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

[evilWagon]



get[/B] understandably get redundant at times, since they are all making shoes, after all.

Well played Sir, well played indeed.

 

[MoneyWellSpent]

Well played Sir, well played indeed.

 

[USAmade]

The firm that bought out AE is planning on outsourcing labor, not just offshoring it. Realistically, what did you expect?

If you think about it, there's no other reason why the PE firm would be interested in the company.

I think your point is so incredibly unsubstantiated that if you actually took the time to read the press release they made it very clear that the claim you just made is exactly the opposite of AE's strategy and entire business model for that matter.

If you're going to claim this, where are you getting your information? Unless you're on the board, I doubt your claims have any real validity. Personally, I hate to see someone slander an american company like you are.

AE's now previous owners were a PE firm, and they grew the company domesticaly 20% year over year for the past 3 years, and in their 7 year ownership they made $80 million growing AE. The new PE owners specialize in growing specialty retail companies, so they have perfectly good reasons why they would want to invest in AE.

Seeing how Brentwood knows they would lose a HUGE customer base by going offshore, and therefore lose millions and millions of dollars on the deal, you should probably find something else to talk about that you actually know something about.

 

[ridethecliche]

I think that it might be a good idea for a few of you lot to take older shoes or shoes that are at the lower end of your tier or black/dark brown shoes and use leather protectant on them.

That way you can wear them on days when you think it's going to rain and not freak out that you destroyed them if they do get soaked. Topy's would be a nice finishing touch on them as well.

 

[bgp001]

Ruined? Surely not. It is a myth that rain will ruin your shoes simply by getting them wet. There are consequences to wearing wet shoes, such as wearing down the leather soles faster, etc. Also, salt is extremely bad for leather, so if you are walking in a snowy/slushy/salty environment, then additional protection is certainly warranted. However, simply getting your shoes rained on and walking on some wet pavement isn't going to ruin anything as long as you follow general advice of letting them dry away from heat in a well ventilated area, rotated on their sides to let the soles dry as well. Stuff them with newspaper or paper towels to absorb excess moisture if they are excessively wet. Then, put your shoe trees in to help them retain their shape while they finish drying. Then condition and polish as usual once they are thoroughly dry.

If you are having an issue with spots, you can try to even out the leather by taking a cloth, wetting it (not dripping wet, but more than just damp). I get the cloth wet, and then wring out as much water as I physically can. Then wipe down the entire shoe in a uniform way to evenly dampen the leather. That should help even them back out. Then condition and polish as usual.

It helps if you understand what spots are. They are simply areas where the texture of the leather has temporarily changed from the surrounding leather. If you take a dry kitchen sponge and lay it on your countertop, and then drip a few drops of water on it, you will see the areas that the water hits will swell up. How do you even it back out? Simply moisten the entire sponge evenly. It's the same concept with your shoes. Spots may also simply be where your polish has been affected by the water. Re-polishing will even that back out as well.

I live in Portland, so I'm used to rain, and I understand and expect the effects that rain typically has on shoes (salt stains, unevenness in polish, etc I expect, and can remedy). This is why I wear my shoes even if it's drizzling. My AE's however seem to have a particularly hard time with rain, in particular, these Lasalles.

To be clear, this was not a cloudburst, the shoes were not soaked through, and construction wise they are fine. They are ruined to me (I need to take them to a cobbler to have them re-dyed) because the dye (not the polish) was lifted off the leather. I know this because I stripped the dye off and the underlying leather was the same color as the spots (there is a certain amount of pigmentation that will never come off).

And yes, when I took them off, I wiped them down to try and even out the surface penetration of water, let them dry, then let a coat of Renovateur soak in for a couple hours, it did nothing. A layer of chili polish also did nothing to mask the spots where the dye was stripped.

Regardless though, I was just curious what other people were doing when it rained.

 

[MoneyWellSpent]

I live in Portland, so I'm used to rain, and I understand and expect the effects that rain typically has on shoes (salt stains, unevenness in polish, etc I expect, and can remedy). This is why I wear my shoes even if it's drizzling. My AE's however seem to have a particularly hard time with rain, in particular, these Lasalles.

To be clear, this was not a cloudburst, the shoes were not soaked through, and construction wise they are fine. They are ruined to me (I need to take them to a cobbler to have them re-dyed) because the dye (not the polish) was lifted off the leather. I know this because I stripped the dye off and the underlying leather was the same color as the spots (there is a certain amount of pigmentation that will never come off).

And yes, when I took them off, I wiped them down to try and even out the surface penetration of water, let them dry, then let a coat of Renovateur soak in for a couple hours, it did nothing. A layer of chili polish also did nothing to mask the spots where the dye was stripped.

Regardless though, I was just curious what other people were doing when it rained.

It sounds like you have a strange and highly unusual case there.

 

[bgp001]

It sounds like you have a strange and highly unusual case there.

It does seem that way from what everyone is saying. My walnut FA's also spot really badly, not to the point where the dye is being lifted, but more so than other brands I wear, so I thought AE's might just be more susceptible to rain "damage" and wanted to see what solution others had thought of.

 

[ridethecliche]

Can you post pictures?

 

[cbtaylor]

Quote:
Yes, pretty good employee perks

 

[watchidiot]

I heard back from her last night. She said she had tried to contact manufacturing to get an update, but did not hear back so she sent them an email and will let me know when she hears back.

I also received a call from her today (which says something as I live in Asia) to discuss some MTO inquiry Ive sent her. She was really very nice and took the time to discuss and find information about the questions Ive asked. Im not sure if the plan to send her a token or commendation is still in the works, but if it still is please count me in. Would also be good timing since its year end, and for employees that means appraisal time!

 

[kentyman]

kentyman, I relent. After wearing these slippers for a week, I agree that they are just too tight across the toes, though they fit perfectly everywhere else. Unfortunately, they do not have them listed on the website anymore and a call to CS says they will probably not make them again until right before Christmas. So, I was told to wait it out to exchange them.

What size are you again? They haven't arrived yet, but maybe one of my 4 pairs will work for you.

Sadly, I cannot check on my order because I can't login to my AE account. When I try, it asks me to change my password. When I try to change my password, it tells me to fill in the Current Password field, which doesn't exist. Anyone else having this problem?

 

[Pastor]

I sent an email today to Mr Grangaard about how helpful Allison was through the MTO process. I got a prompt reply thanking me for the email. I also sent a thank you email to Allison. She really was great to work with throughout the process.

 

[jimney]

I live in Portland, so I'm used to rain, and I understand and expect the effects that rain typically has on shoes (salt stains, unevenness in polish, etc I expect, and can remedy). This is why I wear my shoes even if it's drizzling. My AE's however seem to have a particularly hard time with rain, in particular, these Lasalles.

To be clear, this was not a cloudburst, the shoes were not soaked through, and construction wise they are fine. They are ruined to me (I need to take them to a cobbler to have them re-dyed) because the dye (not the polish) was lifted off the leather. I know this because I stripped the dye off and the underlying leather was the same color as the spots (there is a certain amount of pigmentation that will never come off).

And yes, when I took them off, I wiped them down to try and even out the surface penetration of water, let them dry, then let a coat of Renovateur soak in for a couple hours, it did nothing. A layer of chili polish also did nothing to mask the spots where the dye was stripped.

Regardless though, I was just curious what other people were doing when it rained.

I got Tingley overshoes from Amazon. Specifically the loafer model. However, they run maybe a size smaller than the sizing advice on Amazon says.

 

[coolarrow]

There's a thread on SF called "ask me anything" or something to that effect. There should be a "ask me anything about shoe construction" thread by MWS.

Re. the outsourcing or non-outsourcing, that's still TBD. A while ago, this thread got pretty active on talking about DR construction. There's always a tendency to defend AE here, which bothers me. I think that P. Grangard had to come on the thread and "set things straight". But I can't remember if he did.

 

[ScottyBoy920]

Just got my Merlot Webgem Macneils...B-E-A-U-tiful!

Another big thanks to MWS on the knowledge and information you share in here!!

Post the pics!!