The Ready-to-Wear Shoe Hierarchy (as of Apr 20, 2010)
(This list is based on surveys taken from March to April 2010. You can contribute to the ranking by voting on the "fights" after this list)
Top of the line:
- Vass
- John Lobb Paris = Edward Green
High-ends
- Grenson Masterpiece
- Crockett & Jones Handgrade
- Church's Custom Grade
Mid-levels
- Crockett & Jones Benchgrade
- Alfred Sargent Premier - Barker Black
- Grenson Rose - Santoni Fatte a Manos
- Alden
Basic
- Allen Edmonds
- Loake 1880
* Not enough data for ranking:
- J.M. Weston (somewhere below Crockett & Jones Handgrade)
- Salvatore Ferragamo Tramezza (somewhere below Crockett & Jones Handgrade)
* Popular shoemakers that have not been considered:
- Cheaney
- Sutor Mantellassi
- Romano Martegani
- Trickers
* Many other shoe brands will not be considered since their shoes are produced by others but use their own specification, some of them are:
- Brooks Brothers (use various mid-range shoemakers like Crockett & Jones, Alfred Sargent, Church's, Cheaney's, Alden, etc.,)
- Ralph Lauren (use a wide range of shoemakers including Edward Green, Crockett & Jones and some mysterious Italian shoemakers)
Fight III: Ferragamo Tramezza, Santoni FAM, Crockett & Jones, J.M. Weston, Grenson Rose, Allen Edmonds
http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/TVT2GFQ
Result based on 35 responses
* Grenson Rose (20) - Allen Edmonds (6)
* Crockett & Jones Handgrade (18) - J. M. Weston (10)
* Crockett & Jones Handgrade (26.5) - Salvatore Ferragamo Tramezza (3.5)
* Crockett & Jones Benchgrade (15) - Santoni Fatte a Manos (9)
* Crockett & Jones Benchgrade (17) - Barker Black (11)
Fight II: Church's Custom Grade, Grenson Rose, John Lobb Paris, Edward Green, J.M. Weston, Vass
http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/WY8FVJM
Result based on 49 responses
* Crockett & Jones Handgrade (35) - Church's Custom Grade (3)
* Church's Custom Grade (26.5) - Crockett & Jones Benchgrade (11.5)
* Crockett & Jones Benchgrade (26.5) - Grenson Rose (10.5)
* John Lobb Paris (20) - Edward Green (20)
* Edward Green (34.5) - J.M. Weston (4.5)
* Vass (22.5) - John Lobb Paris (19.5)
Fight I: Allen Edmonds, Alden, Crockett & Jones, Alfred Sargent and Grenson Masterpiece
http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/J76PSM5
Results based on 79 responses
* Allen Edmonds (34.5) - Loake 1880 (20.5)
* Alden (56.5) - Allen Edmonds (10.5)
* Crockett & Jones Benchgrade (49) - Alden (13)
* Crockett & Jones Benchgrade (27) - Alfred Sargent Premier (19)
* Grenson Masterpiece (25) - Crockett & Jones Handgrade (23)
Q & A
Q: What is the goal?
A: There are many threads here on SF on comparing shoe brands. This thread aims to build a definitive shoe hierarchy based on SF collective opinions, so that these types of questions will not popped up again.
Q: Shoe hierarchy is dumb. Why do we need to do this?
A: True, such hierarchy makes little to no sense to each individual since this is very subjective, and there will be a lot of disagreements. However, for many who never owns shoes in a specific brand, this information might be valuable. Moreover, since we can put Vass above, for example, but not Kenneth Cole, why don't we put everything in order.
Q: John Cusey already created a list.
A: His list is definitely useful, however, it's just opinion of one (very knowledgeable) individual on such a subjective topic. It's better to get a common consensus.
Q: Why don't you create polls here in SF?
A: 20 different shoe lines mean up to 400 questions, that's too much and I don't want to flood SF with such polls.
Q: Why don't you have brand A vs brand B?
A: Currently, I focused on popular shoes here in SF, but this will be expanded in the future based on previous poll results and comment Alright, happy judging, and comments are welcome.
Edited by onix - 12/1/11 at 1:17am
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