whats so great about allen edmonds? - Page 2

Not great at all, just OK. The "best" thing about them is how easy it is to find them on sale.

Fair point. I don't know enough yet to have an eye for the difference between some of what I consider to be AE's sleeker models and the more loved (on this forum) italian and english shoes.

They are decent shoes for those who can fit in them. Their last are odd and I have to go through more, literal, pain breaking them in than any other shoes I have. If you are able to then you should definitely add another $100 or so, or wait for the annual sales to get better shoes. Like Alden, Trickers, C&J, etc. AE has great customer service however, which is their saving grace IMHO.

AE aren't great shoes, but its significant fan base appreciates the following:

1. It is one of the two remaining, major USA shoe manufacturers. Many of its middle age and older customers are used to buying "American" and view Italian shoes and other imports with suspciion. Some of the AE fans place it in high esteem for this reason alone.

2. It makes a middle class businessman shoe. Perfectly acceptable. Nothing sexy. Nothing unusual. Totally proper and acceptable for business and leisure pursuits. But, nothing beautiful. An example is its penny loafer.

3. Reasonable pricing. According to a retail executive, once a shoe exceeds $300, the customers thin out. Based on pricing and quality, it is good value for the money.

I'm not sure you know what goodyear welted means by this comment.

Just because AE is clunky does not make every goodyear welted shoes clunky...

They are incomparable.

As others have said, for their quality they are a good deal when on sale. If you're starting out in your career, or if you just need to build a basic rotation quickly, you could do a lot worse than spend a few hundred bucks on 3-4 pairs of AEs at one of their tent sales. Had I known about the sales 12 years ago, I could have skipped a lot of pain.

The Park Avenue in black and the Fifth Avenue in brown or walnut, for example, are no-nonsense conservative (IMO) shoes that won't look out of place in any working environment. Once you have the basics covered, you can look at other brands to decide what style suits you best. C&J benchgrade offers excellent value and slightly sleeker (again, IMO) style for an extra $100/pair (or so).

YMMV, of course, but those are my views on the matter.

"Sleek" is like "slim-fittnig" in that both tend to be very one-dimensional aesthetic judgments. Most of the forum gets hung up on those sorts of overly simplistic metrics (arm hole height is another favorite). In truth, a shoe's aesthetic character is defined by much more than how "sleek" it is. For example, a shoe can be very low-profile (hence, sleek), yet have very little shape or be shaped inelegantly. Even more low-profile AEs tend to lack shape and have odd proportions. They're very snouty compared to Aldens, for example. Sure, one can argue that the differences are subtle, but that is going to be the case with almost all things discussed on the forum.

+1

I got you!!!

The unstated assumption is to buy some of AE Goodyear welted shoes which are in my view (most of them) clunky. Otherwise, I do know what Goodyear welted means.

Now that you mention it, I suppose I would classify my Bel-Airs as "snouty," if I'm understanding how you use the term. They're still a pretty good-looking shoe to my eyes, and I think the Delrays have a pretty well-balanced shape. And yeah, obviously if someone wasn't interested in getting into subtleties most others would find trivial, they should not be on this forum. As far as Alden, I think the question is whether the subtle differences you allude to are worth the price premium. I'm not sure I've ever seen Alen's calf offerings on sale for less than $300 per pair, whereas AE can be had regularly for around $150.

I think for the price, when found on sale, it's tough to beat AE as an entry-level dress shoe. Their looks are conservative for the most part, but I find that they have some styles that are "flashier" than what you would find on the feet of 99% of people in an average business office. I have a pair of Walnut Strands, and I can tell you that every other guy in my office wears a much more boring shoe in comparison. Obviously, when being compared to some other higher-priced SF-Approved brands, AE will look a little more conservative, but I still think you won't find much better in their price point, unless you can get a very deep discount.

If one needs and can only afford a single pair of $150 shoes, I get it. But the truth is that many wind up buying mutliple pairs (dozens in some instances). SF is plagued with the "more-worse-stuff" syndrome. People get int he mode of collecting without developing a taste for quality--which, admittedly, always comes in small degrees.

Allen Edmonds look great on me...then again, I'm hot.

SF exists on a different plane from most of the world in terms of cost expectations in two ways.

1) what they're willing to spend

2) what they pay for a given item.

Most men buy shoes when they require shoes. They do not have their ear to the ground for a great sale. So they pay retail, or close to it.

For most men in the non online world, AE are a $300 shoes in canada. C&J handgrades look to be just under $700 before shipping at pediwear, who are as far as I know a pretty good site. I have no doubt that if C&J handgrade were available in stores around me, they'd be more then that.