Crockett & Jones for Ralph Lauren Cordovan (Marlow, Darlton, Gifford, Garran, Lindrick, McCallum, Rh

Mr. Moo · May 20, 2012

OK I've handled DB shells and they are simply awful. I can't overstate how bad those shoes were.

NAMOR · May 20, 2012

I didn't think so. And I'm willing to spend 30 minutes polishing/finishish for a $300 pair of shell boots

LeJouvre · May 20, 2012

NAMOR said:
For me
GG
JL
EG
Vass
Carmina
C&J
Grenson Masterpiece
Meermin?
Duckie Brown
Alden
Based on quality, fit, price, and value. Alden shell is terribly overpriced, imo

+1 absolutely.

chipshot · May 20, 2012

Given 1/2 down from normal US. My experience ... ME = 9.5 US

Wings last 325 normal length and tiny bit narrow 9 D
Penny last 314 short and narrow 9 D
Tassel last 72 curved so fits longer, narrow as well 8 1/2 D
PTB? 348 Shorter than the Wings and tiny bit narrow 9 D

This line up seems to be ideal for me. I advise I also have narrow ecto build ... ie, thin feet. sorta but not a US C though ..

PTB last input anybody? The PRB fist me slightly shorter than the Wing, but man do I love this toe profile; after a few wears, they fit like a glove. Still my favorite of the line and stoked I found them in the store as they were never on the website to my knowledge. Hope this helps those who are trying to fit these. My personal experience is Cordovan eventually conforms to your feet if your patient enough. At that point, you'll be loving yourself for all the deliberation and pain compromise....

md2010 · May 20, 2012

LeJouvre said:
I own an old pair of Marlows in "E", but then, I was fortunate to have dealt with a particularly enthusiastic SA in NY who cannot take "no" as an answer. I believe RL did bring a very limited quantity of English "EE" of "F" for the US market, but they were never properly distributed to the stores or online store.

UK size "E" is basically a "D" - take a look at the bottom of this web page for a reasonable estimate of comparisons.:- http://www.veganline.com/shoe-sizes.htm

If you are a TTS 8EEE as you say, and, if you fit a 8D Sanderson very tightly, my first educated guess would be to go for a size 7.5 Marlow. If the heel fits comfortably without slippage, and, if you find the shoe a little tight in the middle of the box, you may have your perfect Marlow fit.

My Marlows have to be reasonably tight from the joint of the small toe and across at least the first two-three small toes. If these toes do not struggle at the first fit, the shoe will become too loose and you may have to replace them.

Remember, good shoes are like a good wine, the more the vine struggles through winter, the better the wine, but it cannot struggle to the point that you kill the vine.

A good fitting Marlow needs to be at least 1/2 size small, the sides of the toe box needs to be quite firm, and, since we are dealing with Cordovan here, the shoes will be a tough stretch before they move into shape, but when they do....................... Heaven!

Go ahead and try the 7.5 Marlow, but if you can get to a store, that would obviously be the best way to go.

Mate you are right about the width. My Sanderson marked at US8E(in Australia they tend to send the Uk stocks). But no way this could be an E. This pair of Sanderson caused me huge pain… It created a huge painful corn on my left pinky toe. I had to burn it and I was unable to wear dress shoes for over 2 /3 weeks. When I bought my Sanderson the SA assured me the fit was perfect and they will loosen up over time !! Double leather sole shoes and also with wingtip takes ages to break in and gives less as the extra bit of leather around the toe area.
With Marlow I think I will go with US8D. Wearing tight shoes are such a pain I can’t tolerate. Also they don’t sell the Marlow in Australian stores. So online is the only way to go.
I have few pairs of DB cordovan LW. As per forum most went ½ size down. But I didn’t size down and went US8D and perfect fit. Just a bit of heel slippage. I thought cordovan has less give ?

LeJouvre · May 20, 2012

md2010 said:
Mate you are right about the width. My Sanderson marked at US8E(in Australia they tend to send the Uk stocks). But no way this could be an E. This pair of Sanderson caused me huge pain… It created a huge painful corn on my left pinky toe. I had to burn it and I was unable to wear dress shoes for over 2 /3 weeks. When I bought my Sanderson the SA assured me the fit was perfect and they will loosen up over time !! Double leather sole shoes and also with wingtip takes ages to break in and gives less as the extra bit of leather around the toe area.
With Marlow I think I will go with US8D. Wearing tight shoes are such a pain I can’t tolerate. Also they don’t sell the Marlow in Australian stores. So online is the only way to go.

Try to keep an eye on length as well. It is not only about width. Perhaps you should consider taking a look at the UK stores to see whether they can get you an extra wide in the 7.5, you never know your luck in a big city mate!

LeJouvre · May 20, 2012

I know the Marlows are a cordovan color of their own, a sort of a "sui generis" cordovan, but I own a few #4, whiskey, Mahogany, cigar and I can not make up my mind which color the Marlow most closely resembles.

Definitely not whiskey or Ravello, cancel them out.

#4? nah, too dark for that
cigar? Mahogany? Brandy? Dark Brown? #6?

Somewhere between #6 and Dark brown with a touch of Mahogany is my closest guess, what do you think?

bucksfan · May 21, 2012

Dark Brown. It's the same cordovan that Allen Edmonds uses for its Strands in Dark Brown Cordovan. I don't know by what name Horween calls it. The (large amount) of polish may alter the RL color somewhat, vs the almost no polish that AE applies to its shell shoes.

LeJouvre · May 21, 2012

bucksfan said:
Dark Brown. It's the same cordovan that Allen Edmonds uses for its Strands in Dark Brown Cordovan. I don't know by what name Horween calls it. The (large amount) of polish may alter the RL color somewhat, vs the almost no polish that AE applies to its shell shoes.

All my Marlows are somewhere between the mahogany and the dark brown, although, they are a lot darker than the sample pictured here, I think you may be right about C&J overdoing it a tad with the polish or dyes or whatever they use.

chipshot · May 22, 2012

LeJouvre said:
All my Marlows are somewhere between the mahogany and the dark brown, although, they are a lot darker than the sample pictured here, I think you may be right about C&J overdoing it a tad with the polish or dyes or whatever they use.

Mine are a Hershey Bar Brown in off light and a Lighter Dark Brown under natural sunlight. Maybe they'll lighten up with zero wax for me over the course of time.

Metal toe taps anyone? My Penny Marlow is suffering bad toe wear left side mostly. The PTB's some, but not nearly as much as the Penny. Wondering if I should install metal taps on the Marlow Tassels before I wear them. The Blucher and Wingtips I am thinking no need but the loafers? I've read to wear a tap for the first 6-8 months of a double leather break-in then remove when the soles have normal flex. Any thoughts?

LeJouvre · May 22, 2012

chipshot said:
Mine are a Hershey Bar Brown in off light and a Lighter Dark Brown under natural sunlight. Maybe they'll lighten up with zero wax for me over the course of time.

Metal toe taps anyone? My Penny Marlow is suffering bad toe wear left side mostly. The PTB's some, but not nearly as much as the Penny. Wondering if I should install metal taps on the Marlow Tassels before I wear them. The Blucher and Wingtips I am thinking no need but the loafers? I've read to wear a tap for the first 6-8 months of a double leather break-in then remove when the soles have normal flex. Any thoughts?

I am always careful with toe taps. Unless you have a REALLY good cobbler, rather have someone competent nail a few nails into the sole up in the toe area to reduce wear. You definitely want to avoid protruding toe taps, they just ruin the shape of the toe.

The best toe taps are those used by G&G or Edward Green. G&G use brass screws which I am skeptical about because they can ruin the sole when they resole or replace the taps. I prefer the nails, but the steel plates used by G&G and EG as toe taps are the way to go.

The Marlow has loads of thickness to accomodate a toe tap, and I find they do improve the life of the shoe, especially if the shoe is slightly long for the foot.

Berryman · May 22, 2012

Hi, I am selling my complete collection of Aldens, anyone interested? Sizes 9 or 9,5 depending on the last
Thnks

LeJouvre · May 22, 2012

Berryman said:
Hi, I am selling my complete collection of Aldens, anyone interested? Sizes 9 or 9,5 depending on the last
Thnks

I have a few of my own I could add to your pile, sizes 9.5 and 10 depending the last - kind of over Alden at the moment

WhoKnewI · May 22, 2012

May I ask why you guys would like to sell them off?

LeJouvre · May 22, 2012

In my case I just find other brands more readily available when you need them. Some Alden items you can't buy even if you are willing to wait 2 years and I am kind of bored with #8 and black cordovan. If I have to go to another brand for the color I like, why not change brands completely?

Sure would be nice to see other colors to add to my existing Alden collection instead of being forced to buy the same old boring colors every time you need a new pair of shoes. It is okay if #8 and black is all you want to wear in Cordovan, I guess.

Other than that, Alden are a great product, but there are other great products as well.

Crockett & Jones for Ralph Lauren Cordovan (Marlow, Darlton, Gifford, Garran, Lindrick, McCallum, Rh

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