Your Go-to Dress Shoe Brand - Page 7

Grenson Masterpiece for Paul Stuart *

I can't think of a maker that makes more than a handful of styles I'd want to buy.

I guess I'm not a real shoe guy.

I'm surprised there hasn't been any love for Martegani. I suspect it's because they have an identity problem in that they aren't really a centralized brand, it's just an Italian factory which gives retailers a lot of flexibility to detail orders. As a result of this, there have been a number of horrific shoes put out over the years (I shudder at the thought of all the ostrich leg multi-skin shoes that have been detailed), but if you look at the more conservative and persistent models detailed by Rider and Franco's over the years, there are a lot of great shoes.

At the retail price, they are a very very good value as well - the blake-rapid construction relies on leather instead of cork (which let's be honest, when manufacturers use cork it's typically lots of glue with some cork particles), very tightly grained close-channeled soles, and fantastic upper leather which is rarely found below the EG and JL level. I have a number of Marteganis with radica calf (identical to JL's museum calf, sadly no longer used much anywhere), "iron" calf which is crust leather hand-finished in Italy, and rustik calf which is another of their premium leathers. All of them compare favorably to leather I've seen in shoes costing more (sometimes much more). If Radica is good enough for JL, it should be good enough for shoppers at the Martegani price point. I don't know where you will find that quality of materials in any other shoe that is price-competitive with Martegani. Further, in the shoes I've handled, the finishing has been very good. Certainly not perfect (errors in perfing is typical), but the soles are well finished and the stitching (both welt and otherwise) always looks great.

See here for a nice gallery of the US stock: http://martegani.wordpress.com/us-stock/

personal favorites include:

http://martegani.files.wordpress.com...pg?w=255&h=299
http://martegani.files.wordpress.com...pg?w=255&h=194
http://martegani.files.wordpress.com...pg?w=250&h=232
http://martegani.files.wordpress.com...pg?w=300&h=177

Allen Edmonds now, Ferragamo Tramezza soon, Edward Green later. So many shoes, too little time

NOS and thrifted Florsheims in 11D fit my feet like butter. I also like Tricker's. Can be on my feet all day in either brand with no complaints.

Alden. They are bullet proof, comfortable and hold their shine very well. Not the most exciting but I love them.

Dude, what the H man? How is AE blowing everyone else out of the water?

Just like anything else, price and quantity are inversely correlated.

Explains how they remain in biz.

C&J

Florsheim and Allen Edmonds.

Allen Edmonds
Dack's
Florsheim (vintage)
Church's
Alden

Future aspirations:
Crockett & Jones
more Alden

Yes sir, Rockport all the way