Allen Edmonds Dalton - shell cordovan in walnut

I spoke to Mark McNeil, A&E's chief designer, last October 4.  He told me the walnut cordovan is a very early proprietary color held for AE for years by Horween and recently rediscovered by AE.  The color is called "truffle."  The soles on the calfskin Daltons are the same used on the Wolverine 1000-mile boot, since Wolverine contracted with AE to assemble their cordovan line.  But the limited cordovan line appears to feature the Redenback double-oak sole.  I have the calfskin - they're a grand pair of boots - but wish I held out for the cordovan.

These criticisms of A&E seem misplaced to me; A&E occupies a venerable spot in the American marketplace, long since abandoned by the others in their peer group, like Cole Haan, J&M and Florsheim.  They represent accessible, USA-made, high-quality shoes made for the professional man who may not earn the wage that allows him easy access to George Cleverley.  That A&E is now lumped together with -- and critiqued against -- bespoke makers or upper-tier shoemakers like Lobb, E. Green or even Alden, is more a mark of its success than its lapses. 

As late as the 1990s, one could still choose among a gamut of American shoemakers get a quality American-made product, and even chose among a range of styles in shell cordovan from makers like J&M, Florsheim and Hanover.  Now we have only A&E left.  Every time I take out my J&M Aldrichs from fifteen years ago and realize I can't replace them because J& M now makes only crap, I thank God for A&E.  A&E stuck to their guns when the others capitulated to the sterile cyniscms of profit margins over loyalty to the American shoemaking tradition.  They deserve praise for that, not flyspecking over aesthetic considerations more appropriate to a significantly different market niche. 

MWSH, I agree completely. Because Allen Edmonds is now the entry level "nice shoes" maker instead of many in the class, they get grouped together with all other "expensive shoes." Essentially anything you can't buy for under $200 at a Macys.

That's really unfair. AEs offer a much higher quality shoe than anything you can get in a department store at an affordable price. On sale they often dip under $200. Because they have no peers, they get compared to other high end shoes, almost all of which cost more money and were never meant to be the equal of Allen Edmonds.

I have a pair of Florsheims I picked up a few years ago from the thrift store with the tags still on them. They're a wonderful and not chunky walnut PTB. I love them to death and would love to replace them as my daily wear shoes, but Florsheim doesn't make anything nearly as nice anymore. I even went to the store and looked at everything, it was either significantly uglier than my shoes, or the leather was basically painted plastic.

I do have a pair of Florsheim Imperial black captoes that were just too cheap to pass up ($70 with a free tree) though. :)