Allen Edmonds Appreciation Thread - reviews, pictures, sizing, etc...

[spitshine123]

Wearing the Strands today.....the picture makes them out to be darker than in real life. Regardless, what's the polish that's supposed to lighten them? Chili?

Personally I would love for AE to make a shoe in the color in your pic (something in between walnut and burnished brown). Walnut can be too flashy at times, while brown can be a little boring.

 

[Cold Iron]

Quote:
Cognac. Chili is for the edge dressing, and wipe excess quickly or it will be redder than you likely want. Nice socks!

 

[BrizzleCizzle]

Personally I would love for AE to make a shoe in the color in your pic (something in between walnut and burnished brown). Walnut can be too flashy at times, while brown can be a little boring.

You can do the opposite of what he's doing and polish them darker (if you start with the walnut). But yeah, a facsimile of the G&G "antique oak" would be fantastic.

 

[spitshine123]

You can do the opposite of what he's doing and polish them darker (if you start with the walnut). But yeah, a facsimile of the G&G "antique oak" would be fantastic.

Agreed- would you polish with a light coat of dark brown once every few polishings? I feel like this might bring about streaking on the walnut

 

[BackInTheJox]

I would have to imagine as that's the only next lighter shade from AE that's in the brown family.

That's not true. Cognac is a the next lighter shade from Walnut. It's what I use for my Strands. I would never use Chili on Walnut.

 

[BackInTheJox]

Anyone have any insight into whether the Vernon will be on sale anytime soon? I really love the black shoe as an alternative to the traditional plain or captoe black balmoral, and it's made on the 8 last, which I prefer over the 5 last.

 

[BrizzleCizzle]

That's not true. Cognac is a the next lighter shade from Walnut. It's what I use for my Strands. I would never use Chili on Walnut.

I stand corrected. As I've never done this practice (I enjoy my walnut color?), I would be urged to go with this. Out of curiousity - why would you use cognac but never chili? Is it the red hue in chili?

 

[BrizzleCizzle]

Agreed- would you polish with a light coat of dark brown once every few polishings? I feel like this might bring about streaking on the walnut

Honestly, I'd do one light coat on the inside of the heel of one of the shoes before I did the entire shoe and see how it turns out. As far as frequency, you'd probably best be served to just observe how the shoe is taking the color and adjust as needed. For instance, you could simply do an application of a neutral polish or leather conditioner in between brown polishes to make sure you're still conditioning the shoe without adding too much color, or you could bounce between layers of brown and the original color to see if the shoe would balance out the coloring. It should be noted that since this isn't the original color of the leather, it may take more time and attention than just simply polishing to their original color, and it may be advised that once in a while (yearly?) you do a good conditioning or cleaning to remove the variant colors if you feel you're starting to get a little too...creative...with the polishes. I think as long as you stayed in the same family of browns you won't do anything irreversible or even awful, but it's best to be precautious and just pay attention to how the shoe is taking the color, how often you're applying color, and the potential benefits of a thorough cleaning and starting over once in a while.

 

[BrizzleCizzle]

Anyone have any insight into whether the Vernon will be on sale anytime soon? I really love the black shoe as an alternative to the traditional plain or captoe black balmoral, and it's made on the 8 last, which I prefer over the 5 last.

It was on sale during the last Rediscovering sale in September '11; unless something's changed I wouldn't suspect it would be off the list of sale shoes. You could always call an AE store and ask a sales associate in the know, or call AE customer service directly.

 

[BackInTheJox]

I stand corrected. As I've never done this practice (I enjoy my walnut color?), I would be urged to go with this. Out of curiousity - why would you use cognac but never chili? Is it the red hue in chili?

Yeah it's mostly the red hue. I already have two pairs of shoes in Chili (Fairfax and Delray), so I have no interest in turning my Strands into a third pair of the same/similar color.

I have read on here that using the Walnut polish tends to darken Walnut Strands after a while (and sort of adds an orange-ish hue). The recommendations given on here seem to indicate that either Cognac or Neutral would keep the Strands their light color. My Strands are still pretty much brand new, but I have put several coats of Cognac polish on them and even that seems to have possibly darkened them a smidgen (I can tell because I didn't polish the tongue and the tongue leather looks a tad lighter than the rest of the shoe now).

I know it seems silly that Walnut polish would make the Walnut leather a slightly different color than it was to begin with; however, I have noticed a similar phenomenon with Chili polish/leather. My AE Chili polish seems to add more of a reddish hue that dominates any orange-ish hues that were present originally. I do quite like this, actually, so I have no complaints there.

 

[BrizzleCizzle]

A) I have read on here that using the Walnut polish tends to darken Walnut Strands after a while (and sort of adds an orange-ish hue). The recommendations given on here seem to indicate that either Cognac or Neutral would keep the Strands their light color. My Strands are still pretty much brand new, but I have put several coats of Cognac polish on them and even that seems to have possibly darkened them a smidgen (I can tell because I didn't polish the tongue and the tongue leather looks a tad lighter than the rest of the shoe now).

B) I know it seems silly that Walnut polish would make the Walnut leather a slightly different color than it was to begin with; however, I have noticed a similar phenomenon with Chili polish/leather. My AE Chili polish seems to add more of a reddish hue that dominates any orange-ish hues that were present originally. I do quite like this, actually, so I have no complaints there.

A) Well... crap. I need to start paying attention to that. I haven't noticed it yet (only two polishes in their 6 month life, they get worn once or so a month), but I also haven't polished the tongue so maybe that'll help identify any changes and guide me in correcting back to the original color.

B) I actually don't think it's that silly: I don't know if this parallels directly, but I think it may since I've noticed this phenomenon happen on certain shoes, but in wood working if you use a slightly darker polish you can often cover some light scratches and other marring. I imagine that the same exists for the common leather shoe? Maybe that slight amount of dark dye is what enables the polish to blend out damage? Just thoughts.

 

[TRIALnERROR]

I purchased my first pair of Park Ave's and I'm having an issue with "bowing out" around my ankles. I'm usually a 9 (D), but I've tried sizing up and down by a half size and I still have the issue. These are factory shipped virgins, does anyone have any suggestions? Thanks in advance for any guidance.

 

[sevenfoldtieguy]



I purchased my first pair of Park Ave's and I'm having an issue with "bowing out" around my ankles. I'm usually a 9 (D), but I've tried sizing up and down by a half size and I still have the issue. These are factory shipped virgins, does anyone have any suggestions? Thanks in advance for any guidance.

This seems to be a recurring problem for AE. That's unfortunate.

 

[New Shoes1]

This seems to be a recurring problem for AE. That's unfortunate.

He's had the same problem in three different sizes, which suggests it might not be a defect in the shoe. It might be an issue regarding the anatomy of his foot not fitting the 5 last very well. I know we used to be too quick to blame the foot's anatomy, but I sometimes wonder if we've gone to the other extreme now in labeling every sign of bowing as a defect. AE's are prone to this bowing, but the extent of the bowing seems to have a multitude of causes and a defect in the shoe is only one of the potential causes.

If there is an AE store nearby, I would go in to see what they say. I would also consider another shoe on a different last to see if the problem persists. Perhaps the Clifton on the 8 last or one of the 3 last shoes.

 

[Winston S.]



You understand the difference with respect to shell vs. calf I'm assuming

I thought shell creased more than calf. Most of the pictures I have seen show shell creases to be more noticeable than calf.