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

[Atcmg8803]

I love reading this thread and the Allen Edmonds Appreciation thread. While there really is no excuse for some of the flaws that have made it out of both factories, I've never seen such a bunch of shoe hypochondriacs. Let's face it, if you want perfection, you need to drop more cash. There's no such thing as a perfect Alden, it's just not in their DNA. I love the Alden aesthetic and like buying US. But as prices have continued to rise without a commensurate jump in quality, the marginal utility of adding another pair of them to my wardrobe is declining rapidly. The price of Alden calf is now approaching Carmina territory which, in my opinion, is a far superior product. While I'll continue picking up the occasional Alden make-up, I'm hopeful more retailers start stocking Carmina...paging LS and Leffot.

REguy, well stated. Like your post.

 

[mcarthur]



The shoe is gorgeous. Period. Wear it. Love it. Eat, drink and be merry in this shoe. It's awesome. Nordstrom (love this store. I am from Seattle) hemmed my Eternal 811s with a plain black! back stitch! vice a chainstitch...I assumed they understood...not...So, I was mortified and walked around the mall thinking everyone was noticing my plain black back stitch - "how foollish is that guy!" Turns out, no one said anything, wife brought me back from the ledge and I continue to search for someone in DC that understands chain stitch. Single malt helps too. Love the jeans and wear them with reckless abandon.

My point is no one will notice but you and all the other posts are correct, you'll work out the scratch and LOVE THIS SHOE! I will learn to live with my back black back stitch (wtf!) and move on. As Uncle Mac would say, "Enjoy wearing!"

amen!

 

[reedobandito]

Seriously, I'm shocked at how anal some people are on this thread about QC. Honestly, if anyone glanced at my new pair of Alden's and said "looks like you've got an inch long scratch the width of a hair there," I'd slap them straight in the moufth

 

[WhoKnewI]

that scratch is negligible and I've had worse with regard to scratches and I didn't care. the stitching issues however...

 

[zazaza]

Seriously, I'm shocked at how anal some people are on this thread about QC. Honestly, if anyone glanced at my new pair of Alden's and said "looks like you've got an inch long scratch the width of a hair there," I'd slap them straight in the moufth

i agree, but at the same time,
whiskey shell LW's go for what, almost $700 these days?

That is a lot of money.

I understand why someone would want their purchase to be free from flaws

One of the things I've learned from this (awesome) thread is that while there are some people who you could classify as overly anal, there are some of us who seem to be gluttons for punishment with an almost blind devotion to the brand.

 

[blues4life]

I was just about ready to by an Indy boot in #8 and saw your pic. Completely changed my mind. Thanks for the beautiful pic of your shoes.

 

[crosswound]

yea that scratch is nothing i've gotten more scratches than that on my aldens on only a few wears. i also don't do anything crazy in them just walk in them. i always get a kick out of anytime someone posts a tiny scratch or another tiny flaw that you couldn't even notice unless you stared at them.

i also agree that the price hikes are starting to not match the quality i mean i thought they where raising prices for a reason maybe its because they see that they should now when they are getting popular.

 

[blues4life]

And this is the pic I was talking about.

 

[Roggie Rog]

The shoe is gorgeous. Period. Wear it. Love it. Eat, drink and be merry in this shoe. It's awesome. Nordstrom (love this store. I am from Seattle) hemmed my Eternal 811s with a plain black! back stitch! vice a chainstitch...I assumed they understood...not...So, I was mortified and walked around the mall thinking everyone was noticing my plain black back stitch - "how foollish is that guy!" Turns out, no one said anything, wife brought me back from the ledge and I continue to search for someone in DC that understands chain stitch. Single malt helps too. Love the jeans and wear them with reckless abandon.

My point is no one will notice but you and all the other posts are correct, you'll work out the scratch and LOVE THIS SHOE! I will learn to live with my back black back stitch (wtf!) and move on. As Uncle Mac would say, "Enjoy wearing!"

Brother, you are awesome! I feel you on that. Although, I have to say that I don't think even a single malt would help me, LOL. I'm a perfectionist: when I'm buying a plaid shirt, I always carefully inspect to see that the patterns line up. That can be sickening sometimes and not worth the energy of worry, however.

Anyhow, I agree with the others: wear the shoe and enjoy it. It will most likely be taken care of via the recommended paste wax method; but either way, it will still develop scuffs. You won't notice it after a month of wearing.

 

[makewayhomer]

as others have said a bit differently, you should either

- be ok with with Alden sends you
- stop buying Aldens

if you are ok waiting 12 months (!) for a custom makeup, you can find something pretty sweet in the same price range from someone else. at the end of the day, not much difference between $730 and $900 or w/e. or $600.

vote with your wallet

 

[interlockingny]

Let's be honest, Aldens are quirky. You are just not going to find a perfect pairs of Aldens. What I am most interested in is how they discern what is a factory second and first quality. I have several pairs of seconds that vary in imperfections, however, a few pairs of seconds that I do have, the flaws are so negligible, you would swear they are "first quality" or at a minimum, better than the first quality pairs that I do have. Go figure.

 

[fredmull]

Picked these LS's up from a SuFu-er. So nice. The laces were his idea.

 

[pebblegrain]



Let's be honest, Aldens are quirky. You are just not going to find a perfect pairs of Aldens. What I am most interested in is how they discern what is a factory second and first quality. I have several pairs of seconds that vary in imperfections, however, a few pairs of seconds that I do have, the flaws are so negligible, you would swear they are "first quality" or at a minimum, better than the first quality pairs that I do have. Go figure.

The funny thing is, I do have a few pair of perfect Aldens. Purely chance...

 

[applky]

^ As do I.

 

[Burton]



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.

As I mentioned in my post I was willing to consider and purchase other 9.5e shoes from them but the salesperson was not willing to tell me what they had available in a 9.5e in other styles. All the other retailers I spoke with were willing to tell me what they had in stock. So they lost the money I spent at other retailers and possibly my future $$ as I used the lesson in "exclusivity" to buy shoes from other shops. I understand it's just business and they are looking to attract local clientele in Hawaii and Beverly Hills and perhaps the wealthy Japanese crowd. I would love to buy one of their makeups but when people ask me where to buy their Alden's I direct them to the local SF shop and the other stores I mentioned as they usually have something interesting in stock or readily available on order after a few months.
What's the point in making such an effort to maintain a beautiful online presence only to say you are not an online shop? What's the point in previously sponsoring a shoe thread on an online forum dedicated to Alden if one is not an online shop or at least willing to deal with a phone-in crowd? Given that LS always emphasizes "we are a brick and mortar shop", they lost out on my previous business. Again, nothing personal and no hard feelings on my part towards LS - ultimately it is a business transaction. I hope to do business with them in the future but will happily spend my money elsewhere until the opportunity comes along.

I think this is a really unfair post to Tom and Leather Soul. I know both Tom and Steven, I think they both try very hard to run good shops providing product to a very quirky crowd. I cannot imaginve how frustrating some days must be for them. Look, both are at the mercy of Alden which can be (my comments not Steven's or Tom's) be more than a little deaf at times. I became so frustrated this year with the company (not going to get into it) that I canceled an order with Tom. He was a perfect gentlemen and was very understanding. Tom's site is primarily a pictorial blog--for some reason this is extremely difficult for people on this site to comprehend. He does not take orders online and he does not encourage people who are unfamiliar with the products or their sizing to order from his company over the phone. Tom sells a products which is extremely personal. My shoe size ranges from 8E (UK) to 9.5E U.S. Most of the products are handmade and all have substantially less value after the first wear. The depreciation is worse than a Bentley after the first drive. I believe Tom really wants, and behaves as if he wants, every possible customer. That said, if you cannot understand why he has certainly policies and acts in certain ways then you are either a fool or have no appreciation for the fact that he is not running a charity.