Going to be in Pittsburgh in mid April - any good shopping?

The short answer is no; shopping in Pittsburgh is really limited.

Larrimor's (downtown) is a really good men's shop and the only place in Pittsburgh ever named to Esquire's "Best of Class" list. You might also try Brooks Brothers and Heinz Healy's (also downtown). HH carries Alden shoes and some tweed jackets. Then there's a Nordstrom in Ross Park Mall and Charles Spiegel on Forbes Ave. in Squirrel Hill, which carries an eclectic mix on the flashier end of business casual (think Eton shirts and Italo Ferretti ties), as well as clothing that would appeal to the SW&D crowd. And that's it. Even the outlet mall in Washington, PA, 45 minutes south, has no decent merchandise since the downtown Saks closed last summer (the Saks Off Fifth used to get Brioni jackets, etc.).

or take a bus to NYC!

Just moved from Pittsburgh after living there for 5 years.

 

You can get great non-official Steelers and Penguins T-Shirts in the strip district.  That is basically what everyone there wears.  For more formal occasions, like church, they will wear their official Steelers jersey.

 

Expect to see people dressed like it was 2001. (Cargo pants, gel spiked hair, ect.)

 

Make sure you try some of their terrible cuisine.  Not only does it taste like flavorless shit, it is also pretty unhealthy.

 

At night, go "dahn" (Pittsburghese for down)  to E Carson street and hit on some fat chicks.  Just to warn you, all those girls that look like hookers, aren't actually hookers.  Thats just how the girls dress.

 

Careful driving there, everyone is either on their cell phone, texting, or just has their head up their ass.  Don't expect anyone to use their turn signal.  Do expect a 15 min delay at any merge point.

 

There is a place in Market Square (Dahntahn) called Nettleton's.  They sell Alden, Carmina, Vass and a few other brands of shoes.  The proprietor Scott is a really nice guy.

I seem to recall browsing Nettleton's before I learned about Carmina or Vass and after I had bought all the Alden's I want, so I've never been back. Now that I know about Vass/Carmina, I'll go take a look. Does Nettleton's ever put their Carmina/Vass shoes on sale?

I think he may have only started carrying Vass and Carmina more recently.  Not sure if they go on sale.  All I know is that Scott is a great guy, and it must be tough for him to stay afloat selling the kind of shoes he sells in a city where most people think that $100 is a lot to spend on shoes, but that $300 is a great deal for football tickets.  So give him some business if you can.

Thanks, I certainly will. I'm going to try to head down this afternoon.

Chatted with Scott for about an hour this afternoon and learned a lot about Carmina and Alden (he doesn't carry Vass). You're right, he's a great guy and let me try on, even though I made it clear I wasn't buying today. He has a limited selection of Carmina's right now (4 different models, with limited sizes left), but he's planning a Carmina trunk show sometime within the next several months and then he will re-order from them. He has carried Alden's for years and is a real expert. His plan is to introduce Carmina slowly and cautiously. He also told me that Nettleton is re-emerging and he is considering stocking the brand, though the shoes will now be made in Belgium(?!?).

We also chatted a little about his plans to have a web presence, but not online ordering, because he prefers to establish a relationship with his customers and provide them with fit advice. He mentioned that the LeatherSoul Hawaii website was a model he would like to emulate when he gets a website up and running,

BTW, if the OP plans on visiting Nettleton's while visiting Pittsburgh, the store is right next to Heinz Healey's, just off Market Square. Yelp gave me their former location on Grant Street.

Thanks for reporting back.  I recently learned that he stopped carrying Vass 15yrs ago, but for whatever reason it was still listed on the business card that he gave me. 

 

Glad that you stopped by.

 

I think Pittsburgh will continue to grow and more people will move there for jobs, so hopefully that will benefit Scott.

 

Edit:  Just did a search for Nettleton Shoes and found some pics on AAOC.  Some of them look like Aldens, some of them are longer and sleeker like Carmina and Vass.

The Grove City Outlets suck.  Never anything good there.  Nice Pick up on the pants though.

 

That is pretty much Pittsburgh for you.  Everyone cares about sports, but nobody appreciates that they have one of the worlds best symphony orchestras.

 

No Nettleton's?

 

 

Edit: They would recommend the outlets to someone who asked about shopping, wouldn't they?  As I said before, Yinzers don't know the first thing about nice clothes.

 

So glad to be out of that place.  Not even so much the place that I despise, its more the people.  If it weren't for them, and the way that they have shaped the city with their stupid decisions, it wouldn't be a bad place to live at all.