dress shoes in australia

I am in Brisbane too.... Most of my shoes have been bought in Melbourne or Sydney

I did buy a pair from Aquila, and wasn't too impressed (lasted under a year). I believe they are targeted at the cheap/fashiony end of the market.

I can't help in Brisbane, but there is an outlet shop in Melbourne where you can occasionally pick up Santoni FAMs in that price range. They also carry Moreschi, Prada, plus the odd Church, Tricker, Barrett, Tods etc. I get depressed about shoes in Melbourne generally. $400 will really only buy you Lloyds or Sioux, maybe Loake or something like that. So you need to haunt the outlets, or buy online.

I do not, as a rule, buy shoes in Brisbane. If I had to, some of the Hugo Boss Black Label at DJs are nice, albeit overpriced. Ditto the Bally.

A trip to Surfers' at sale time may yield some joy at Gucci, Ferragamo or Bally.

I buy all mine in Melbourne, and even that is slim pickings...

The phrase shoes and Brisbane is some what of an oxymoron.

Best to do what the false prophet says and avoid altogether.

If you want to buy anything at Aquila. Boss is probably the best there.

There might be a few other shoes at David Jones. Their House Brand Milana can sometimes have some gems. Particularly the blake constructed shoe models.

http://www.mccloud.com.au/shoes.php Don't know if they have a shop up your way, but McCloud's has Loakes in your price range. Depending on how formal you want to get, have you considered R.M.Williams? Just a thought.

Hey, what outlet do you speak of?

Shoes in Melbourne are terrible, Harrold's treat Moreschi as if it were John Lobb.

I think the best option, if you can, is to try on something like a Loake at McLouds in Melbourne to check your size. You can then go to a site like Pediwear or Herring shoes and buy them online. I've done this several times - in Melbourne a Loake might be close to $400 but if you know your size it will cost you less than $200 including postage from one of the above websites. If your budget can stand it do the same thing with Churchs or Crockett and Jones for a better shoe.

If you know which size fits you well, you can also order from PLAL, a reputable establishment in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. Several forum members have ordered shoes from them by phone/E-mail to great satisfaction. Prices are very competitive and service is great.

www.plal.com


If you want to buy anything by RM Williams, I'd highly recommend going to Steve from Nungar Trading (http://www.nungar.com.au/). Great service and very good prices.

Also search the forum for Sator's voluminous post on everything there is to know about RM Williams.

Sorry to resurrect this, but I thought it worth chiming in on Brisbane and shoes (or the lack thereof).

Aquila is rubbish - trendy styles but poorly made with pointy toes and an oversupply of mock crocodile and faux lizard slip-ons.

DJs occasionally has some good shoes, but they charge horrendous prices for what are really quite ordinary shoes by Bally and Zegna ($800 for a Zegna shoe, anyone?).

As Neyus commented above, the Milana (or Milani?) brand at DJs occasionally yields some gems - reasonable styles, with a welted sole.

As I don't really like boots, I can't wear RM Williams. I know that some people love them, but for me they conjure up images up public school boys in Levi jeans and RL polos (with the collar popped up) sucking on overpriced bottles of Corona beer (with a slice of lime in the bottle). They do suit some people, however, and have the advantage of being wearable with both business and more casual attire.

LLoyds, Sioux and associated brands are all pretty rubbishy - some of them have calfskin uppers, but the soles are all glued and the lining is often only half-leather, with the toeboxes being lined in fabric (which wears much more rapidly than leather).

So, for me, the only real option in Brisbane is Florsheim. They seem to have recently re-launched their "Royal Imperial" line, with a range of shoes that are made of calfskin, are goodyear welted, and are fully leather-lined. The "Stamford" is basically a renamed version of the US-market Kenmoor, and there are another couple of quite nice shoes in the range, too. At normal prices they are not too cheap (around $280) but if you can pick them up on sale I think that they are a good deal for the workmanship - particularly when you consider what else is out there for that price...

Florsheim also have a factory outlet store at Stones Corner, but I've never been out there so I don't know if they have anything worthwhile in stock.

Of course, if you've already tried on brands like Loake elsewhere, or if you are willing to take a punt on sizing, it's probably well worthwhile buying shoes over the internet as recommended by people like Spectre above. Places like Charles Tyrwhitt and TM Lewin carry reasonable shoes (although some people on the forum pooh-pooh them, they're great compared to most of what you find in Australia) and if you get them on sale, I think that they're a compelling deal.

Cheers,
JH

"American Tailors" in Melbourne stocks many C&Js, both bench and handgrade.
They stock the Weymouth, Saville, Belgrave and Marston in handgrade. They also can order anything from the retail catalouge for you. The shop is up the top (parliament house) end of Bourke St.

Florsheim is definitely an often overlooked option. I saw cap and plain toe balmoral in brown the other day, however these were not goodyear welted. Their range is gradually improving as the classically designed shoes become more fashionable. I suggest you check in regularly to see whats available.

I recently went to the Florsheim outlet at stones corner, but there was nothing worthwhile. The length of the store wall was covered in square bicycle-toed and bowling shoes.

Stick to Florsheim at the Myer Centre or possibly through DJs and Myer at sale time. While you're on that level of the Myer Centre you can check out Allen & Edmunds which are available at Peter Sheppard.

for under $400 and purchase from retailer, you best opt for Loake which are a quarter decent (as the price does indicate).