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ctrlaltelite

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drool.gif
 

Ahab

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Originally Posted by Morgan
When the most recent crop of cigar LWBs went up at Shoemart, I said to myself "Dude, you have a perfectly good pair of deep brown cordovan Darlton shortwings that you actually wear on a regular basis. You don't need to drop another $650 just to have a nearly identical shoe in a longwing version."

Seeing this photo makes me second guess myself. Gorgeous shoes.

They are not the same shoe. That does not mean the Darlton is bad, it is a good shoe.

The sole on my Darlton seems to be thicker and harder and does not seem to wear as fast.

The colors are similar but different. Fit is very different. I tried on the Darlton in 10 and 10.5 and the 10 was very tight and the 10.5 seems almost too large. I am going to try inserts. The finish on the Darlton is much better. The colors may be different but I am getting a nice patina on my Darltons and like them. I also think the Darltons go better with heavier jeans.

The Alden Longwings on the Barrie last fit me better, may be a little more comfortable. They clean up better and tend to shine more.

You may want to hold out for a pair of Ravello longwings since that color is very nice and much more different than the Darlton.

But that Cigar longwing is beautiful and I like the shine michaelw has on it.
 

slappy

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The color of those cigar shoes is outstanding. You can really see the color depth of them in the bottom portion of the right foot
 

rick

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cotton suit not shown, suede longwings from LSH.

IMG00106.jpg
 

Morgan

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Ahab, by "same shoe" I mean that it fulfills the same function within my wardrobe. To put it another way, it is a near-perfect substitute. The Alden cigar longwing would look good with any outfit with which I wear my brown cordo Darltons. Conversely, any situation in which my Darltons would not be appropriate would not be improved by wearing the Alden cigar longwings.

None of this is to say they are exactly equivalent. The Barrie last fits me much better than the Crockett & Jones 325, on which the Darlton is constructed. I agree, the heel on the 325 is wide and the sole of the shoe is stiffer and less supple. I wore my well-used Darltons on Wednesday and my brand new Alden suede longwings on Thursday (identical to the ones Rick is wearing above), and the brand new double leather soles on the Aldens were more comfortable than the broken-in soles on the Darltons.

However, after making a series of somewhat duplicative and redundant wardrobe purchases, I've started asking myself whether a particular item actually fills a hole in my wardrobe, or whether it's just a variation on an item I already own and enjoy.
 

rick

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hey guys could you point me in the right direction for shoe tree for my aldens i need some bad thanks.
 

mg428

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Originally Posted by Morgan
Ahab, by "same shoe" I mean that it fulfills the same function within my wardrobe. To put it another way, it is a near-perfect substitute. The Alden cigar longwing would look good with any outfit with which I wear my brown cordo Darltons. Conversely, any situation in which my Darltons would not be appropriate would not be improved by wearing the Alden cigar longwings.

None of this is to say they are exactly equivalent. The Barrie last fits me much better than the Crockett & Jones 325, on which the Darlton is constructed. I agree, the heel on the 325 is wide and the sole of the shoe is stiffer and less supple. I wore my well-used Darltons on Wednesday and my brand new Alden suede longwings on Thursday (identical to the ones Rick is wearing above), and the brand new double leather soles on the Aldens were more comfortable than the broken-in soles on the Darltons.

However, after making a series of somewhat duplicative and redundant wardrobe purchases, I've started asking myself whether a particular item actually fills a hole in my wardrobe, or whether it's just a variation on an item I already own and enjoy.


I think the most important difference between RL Darlton and Alden cigar longwings, aside from last and style -one being short wing and the other being longwing-, is the color of edge trim, which may affect pairing your shoes with your clothes, according to their color.
 

mg428

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Originally Posted by slappy
As I said it's not clear from the pictures what I'm talking about. Im aware that they are not meant to look perfect. In person it is clear that a section of finish has been stripped off and whatever material the welt is attached to has been gouged out. It looks like someone took a small screwdriver, jammed it into that material and wiggled it around. It is very hard to capture in pictures but I showed it to some friends and without mentioning the spot they all jumped on it immediately. 'Oh these are great, wait whats up with this?' Of course the scuffs are no big deal, I just find it obnoxious. If it was only the scuffs Id keep them in a second.
I think there is nothing wrong with the welt at all. The welt of Indy boots are a bit different than other shoes/boots out there because, it is 270 degree welted, but that welted parts also have a storm welt. (with the exception of certain indy boots. For instance, the #8 indy boots sold by theshoemart are 360 degree storm welted. Leather Soul's vintage indy are also 360 degree storm welted. I believe the newly introduced Alden for Epaulet 2-Stroke Indy Boot is the first Indy style I have ever seen without any storm welt. But it is also 360 degree welted) Please see the images of Epaulet x Alden black and tan indy boots I have. One boot's welt is like the one in your first photo, and the other's welt is like the one in your second photo. All in all, I would not hesitate to keep those J. Crew Indys.

 

ctrlaltelite

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Originally Posted by rick
hey guys could you point me in the right direction for shoe tree for my aldens i need some bad thanks.

see my earlier post regarding rochester shoe trees.
 

slappy

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Hm that's interesting. However I think we have different issues here. Your right boot has an area that's also whiteish but it looks like the lacquer was merely stripped off that area. That area on my boot is not only stripped of lacquer, the area itself is damaged. As I said it looks like a sharp objet was accidentaly jammed into it and moved around. Some areas are raised, others are deep, it looks like if you took a tree and jammed a screwdriver into it then wiggled it around. I have that same lacquer issue also, and if it was just that I would keep them as I could always just get that part refinished for cheap. However the fact that mine is also damaged means it can't be fixed easilly.

If you look back at my picture you can see on the left the welt being attached just fine. Then there is a damaged weird looking white area, then a nicely finished lacquer area. This finished lacquer area is supposed to extend to where the damaged area is. It's clear that somehow it got damaged. For further proof you can see a small crack or tear in whatever material is behind the welt, the thing that looks like a twig (though clearly isn't, maybe rubber?). I guess this twig thing is the storm welt? So this whole area has sustained damage from that twig thing to the welt area.

I cant imagine how these got past Aldens quality control as you can spot it from a few feet away. And what makes it worse is that it's readily apparent from the top down meaning while Im wearing it it's highly visible. And yes of course no one else will care, but I care and it's my dime.
 

mg428

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Originally Posted by ctrlaltelite
see my earlier post regarding rochester shoe trees.

I know that it was previously confirmed that Alden uses Rochester shoe trees. Can someone confirm which specific Rochester shoe trees are used for Alden? I believe it is the Clinton style, right?

http://www.onecedarlane.com/products.php?catid=2

BTW, one thing I would like to point out is, I always thought that higher priced and fuller shoe trees, such as Rochester Washburn, are better. Well, in fact they are. But from a practical perspective, if you do not dispose of the box of your shoes and keep your shoes in such boxes with shoe trees inserted to your shoes, then they may not fit into such boxes. At least this is almost always the case with Woodlore shoe trees, as all of them (ultra, combination, epic) have a higher instep. Alden shoe trees, which I assume is the Rochester Clinton style, has a lower instep and does not create a problem for the shoes to fit to the manufacturer's box while the said shoe trees are inserted to the shoes.
 

makewayhomer

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Originally Posted by slappy
Hm that's interesting. However I think we have different issues here. Your right boot has an area that's also whiteish but it looks like the lacquer was merely stripped off that area. That area on my boot is not only stripped of lacquer, the area itself is damaged. As I said it looks like a sharp objet was accidentaly jammed into it and moved around. Some areas are raised, others are deep, it looks like if you took a tree and jammed a screwdriver into it then wiggled it around. I have that same lacquer issue also, and if it was just that I would keep them as I could always just get that part refinished for cheap. However the fact that mine is also damaged means it can't be fixed easilly.

If you look back at my picture you can see on the left the welt being attached just fine. Then there is a damaged weird looking white area, then a nicely finished lacquer area. This finished lacquer area is supposed to extend to where the damaged area is. It's clear that somehow it got damaged. For further proof you can see a small crack or tear in whatever material is behind the welt, the thing that looks like a twig (though clearly isn't, maybe rubber?). I guess this twig thing is the storm welt? So this whole area has sustained damage from that twig thing to the welt area.

I cant imagine how these got past Aldens quality control as you can spot it from a few feet away. And what makes it worse is that it's readily apparent from the top down meaning while Im wearing it it's highly visible. And yes of course no one else will care, but I care and it's my dime.


there have been plenty of complaints in this thread about Alden QC, particularly with boots, even with firsts. I don't think it should come as a shock anymore that plenty of effed up boots are coming out of the Alden factory. I mean I know this is a thread where people praise Alden, and people don't want to hear this, but it's stunning to me that so many basic complaints have surfaced here about $400 - $500 shoes that are not manufactured in high quantities
 

slappy

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Yes I am considering getting a boot from a different company. Alden makes good looking shoes, but they keep increasing their prices every year with seemingly little regard for QC. Their shell shoes cost more than Crockett & Jones now. The boots are really comfortable though, probably the most comfortable boot Ive ever tried on. However they are definitely clunky. Ive looked at other boot companies, the one I like the most is Rider but they are all massively more expensive.
 
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