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

[masernaut]

can anyone explain why there are some variation price on eBay in relation to allen edmond shoes? For instance, I was looking at some park avenue and I see some distinct difference in pricing on both very similar shoes. The more expensive, the better?

More expensive is not better. Sellers set their own prices based upon their knowledge of the item and the condition of the item. It is best to use your judgement and look very, very closely at the pictures provided to judge quality and how much you are willing to spend.

 

[patrick_b]



More expensive is not better. Sellers set their own prices based upon their knowledge of the item and the condition of the item. It is best to use your judgement and look very, very closely at the pictures provided to judge quality and how much you are willing to spend.

That's good advice. I would add that unless you know your sizes intimately, you may want to forego eBay in favor of factory seconds via a factory outlet/shoe bank. This way you have the ability to try on and return if necessary. There seem to be a lot of sales on factory 2nds these days as well.

 

[patrick_b]



More expensive is not better. Sellers set their own prices based upon their knowledge of the item and the condition of the item. It is best to use your judgement and look very, very closely at the pictures provided to judge quality and how much you are willing to spend.

That's good advice. I would add that unless you know your sizes intimately, you may want to forego eBay in favor of factory seconds via a factory outlet/shoe bank. This way you have the ability to try on and return if necessary. There seem to be a lot of sales on factory 2nds these days as well.

 

[Mulligan142]

A lot of trial and error unfortunately. I would suggest visiting a store or at least trying an option that lets you return/exchange for size.

 

[Flyswatter]

I've found the interactive fit guide on the Allen Edmonds website to be very accurate and easy to use: http://www.allenedmonds.com/aeonline/TheFitRightView?catalogId=40000000001&langId=-1&storeId=1

 

[balmoralsoccer]

yes, but I'm looking for a brand new pair. I was eyeing the park avenues. How do I determine width? E, D, C?

factory seconds are brand new, and from the way it would appear from these forums, you have to get rather unlucky to notice any immediate cosmetic defect. i second the recommendation to order from the shoebank--some of the deals to be had are better than some of the price gougers on ebay, and the return policy is crucial. there is no good way to estimate what width you are without trying on the shoe--there are too many variables at play, and that's not even considering different lasts.

 

[masernaut]

I've found the interactive fit guide on the Allen Edmonds website to be very accurate and easy to use: http://www.allenedmonds.com/aeonline/TheFitRightView?catalogId=40000000001&langId=-1&storeId=1

The guide is a good starting point, but it is still necessary to try on the shoe first. The guide originally sized me 10D; turns out I'm a 9.5D/E. I'm just glad I was able to get my money back for those first few experiments

 

[Flyswatter]



The guide is a good starting point, but it is still necessary to try on the shoe first. The guide originally sized me 10D; turns out I'm a 9.5D/E. I'm just glad I was able to get my money back for those first few experiments

Very true, YMMV. As it was for me though, the guide indicated the same size as when I was sized at an AE store: 10.5D.

 

[konda]

My halleluja with AE sizes came from measuring my feet with the Brannock device. Nailed every AE shoe since.

 

[Variatio]

My halleluja with AE sizes came from measuring my feet with the Brannock device. Nailed every AE shoe since.

Never worked for me, and since even shoes of the same last fit different it never will.

 

[konda]

Of course one needs to know that if the Brannock is between C and D, the correct width is D with some C's working as well depending on the last. Reading the reviews on the AE website helps towards the right size and width as well.

Then again for me the AE print out size chart available on the website shows several sizes and widths off.

I guess in the US one can order without S&H and also return on sender's expense?

 

[Kwaker]

For those who wear Barrie-lasted shoes by Alden, which AE last fits most similar?

 

[calidist]

For those who wear Barrie-lasted shoes by Alden, which AE last fits most similar?

Probably 1 and 7, though the Barrie is a very unique last.

 

[elbastardocalvo]

Dalton and Player's Shoe, after a fresh coat of renovateur. The Player's Shoe is about a year older, and you can really see the patina a year more of use gives them.

 

[Cold Iron]

I used Renomat (a lot of it) to clean deep down and remove a lot of black gunk. Then I used AE conditioner cleaner, because this was a year ago and I hadn't gotten Renovateur yet, I think. I used way too much cleaner conditioner before I learned better to apply very small amounts of product to shell.

Here recently, I adopted the Mac Method of using a damp cloth and horse hair brushing. Then a very little Renovateur and a little AE cordovan polish around the dried out parts that I probably stripped too much with Renomat when I first got them.

I used fine grain sand paper to strip the sole edges and chili dressing to give a more natural welt look. Below are some pics when I first got them and started refinishing.

Incidentally, I don't have any Venetian Shoe Cream.







You can see the right shoe was overloaded with product and would not shine up. I eventually stripped that down and learned a neat little trick with this pair of shell and some AE brown shell Strands that I got new, but had a similar problem with too much factory polish on one shoe, such that it wouldn't shine up.

Take a clean dry finger, like your thumb and swipe it across the surface of the shoe. It should squeak from the friction. If it doesn't squeak, then there is too much product and it won't shine up. With both shoes, I applied Renomat in numerous applications until I got to the squeak. Then a light bit of Renovateur or AE shell polish, brushing, and then after several wears, the Mac Method.

After some trial and error (but before following the Mac Method) I made some improvemens by stripping down the excess cleaner conditioner:



However, the right shoe still wouldn't shine up as well, and after one day's wearing, the right shoe was dull in comparison to the left.

Recently, I started the Mac Method, yielding much better results. I scrubbed that shoe repeatedly with the damp cloth, then brushing, then repeated the process several times over an hour. The squeak test started to work much better, such that I felt confident applying the little bit of Renovateur and then AE shell polish to just a few dry areas.

The results picture I posted last week:










Check out the example of my brown shell AE's for the first many months I owned them, when I couldn't get one toe to polish up due to too much product (some of that being my fault by applying a bunch of AE cleaner conditioner when I first got them). Then look at my efforts from last week following the Mac Method. Much better results.

Right out of the box, they didn't look bad, but I mistakenly applied a whole bunch of cleaner conditioner and futzed up the left toe:












Great job and all that work paid off big time!

The squeak test would not work on the left toe forever, but this past week I got down to the good stuff with repeated mac method applications. Very pleased with the results:

Just Beautiful...

Thanks, a lot, Patrick! That was the first time I tried that, and I got lucky. It helped that I got them cheap off ebay and was not as worried about taking a chance.

One tip:

I used Scotch tape on the shell upper just above the welt, such that when the sand paper slipped a little bit and potentially hit the shell upper, it didn't scratch. Kind of like using "painter's tape" if that makes sense.

Also, AE's chili edge treatment is awesome. Neutral is also good to have.

Incidentally, I've been meaning to try the natural edge treatment on some vintage Florsheim Imperial Burgundy Shell PTB's. I'll post results when I do it. The shoes are below.

Don't forget the effect of sunlight. My alden boots have lightened up in certain areas caused by sunlight exposure and wear.

I always loved this blog post by Nick Horween about the effect of sun on shell. Remainder of post at Leffot blog:

http://leffot.com/2011/08/31/the-brownout-by-nick-horween/
Remainder of post at Leffot blog:

http://leffot.com/2011/08/31/the-brownout-by-nick-horween/

I've always liked that article too. And Namor has one on his website with Alden shoes in San Fran that have been on display. Nick warns that doing it for too long can let the underlying nature of the shell show through and that can be a bad thing. My #8 Leeds are pretty old, the first couple of years they faded but then about the time I replaced the first set of heels on them they seemed to slow down a lot over the last 5 years or so. But you can still see like in the PTB above the black speckling that wants to come through more and more as they age:

Crappy picture but pretty sure that is what Nick is warning about. Also my lighter colored shell has gotten darker, but #8 lighter. It is almost like all shell wants to converge to a common point.