Shoemart - Cordovan Shell Seconds Experience

excellent thread, would read again

My experience has been posted in the Alden thread, which you should have posted in.

I bought some black shell plain-toe boots from the seconds at Shoemart and I don't know where the defect is. They are stamped with a 'R' on the sole, but they look great. I don't know if I'd do it again because I might have just gotten lucky, but my experience was great.

I've got two pairs of cordovan seconds. One had a very slight "slice" near the heel, which shoe mart told me about before I ordered. If I had bought the shoes as "firsts" I would have been unhappy, but as is I found the defect very minor for the price I paid. The other pair I honestly could not figure out what was wrong with them. Perhaps there was a minor ripple? Who knows. They seemed perfect to me despite going over them in great detail.

I also have a pair of calf seconds (99% confident these were Leather Soul Hawaii special makeups) which I again could not figure out what made them seconds.

However, if you are a size 8 please assume that all shoe mart seconds are terrible. You don't want to buy any of them, definitely a bad move. I hear they will deform your feet and repel women.

I just left Shoemart and had a great experience. I picked up two pairs of shoes in shell, actually they're being shipped to me, as well as a shell belt to match the #8 cap toe pair. Sorry I can't be more descriptive but this is not only my first Shoemart experience but my first Alden purchase as well. I've had Allen Edmonds, Alfred Sargent and Crockett & Jones through the years but never anything in shell.