***The official Alden thread *** Share enthusiasm, reviews, sizing, advice, and photos.

Originally Posted by gnatty8

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crossposted in MC:

Are these the J Crew's? I love them!!! When the time is right, this will be my first alden purchase!

Is there any place to buy Aldens in Vancouver?

Can anyone recommend a good source for the unlined chukka with flex welt (#1494) besides shoemart? I sent my 11.5Ds back hoping to exchange for 12Ds... got a note saying it will be 3 more months before they have any, so they just refunded me.

Tom, do you plan a resupply of the #1494 on Barrie last (size 11D)?

Originally Posted by shoejohn

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Are these the J Crew's? I love them!!! When the time is right, this will be my first alden purchase!

Those are them.. You'll like em'

Quick cleaning/polish question for Alden Indy 403

To clean them up is it ok to use Meltonian Cleaner. What other suggestions do people have.

I know that eventually I will need to polish them and to be careful of the white stitching. What polish should I use? Would Kiwi brown be ok?

Thanks.

Originally Posted by edubs01

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Quick cleaning/polish question for Alden Indy 403

To clean them up is it ok to use Meltonian Cleaner. What other suggestions do people have.

I know that eventually I will need to polish them and to be careful of the white stitching. What polish should I use? Would Kiwi brown be ok?

Thanks.

I would not use Kiwi on the 403s. Find a neutral shoe cream. If you use polish, no matter how careful you are, you'll discolor the stitching.

Don't be too worried about the stitching. I've gotten sloppy before with the polish and in a drunken state one time I used a baby wipe(for those without kids look in the diaper aisle) and cleaned the stitches to a nice glowing white. Since then I have polished with reckless abandon. I use kiwi cordovan wax to darken the leather.

Originally Posted by gnatty8

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Those are them.. You'll like em'

Your J.Crew longwings are so nice that I sometimes almost regret my Winn Perry purchase. If only I lived in the States, they would be mine already. It is very easy to deal with small businesses for special customs instructions, which is impossible to request from a state-wide store such as J.Crew or Brooks Brothers.

Gnatty8, there is something I cannot understand. As far as I know you also pre-ordered Winn Perry longwings. May I ask the reason for that, given that you already have J.Crew longwings, which are also calfskin and have quite the same color and shade?

Originally Posted by mikesduc

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Don't be too worried about the stitching. I've gotten sloppy before with the polish and in a drunken state one time I used a baby wipe(for those without kids look in the diaper aisle) and cleaned the stitches to a nice glowing white. Since then I have polished with reckless abandon. I use kiwi cordovan wax to darken the leather.

I am surprised. I have a pair of 405s in my garage that I wear when it's raining precisely because I tried to use brown polish carefully, and colored the stitching. If OP is really concerned, he should just use neutral polish.

Originally Posted by mg428

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Your J.Crew longwings are so nice that I sometimes almost regret my Winn Perry purchase. If only I lived in the States, they would be mine already. It is very easy to deal with small businesses for special customs instructions, which is impossible to request from a state-wide store such as J.Crew or Brooks Brothers.

Gnatty8, there is something I cannot understand. As far as I know you also pre-ordered Winn Perry longwings. May I ask the reason for that, given that you already have J.Crew longwings, which are also calfskin and have quite the same color and shade?

Good question and the best and only answer I have is the WP sole seems like it would be a better choice in the rain. Probably a dumb reason to drop another $400+ on shoes, but I am sure they'll get a good amount of wear. Still waiting on those BTW, IIRC, the ship date is in April..

Is Kiwi neutral a good polish to use?

Originally Posted by mg428

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To the best of my knowledge, only theshoemart and shermanbrothers sell shortwing bluchers, but in Aberdeen last, which is a regular stock model: http://www.theshoemart.com/alden-men..._calfskin.html http://www.theshoemart.com/alden-men..._calfskin.html I will appreciate if someone knows any other shortwing blucher model, regardless of last.
Do you know how reliable The Shoe Mart is to buy from? I've been looking at their Alden 404, which the site seems to say is fully stocked. However, I've read a bunch of reviews of the site that say that often they will claim to have sizes in stock, only to charge you, then send you an e-mail about how it's actually backordered and then you wait around for weeks on end. I've sent them an e-mail, but they aren't very talkative. They reply with terse one word answers to questions that aren't one word answer questions. If anyone has had experiences with ShoeMart, good or bad, please let me know!

These look sweet

http://www.epauletshop.com/servlet/t...et-West/Detail

I wear a 10.5 E in a standard US dress shoe. Any idea if sizing up to 11 would be OK for these (looks like 10.5 isn't available)

Originally Posted by Flowah

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Do you know how reliable The Shoe Mart is to buy from? I've been looking at their Alden 404, which the site seems to say is fully stocked. However, I've read a bunch of reviews of the site that say that often they will claim to have sizes in stock, only to charge you, then send you an e-mail about how it's actually backordered and then you wait around for weeks on end.

I've sent them an e-mail, but they aren't very talkative. They reply with terse one word answers to questions that aren't one word answer questions.

If anyone has had experiences with ShoeMart, good or bad, please let me know!
I love shoemart and have not had any problems dealing with them. They have not charged me until shipped. If you are uncertain just pick up the phone and call them.

I have a feeling these are not email people. I always call.

Originally Posted by Alcibiades

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These look sweet

http://www.epauletshop.com/servlet/t...et-West/Detail

I wear a 10.5 E in a standard US dress shoe. Any idea if sizing up to 11 would be OK for these (looks like 10.5 isn't available)

I wouldn't. The Leydon last is fairly narrow.