of shoe came with a more natural toe cap rather than any actual rule.
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Are you sure your OC wasn’t making a poor attempt at sarcasm?
I don’t think shoes can be too shiny. If you were on my unit, rather than criticise, I’d ask you to run a bull night to help others get up to your standard!
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You are quite right to shine your shoes all around and over. I suspect the CO was trying to be funny or clever and failing at both. I’ve always had the full bull from being a cadet to a regular, squadron staff and beyond. Keep up the good work and high standards.
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Shoe standards 101
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ACP1358 only says highly polished oxford or DMS style shoes…nothing about just the toe cap 
But lets not start that argument for the millionth time on here
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I polish the whole shoe to almost the same standard all round but with the toecap being just a bit shinier. I have never heard anyone say “too shiny” for the whole time ive EVER been in the ATC- most likely trying to be sarcastic. But i can never tell when staff are being sarcastic honestly
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I have suggested in the past that the shoes dont match the standard shown of the rest of the uniform.
When its clear 3 hours have been spent on shoes but 3 minutes on trousers and shirt combined it is arguable that the shoes are “too shiny” given all the effort has been put into shoes with no attention to ironed creases in the shirt and trousers with fluff and hair over them and beret.
Shoes are only one element of uniform yet its the one element Cadets seemed to put a disproportionate large effort into…
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In such circumstances we should not be criticising the one thing the cadet has done right. The shoes are not and cannot be ‘too shiny’ (what level of shine does not match the description ‘highly polished’?) but the rest of the uniform is substandard and that is where the faults are and the comments should focus.
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