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hey guys. Can a cobbler fix or replace torn stitching on the uppers?
How often do Jcrew's sales accidentally include the Aldens?
Never
Yes. You could probably also have them sent back to Alden for a fix.
Thats not necessarily the case.
The first week of Dec they had a 30% off sale and some of the styles they've carried for awhile (#8 captoe boot) were in fact on discount, while newer styles (Black shell wingtip boot) were not.
I found I was even able to get this discount in store when I asked politely. (the SA said the sale didn't include alden, I directed him to the website and they made it so)
Of course they put the kibosh on the discount within a day or so, but there was a very brief window where you could get Aldens from jcrew for 30% off.
FWIW, i'm convinced that all of the Alden offerings for J Crew are ****, many with defects that shouldn't have left the factory. (There have been a few examples posted in this thread)
The welt stitch on one of my boots started to come loose after just a few wears, which is a problem another friend had on the exact same boots he purchased a few months ago.
If you get anything from J crew give it a thorough once over and wear the hell out of it the first month to see if any problems develop. (that way you can return in 30days if necessary)
When I told the SA about the defect, he replied with, "well these are handmade so that just adds more to the charm." lol
when i inspected the boots i actually saw a chunk of leather missing from the upper. When I told the SA about the defect, he replied with, "well these are handmade so that just adds more to the charm." lol
great! Can anyone who has ever sent their shoes back to Alden for fixed stitching post an after pic? Mind you, I'm not talking about stitching in the usual trouble spots but more like torn stitching in a random area on the upper of the shoe.
to be fair, a good chunk of people here would say the same thing
If it's a bad rip, the fix might not be that clean. I've seen people post pictures of really nice fixes (I think NYR had a nice fix on one of his shoes), and really ****** fixes (I recall a black cap toe boot that got a really ****** looking fix). Maybe the owners will post pictures.
Here is my impression as a relative new-comer to the Alden brand. I did my research and learned about the sizes, lasts, colors, welts, etc...and when I was ready to buy some shoes, I called Leathersoul first. I asked about a dozen different makeups from their online posts and none of them were in stock and they kept emphasizing they were not an online shop. When I asked "what sizes *do* you have in 9.5e", I couldn't even get a straight response. I realized that unless I was to catch them on a pre-order there would be no way to get any of their custom makeups in a new state. I understand now that their shop is mostly eye-candy for their brick and mortar business and given I live in the Bay Area it did not make sense to buy from them since I don't make it out to LA or Hawaii frequently. They seem to have cut down the pre-orders now as well.
I ended up purchasing at 3 pairs from Alden SF (Color #8 LWB, Cigar PTB and Cigar Chukka), 2 from Alden Madison Ave (Whiskey PTB, Whiskey Chukka), 1 from Shoemart (Ravello WT boot) and 1 from Context (Rough Roy black Chamois boot). I only had to wait for the the Ravello WT boot and the Whiskey Chukka but all the other shops had plenty of makeups in all the various special colors one would want.
I purchased a few non-shoe items from Steve at Leffot and found the customer service to be wonderful. I like the Leffot approach to size availability and would consider purchasing from them. Would I like to buy one of the LS makeups? Sure, but I have tempered my expectations. From where I sit, they lost out on $5K of my business. Why develop the relationship at all unless you are in Hawaii or LA? There are plenty of other shops with great inventories that make the sizes public, have special color makeups and can ship.
my two cents. nothing personal.
I would highly recommend Leffot. I like his first come first serve approach, they make buying as simple as possible and fast shipping.
What is it that turned you onto Alden? Gerald Celente said that in a depression, people still spend money, but they shift there focus to a quality mentality. Also that more and more people will start taking some pride in their appearance/build a sense of style. That is what I attribute Alden's skyrocketing success over the past number of years.
If everything you wanted to buy from them was already sold out, how do you figure they lost anything?