cheap half decent shoes for the office?

Hi guys,

Where is a good place to get some decent shoes for the office?
I need one black pair, and one brown pair.
$85 each or less (100 max with tax)
I'd preferably like something that can last a little while and is comfortable to wear all the time.
dress shoes


Thanks

Herring Shoes, Pediwear

ebay or here on the B&S

in Toronto? not much choice. My suggestion is try fitting on some Allen Edmonds at Harry Rosen's and then buying seconds or lightly used ones on Ebay. Make sure they're the same last (sole shape, each one has a number). You can get them for around $100 give or take and are worth much more. At full retail, most $100 shoes are garbage and there'l nothing to see in the GTA.

Your best bet is Brown's or something, they've got some ok stuff, maybe on sale.

I appreciate that everybody has a budget, but I think your price point is unreasonable for what you're seeking. "Decent", "comfortable" and "long-lasting" dress shoes aren't available in Toronto for $85. I'm not sure how you arrived at that figure.

I don't know your age, but I think many men stop trying to scrimp on dress shoes as they get older. Why do you want to subject your feet (and posture) to crummy shoes?

Assuming you are a normal size and width, try the Harry Rosen outlet in Mississauga. You can often stumble across good deals on Allen Edmonds or other quality brands for considerably less than retail. (Not $85, though.)

A good pair of shoes will stand at least one resole, so you're looking at a 4-5 year investment. Spending $185 instead of $85 costs you an extra $20 per year. Divide that by the number of wearings and the math speaks for itself.

I live just west of Toronto and here is what I do for all of my shoes:

Casual - try on a pair of Clarks Desert boots to find correct size, then buy a pair of DB's in every colour ever produced (I'm not done yet.. still have a few more colours to go)

Dress - try on a pair of AE's (at Harry Rosen) to find correct size, then buy anything I want online in that size. I haven't paid particular attention to last #'s (as mentioned above)... I just look for the style I want, then buy it in my size. Scoring brand new in box (Allen Edmonds sells their seconds on eBay) AE's for US$100. Lightly worn or less popular styles are even cheaper.

Best value you will find anywhere for 100 bucks. Stay away from the mall crap.. you can pay more than that for a decent "looking" pair of dress shoes.. trust me.. I have a pair of $120 Bostonians to prove it! (crappy crappy crappy shoes!)

half decent is about $200.

Go down to "one-quarter decent" or better yet, "one-eighth decent" aka "man these shoes suck but whatever, I needed black shoes for work" for an $80 pair.

E worn once, even the good models, can be found for about $80

Originally Posted by makewayhomer

Click to expand...

AE worn once, even the good models, can be found for about $80

The best I could find was $120 on a pair of Burgundy/Merlot colored AE Hales.

I have several pairs of $500+ shell cordovan shoes w/ leather soles. The inner soles are rock hard, as are the outer soles. They look great, but your feet will hurt after a few hours of wear. I rarely wear them to work, b/c I would be cripple by the evening. With regards to shoes, if you want to look stylish, pain is the cost of admission. First, if you want daily comfortable shoes, for work, stick to rubber soles. (Unless you sit down the entire day) I also have a pair of Johnston & Murphy NST "Signature Series" shoes. I bought them for about $90 about 5 years ago, long before I came to SF. At the time, this was the most I had ever spent for shoes. Most men never spend more than $90 for dress shoes in their entire lives. I wear them about 3x a week, and they have held up wonderfully. In fact, they are now the cheapest shoes in my rotation, and, hands down, the most comfortable. Last weekend, I wore them while chainsawing a tree and hauling logs. They are similar to this pair. Note the plush "bubble" padding on the inner sole insert. Couple that with the rubber soles, and these shoes are like a dream. You want durable, affordable and ultra comfortable? This is your answer. http://cgi.ebay.com/Mens-Johnston-Mu...2#ht_500wt_922

Originally Posted by Reevolving

Click to expand...

I have several pairs of $600 shell cordovan shoes w/ leather soles.
The inner soles are rock hard.
They look great, my feet hurt like hell after a night out.
So, I rarely wear them to work, b/c I would be cripple by the evening.
If you want to look stylish, it don't come easy. Your feet will pay dearly.

If you want daily comfortable shoes, for work, stick to rubber soles.
(Unless you sit down the entire day)

I have a pair of Johnston & Murphy signature series shoes.
I bought them for about $90 about 5 years ago, long before I came to SF.
At the time, this was the most I had ever spent for shoes.
Most men never spend more than $90 for shoes in their entire lives.
I wear them about 4x a week, and they have held up wonderfully, and were comfortable.
In fact, they are now the cheapest shoes in my rotation, and, hands down, the most comfortable.
Last weekend, I wore them while chainsawing a tree and hauling logs.

They are similar to this pair.
Note the massive "bubble" padding on the inner sole insert.
These shoes are like a dream.
You want cheap and comfortable? This is your answer.


http://cgi.ebay.com/Mens-Johnston-Mu...2#ht_500wt_922

When you say most men spend no more than $90 on Dress Shoes what do you mean? Cause for $90 I wouldn't be expecting to get a great pair of shoes. Now if your talking $85 Canadian that is even less. If your lucky for around $80-90 you could can get pair of Cole Haan or Florsheim Imperial Dress shoes. 6PM.com for example currently has the Caldwell Cole Haan shoes on sale for $88. They normally sell for around $155. For $85-90 you could get yourself a decent pair of shoes but nothing great. Shoes.Com is currently having a 25% off sale and you can get some Allen Edmonds as cheap as around $180. They have some Allen Edmonds at $245 and that's without the 25% Coupon Code.

http://www.shoes.com/Shopping/Produc...708&pg=5040206

http://www.shoes.com/Shopping/Produc...028&pg=5026597

He said under $100 and comfortable....not $250 with hard leather soles.

Ok, New requirements time lol.

Best thing I can get under $150.
New, not used.

same general advice. go fit on AE's at Harry's, then hunt around for them online. AE has an ebay store for their (new) seconds, or Amazon, or Zappos, etc... $150 is doable.

otherwise, seriously I dunno, forget good looking and check Rockports.

Master-Classter is giving you good advice, really the ONLY possible advice that fits your criteria.

Sticking to only 100% new, not looking for "worn once" type pairs will hamper you somewhat - the first time you wear a pair of shoes, you don't put much wear on them, but you do take off a nice large chunk of the value. Just like driving a car off the lot, it's not any different one mile later (hopefully!) but the value sure went down!

That said, be patient with Ebay and the B&S and you will reap dividends. Don't grab some rubber-sole hackjob just because you're tired of looking - good things come to those who wait. Occasionally you can even find shell for < $150 if you're lucky, I mean!