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

[MoneyWellSpent]

Heads up - some new Webgems were just added to the site, as well as the Spiaggia and the Brady.

The new Webgems are actually more creative in a good way this time. The Spiaggia is decent, but the Brady is a fail if you ask me.

 

[MoneyWellSpent]

So the Kenilworth with colored lining and sole? What is going on? Not even a discount from the normal Kenilworth like they usually do on web gems

Except the Kenilworth is 5-Last and the Webgem is 1-Last.

 

[cbtaylor]

Those are the results I would expect if my 4 year old got a blue marker and went to town on my shoes.

Agreed. Is anyone worried with this new direction? I know they still have all the classic styles, but this is getting out of hand. I do like the Spiaggia at least.

 

[MoneyWellSpent]

Agreed. Is anyone worried with this new direction? I know they still have all the classic styles, but this is getting out of hand. I do like the Spiaggia at least.

Yeah, I feel like their website/catalog is starting to look too fashion forward and it is clouding the timeless quality look that most of us expect from them. I know these are still probably higher quality than Cole Haan or something like that, but technically these shoes are made of cheaper materials than their regular line. The prices don't really reflect the downgrade in materials though. Foam soles, alternative welt materials, foam-lining glued over fiberboard insoles... I'm not liking the trend. I will stay a loyal customer as long as they continue making the quality classics and maintain stellar customer service, but I don't enjoy wading through the muck to get to the good stuff.

 

[random-adam]



I will stay a loyal customer as long as they continue making the quality classics and maintain stellar customer service, but I don't enjoy wading through the muck to get to the good stuff. 

I couldn't have said it better. Considering the alternatives, AE still makes the best shoes I can wear... but those models that hold some appeal are becoming more the minority of their offerings with each passing season.

 

[Michael Haines]



Yeah, I feel like their website/catalog is starting to look too fashion forward and it is clouding the timeless quality look that most of us expect from them.  I know these are still probably higher quality than Cole Haan or something like that, but technically these shoes are made of cheaper materials than their regular line.  The prices don't really reflect the downgrade in materials though.  Foam soles, alternative welt materials, foam-lining glued over fiberboard insoles...  I'm not liking the trend.  I will stay a loyal customer as long as they continue making the quality classics and maintain stellar customer service, but I don't enjoy wading through the muck to get to the good stuff. 

I couldn't agree more

 

[elbastardocalvo]

Walnut Player's Shoe today:

 

[TheSizzle]

Yeah, I feel like their website/catalog is starting to look too fashion forward and it is clouding the timeless quality look that most of us expect from them. I know these are still probably higher quality than Cole Haan or something like that, but technically these shoes are made of cheaper materials than their regular line. The prices don't really reflect the downgrade in materials though. Foam soles, alternative welt materials, foam-lining glued over fiberboard insoles... I'm not liking the trend. I will stay a loyal customer as long as they continue making the quality classics and maintain stellar customer service, but I don't enjoy wading through the muck to get to the good stuff.

It feels like they got a boost of young designers who are trying to push the company into the mainstream, fashionable consumer sector, but their reinvention approach is diluting the brand. I don't think AE has been as successful as they are by chasing trends, but rather that they've reached their current position by offering slight variations on classic styles, assembled in America, matching quality with a reasonable price point. When they took the word "slight" out of that theoretical mission statement, they sent themselves dangerously in the direction of the metaphorical jumping of the shark. Hopefully, someone will tighten up the leash on the design department and return them to a more classic, but not stale, aesthetic, and that should involve a focus on style rather than fashion.

Note: Though I posted my new Spiaggia just yesterday, my color choice still supports my position, as does my rejection of the contrast-stitched Strands.

 

[New Shoes1]

Guys, you're starting to sound like a bunch of retirees sitting in rocking chairs on a porch and lamenting the decline of civilization and kids today. It's not like AE has gotten rid of its classics or lowered the quality for the same. It has just tapped into a different market that is too lucrative to ignore. I'm all for it if it helps prevent AE from going the way of Florsheim, Cole Haan, etc.

Alright, got to go and yell at those darn kids to get off my lawn. If I've told them once, I've told them a million times to wait for their school bus on the sidewalk. . .

 

[Cold Iron]

I couldn't have said it better. Considering the alternatives, AE still makes the best shoes I can wear... but those models that hold some appeal are becoming more the minority of their offerings with each passing season.

<In reply to MWS post>

I couldn't agree more

Well, it looks like I managed to have my pair of Spiaggia delivered before they made it onto the AE site, and I'm extremely pleased with them as a summer shoe.

Two notes:
- They came with white laces, but I put those green ones in.
- They came with cream-colored shoe bags, as opposed to the burgundy ones.

Thank you. Why would you worry about wearing them outside? If it's because you wouldn't want to muck them up, they're shoes, not priceless artifacts.


I definitely thought so, especially for the summer.

Was it one of the outlets that carries Venetian Shoe Cream? I have never seen it on their website and would love to find somewhere that sells it with free shipping.

Yes I think most of the outlets carry it. The shoebank still owes me 2 bottles that I ordered more than a month ago, and a shoe I paid for and never received. To be fair to them I think the main shoebank gets hit hard and it is difficult for them to keep up. I got mine from the Jeffersonville outlet at $5 a bottle. I still use Reno for deep cleaning but for just general purpose conditioning have gone to VC for shell and calf.

 

[New Shoes1]

I saw some of those, and they were fantastic -- but I'm on a shoe-buying moratorium (unless I can find near-perfect 14AA Ritz formal shoes or MacNeils in burgundy shell) until November. My collection at this point covers almost everything I need, those two omissions notwithstanding. I'd love to own more... but a 92-year-old house and life in the DC area demand my dollars go elsewhere.

I hear you on proportional feet. I'm 6'2"/160; shopping for anything clothing-related except ties and cuff links is an exercise in futility. It's no problem finding XXXL tall, heaven forbid anybody make a small tall... but I'm getting off-topic.

I'm confused how you could wear a XXXL? I'm the same height as you, 30 pounds heavier and I typically wear a large or a 42L.

 

[nicedream]



Except the Kenilworth is 5-Last and the Webgem is 1-Last.

I love the Kenilworth, but have not been able to find a size that fits me well. My guess is that a 9C would be perfect, if it was available. I would pick up one of these in a heartbeat if it had a normal brown or black sole instead of orange/red/blue.

 

[TheSizzle]

Guys, you're starting to sound like a bunch of retirees sitting in rocking chairs on a porch and lamenting the decline of civilization and kids today. It's not like AE has gotten rid of its classics or lowered the quality for the same. It has just tapped into a different market that is too lucrative to ignore. I'm all for it if it helps prevent AE from going the way of Florsheim, Cole Haan, etc.

Alright, got to go and yell at those darn kids to get off my lawn. If I've told them once, I've told them a million times to wait for their school bus on the sidewalk. . .

Clearly, capitalizing on a booming sector of the market is smart, from a business perspective, and I have continued to support people who choose to buy the louder AE offerings. I've even considered quite a few of them myself. However, I think your point of AE maintaining its classics and maintaining that quality level is incomplete. Over a period that spans beyond the last few months, they have actually reduced the classic styles they offer. For instance, they used to offer wholecuts and lighter variations of shell with greater regularity, but they've redirected their emphasis toward this newer demographic to which you allude. I believe our posts, if seen by the AE design/marketing department, would suggest that they not let those other staples fall by the wayside as they attempt to capture this new market share. For one, that new market share may bring more people to the brand, but the ability to turn that into long-term profits may improve if those new buyers are exposed to timeless styles that will endure into their later years. Basically, I applaud AE's decision to reinvent itself in an unsure/unstable market, but I wish it wouldn't forget who it is.

Note: I certainly hope that, in my mid-twenties, I'm not sounding like a retiree.

 

[wdahab]

Guys, you're starting to sound like a bunch of retirees sitting in rocking chairs on a porch and lamenting the decline of civilization and kids today. It's not like AE has gotten rid of its classics or lowered the quality for the same. It has just tapped into a different market that is too lucrative to ignore. I'm all for it if it helps prevent AE from going the way of Florsheim, Cole Haan, etc.

Alright, got to go and yell at those darn kids to get off my lawn. If I've told them once, I've told them a million times to wait for their school bus on the sidewalk. . .

I agree with you wholeheartedly. There are people out there who want the flashy highlights, don't like leather soles, think that a MLB-themed shoe is *awesome*. I'm not one of them, I think the classics are classics for a reason. But it's not stopping AE from making tons of great shoes, and reasonable prices, in the USA. You suck in the kids (I'm a 28-year old octegenarian) with something not too scarily-different from a pair of sneakers, and then teach them how much better it gets from there.

In fact, considering how much stock they have, even in seconds quality (I don't know any other manufacturer on earth who has such a readily available supply of seconds), I might even suspect that their factories have excess capacity, and so they are trying to find ways to keep their staff busy. I just wish they were being kept busy making more CXL-based shoes.

 

[f1fan]

I got a factory second brooks brothers AE strand a few ago, but I am having difficulty with the fit. I am a 9.5D in the normal AE Strand, but the BB version has a squishy, foam insole (made out of a material called poron I think) that raises my foot ever so slightly, especially the top of my arch. This makes it difficult to tightly tie the shoe. Even when I tightly tie the shoe, my heel slips when I walk. I simply think my foot needs to sit slightly "lower" in the shoe, as it does with the basic insole in the normal AE strand.

Thus, I am wondering if the poron insole can be removed, or replaced with a normal AE cork footbed. I looked underneath the BB footbed and I can see the 1/4" of foam, but it appears to be glued down. Does anyone have experience with removing/replacing this poron insole? Thanks!