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

11.5 D... They look pretty sleek while on my foot. More sleek than the Vernon.. About the same as the Kenilworth.. All this "nice" clothes and shoes is a bit foreign to me. I stumbled on the website from a google search of "What color shoes to wear with blue slacks".. I have no spent $5,000 and a **** load of time on here.. Trying to break away from the black or gray slack with black shoes... I am learning.. More importantly, I am having fun!

patrick_b said:

dieselman89 said:

BTW shoe trees are on sale for $19.99 is this standard for the shoe trees on it is a special? Also, do y'all have shoe trees for all your shoes or do you just rotate?

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I buy shoe trees from Nordstrom Rack for $12/pair. I have them for all my shoes as at that price, you might as well. They are a decent quality shoe tree made by Rochester Shoe Tree Co. who makes trees for a number of mfr's like Alden. I think the AE branded are either Woodlore or Rochester, quality is about the same.

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Good idea, I'll check out the rack and see if they have anything. The thing that sucks is the place is always a traffic jam and gives me such a headache. I'm going to wait and see what I find there, they may also have the allen edmonds belts.



Khurram said:

So possibly a dumb question but how are you getting the toe box darker then the rest? Are you applying more conditioner/polish there or are the shoes just made like that?

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It's a little bit of both but primarily, AE burnishes the toe during the mfr'ing process, applying more dye or finishing to the toe. When I get them,. I bull the toe with dark brown polish. I use dark brown on the entire shoe but the toe gets multiple coats so it helps accentuate the burnishing. You'll also hear this called "antiquing". This medallion toe (J&M Handcrafted in Italy collection from ~4 yrs ago) has a similar level of burnishing/antiquing on the toe to make it look darker. My polishing just brings it out more. I've even used black polish in small amounts on the J&M shoe.



It's very common and when done right, in moderation, it looks great. I'd like to try adding a real dark brown to the toe of the Westchester (loafer above) to see if I can get a similar look. It's not all that easy to do with polish and you should use a cream polish as they have much more pigment than a wax polish.

Also, the shoe trees in the above pic are the $12 Rochester trees from the Rack. Note how much better they fit than the ones in my Kenilworth's. The tree in the Westchester loafer is a size XL. I found that the larger size fit better in some of my [primarily] size 11D shoes. The Large is marked to fit an 11D but the XL fills it out more. The trees in the Kenilworth's were some of the first trees I ever bought in the early 90's. They used to have a metal tag with the store name, I think it was Filene's.

Nordie shoe trees are good value as Pat_B noted...Fortunately, I'm pretty much set with AE shoe trees when 5-6 years ago as they had a huge sale at the Port Washington,WI location were trees are sold for 6.99 each..I must have grab 20 of 'em for gifts and personal use



Thanks SF (a new me) said:

Nordie shoe trees are good value as Pat_B noted...Fortunately, I'm pretty much set with AE shoe trees when 5-6 years ago as they had a huge sale at the Port Washington,WI location were trees are sold for 6.99 each..I must have grab 20 of 'em for gifts and personal use

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That's great! I would have done the same thing.



blsing said:

I dont pretend to be an expert, but I have always always heard wear a belt to match your shoes, at least in the same color family-so a light brown may work for dark brown shoes, but I would not do black/burgundy with Walnut, IMO.  Maybe someone else argues otherwise?



 



Are AE belts really that amazing? I usually buy mine from Century 21 or some place similar for $15-20.  WHile they arent great, I usually beat the hell out of my belts, and so they dont last long.

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Amazing? I don't know, can any belt be amazing? I do think the AE belts are of good quality. I wish the wide dress belt was on sale, those are very nice and I could use some more colors. The Manistee is a good belt, too - my walnut one matches my walnut calf Strands very well.



blsing said:

Maybe its the angle, those look really large...
AE really should start using user-submitted pics, they look so much better than the ones on their website. I like these "as is." Such a beautiful shoe

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AE does such a great job with the walnut. Almost every shoe they make in that color looks great.

I just ordered a pair of Strands in Walnut, and a pair of Fifth Avenues in Brown. Can anyone tell me how to wear both of these? I don't wear suits a lot but I dress smart casual everyday. I was thinking the Strands are going to be for everyday wear and the Fifth Ave's are going to be for when I'm wearing a suit. Can I wear the Strands with dressier jeans, chinos, and cords? My typically daily outfit for this time of year is Cords, OCBD, sweater, and tweed SC.



TauKappaEpsilon said:

I just ordered a pair of Strands in Walnut, and a pair of Fifth Avenues in Brown.  Can anyone tell me how to wear both of these?  I don't wear suits a lot but I dress smart casual everyday.  I was thinking the Strands are going to be for everyday wear and the Fifth Ave's are going to be for when I'm wearing a suit.  Can I wear the Strands with dressier jeans, chinos, and cords?  My typically daily outfit for this time of year is Cords, OCBD, sweater, and tweed SC.

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those are the two pairs that i just ordered Monday. I guess you are on the right track, 5th Ave is more formal, so I would probably only wear it with a suit. As for the walnut strand, you can still wear it with a navy or grey suit, and it can also be wear with a dressier or casual jeans/khakis/cords. To me walnut strand can be your everyday shoe and that's how I will do when I get mine!!! can't wait!!!

Which edge dressing do you recommend for the Walnut Strand and the brown Kennilworth?



Barroomheroes said:

Which edge dressing do you recommend for the Walnut Strand and the brown Kennilworth? 

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Neutral for walnut, brown for Kenilworth in burnished brown.



Barroomheroes said:

Which edge dressing do you recommend for the Walnut Strand and the brown Kennilworth? 

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My dark brown Kenilworth's have brown trim, my AE's in walnut also have brown edges.



patrick_b said:

My dark brown Kenilworth's have brown trim, my AE's in walnut also have brown edges.

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My walnut strands have a natural colored trim, so I go with the neutral dressing.



patrick_b said:

My dark brown Kenilworth's have brown trim, my AE's in walnut also have brown edges.

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JubeiSpiegel said:

My walnut strands have a natural colored trim, so I go with the neutral dressing.

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JubieSpiegel, you got me wondering...I just checked my walnut Westchesters and they do have a natural edge trim (or just a lighter brown than the Kenilworth). However, I continue to use brown edge dressing. I found that the AE branded edge dressing is actually pretty light in color until you start adding multiple coats. So a single pass is a fairly light brown. If I keep applying with the applicator sponge, it gets progressively darker.

So based on user feedback, I passed on the AE belts and I am going to head to the rack to see if they have any shoe trees (from AE or the manufacturer of AE's shoe trees)