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

[Pastor]



...and this just in

http://www.theguardian.com/fashion/sharpened-lead/2013/aug/15/men-spend-more-shoes-women

I've noticed that I now have more shoes then my wife. It use to be that she had a lot more shoes than me and every time I bought something new i'd say "i'm just trying to keep up with you". Now, I NEVER USE THAT ARGUMENT. In fact, I still keep off-season shoes in the back of the closet so that she doesn't ever see all my shoes in one place.

 

[tifosi]

Yours and mine both! It's a strange household where I have to encourage her to spend a few extra bucks on shoes that'll hold up more than a season or two.

She still doesn't know about my custom shell MacNeils...

I at least warned her last night that I was in contact with AE about 2 shell MTOs. I felt like a little kid trying to justify my purchase by explaining the "shell shortage". I could tell by the look on her face that she didn't care.

 

[NWTeal]

Just thought I would share a positive experience with the shoebank.

I ordered the Norwich in black in a 9D, which is the size I wear the Park Aves in. It was a little tight, but I figured they would stretch out. I wore them once and it destroyed my feet and was very painful to walk in. I ended up getting them stretched and due to squeaking afterwards, they offered to exchange them.

They recommended I try a size up since it had to be stretched. Apparently the 2-222 Last is shorter than the 5-65 (which I knew, but it mentions elongated toe on the site for the 2-222, so I figured it would be okay). I went to a local AE store and tried on a Norwich in 9.5D in brown since they didn't have it in black, which fit great.

I asked if I could exchange for a brown pair instead of black, and they agreed. I received my new brown Norwich yesterday and to my surprise they sent me a pair of FIRSTS instead of seconds. It came with the shoe bags and the sole didn't have any stamping on them. I have been quite impressed with their service for my two pairs I've ordered from there.

Here are photos of the Norwich, which I think are an underrated shoe. Not a lot of love in the reviews, but the pair I have so far are just as comfortable as the other four pairs of AEs I have and the burnished brown of the shoes is very rich and beautiful. The online site does not do it any justice.








You can see there's no stamp on the bottom of these

 

[tifosi]

Just thought I would share a positive experience with the shoebank.

I ordered the Norwich in black in a 9D, which is the size I wear the Park Aves in. It was a little tight, but I figured they would stretch out. I wore them once and it destroyed my feet and was very painful to walk in. I ended up getting them stretched and due to squeaking afterwards, they offered to exchange them.

They recommended I try a size up since it had to be stretched. Apparently the 2-222 Last is shorter than the 5-65 (which I knew, but it mentions elongated toe on the site for the 2-222, so I figured it would be okay). I went to a local AE store and tried on a Norwich in 9.5D in brown since they didn't have it in black, which fit great.

I asked if I could exchange for a brown pair instead of black, and they agreed. I received my new brown Norwich yesterday and to my surprise they sent me a pair of FIRSTS instead of seconds. It came with the shoe bags and the sole didn't have any stamping on them. I have been quite impressed with their service for my two pairs I've ordered from there.

Here are photos of the Norwich, which I think are an underrated shoe. Not a lot of love in the reviews, but the pair I have so far are just as comfortable as the other four pairs of AEs I have and the burnished brown of the shoes is very rich and beautiful. The online site does not do it any justice.








You can see there's no stamp on the bottom of these

Great looking shoe! Sounds like it all worked out in the end! I just looked at these at the AE store on Sunday.

 

[jaywhyy]

Spoiler

You can see there's no stamp on the bottom of these

Dove tail heel? Didn't know AE did that for their standard calf shoes.

 

[tampatravel]

NWTeal

Wow..I'll have to give the Norwich another look - they look great.

Nice to hear the SHOEBANK took care of you! I just got my postcard in the mail from them featuring the $179 Clifton. That's going to be hard to pass up.

 

[chinngiskhaan]

The problem with color and the web is that not every monitor is color managed. An also most web browsers do not follow the ICC color profile.
http://petapixel.com/2012/06/25/is-your-browser-color-managed/
http://simon.tindemans.eu/cm/webcm
I use a color spyder on my monitor to make sure the color is correct.
http://spyder.datacolor.com/portfolio-view/spyder4elite/
The average user can not correct tell the color of a picture on the web.
They just don't have the equipment to do so.

the color spyder seems like it may be very useful. Have you found it worth your while?

 

[tifosi]

NWTeal

Wow..I'll have to give the Norwich another look - they look great.

Just looked at them in brown shell on Sunday. I was smitten. Maybe after my MTO(s)

 

[chinngiskhaan]

Agreed, Chinngis is fighting the wrong battle. There are so many variables that make it difficult to rely on any one picture to determine color, shape and silhouette. Even when I run a Google image search for a shoe and look at all the various real life pictures, I still may be surprised at the color of the shoe or how it looks on my size 12 clodhoppers. Despite this, one of the great perks of this thread is seeing all the real life pictures of shoes that can create a more accurate composite image in my head of what the shoe will look like. AE cannot replicate this with one picture, but would need to have numerous pictures to account for all the variables in lighting, perspective, camera angle, etc.

while you are correct in that they would need numerous pictures in order to replicate the real thing, I'm not asking for that. I just don't see the need for the computer generated picture of the shoe. Why not just use a real picture? It still may not be perfect, but it would be much much closer.

 

[Winston S.]



Sorry to hear about your need for tongue pads, C.I. Are you facing a similar issue with your other 5-last shoes, or is it only on the Cambridges because you wear them the most?

Not ColdIron, but I feel this is going to be the case with both my Strands (shell) and Cambridges.

 

[bucksfan]

OK, I have some new Cambridges and am doing the carpet break-in. I've also applied some Renovateur and brushed them a lot. My question is, given the statements of many here that AE ships the new shells with too much "goop" on them, how does one determine whether the shoes have "too much?"

It sounds like some of you hard core shell enthusiasts strip them all the way back with Renomat or some sort of black art, then use some combination of wax for shell and virgorish brushing to shine them up. But, is that only necessary when too much finish has been applied at the factory? And if so, how does one know what "too much" is?

If one faithfully adheres to the Mac Method, will it eventually get the job done whether to shoes are stripped back or not? Stripping down a brand new shoe seems odd and would make me more than a little nervous.

Cold Iron and others do the renomat stripping, but I never have. I tend to stick to a damp cloth, serious brushing (especially early in a shoe's life, when the shell will "spew" in the rolls), and occasionally renovateur. I find that a lot of the wax / cream that AE applies will come off with a damp cloth + brushing. I use the damp cloth, brush for 5 minutes, damp cloth again....etc. I stop when no more finish color is coming off on the cloth.

I believe the answer to your question about whether adhering to the "Mac" method will accomplish the eventual removal of factory applied cream is yes. It may take a while, but yes.

nice looking boots from ae-

Nice looking boot. The #3 last works well here. It seems they need to add an eyelet though.

 

[chinngiskhaan]

does anyone know anything about the process of turning horse hide into cordovan leather? does it have to be a certain type of horse?

... and yes I realize this question has little to do with this thread.

 

[tifosi]

does anyone know anything about the process of turning horse hide into cordovan leather? does it have to be a certain type of horse?

... and yes I realize this question has little to do with this thread.

http://horween.com/leathers/shell-cordovan/

It isn't from just any part of the hide. It is from one particular area.

 

[Numbernine]



does anyone know anything about the process of turning horse hide into cordovan leather?  does it have to be a certain type of horse?

... and yes I realize this question has little to do with this thread.

http://horween.com/leathers/shell-cordovan/

 

[tifosi]

Burgundy Cambridge today. Maybe the lacing gap doesn't look quite as bad as I thought it did the other day.