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

[marmottan]

Fresh off the fedex truck, cigar indy boots from J. Gilbert

I don't own any Indy and actually never liked it much but THIS one looks awesome. Nice combo with these socks.
I hope you were very grateful to Santa the FedEx driver.

IMO, generally speaking whiskey is the least versatile of the shell colors. For me, it's not even close - primarily due to the fact that whiskey is easily the least formal of the colors. Having said that, the whiskey LHS may be my favorite LHS. In addition to the LHS, I also have the LWB and the chukka, both wonderful models in their own right. Whiskey is no doubt unique. All of my whiskeys are worn in casual settings only.
The likelihood of me buying more whiskey models is remote at best.

Same here.
The problem is that whiskey is getting rarer than ever these days.

 

[thebeebs]

IMO, generally speaking whiskey is the least versatile of the shell colors. For me, it's not even close - primarily due to the fact that whiskey is easily the least formal of the colors. Having said that, the whiskey LHS may be my favorite LHS. In addition to the LHS, I also have the LWB and the chukka, both wonderful models in their own right. Whiskey is no doubt unique. All of my whiskeys are worn in casual settings only.
The likelihood of me buying more whiskey models is remote at best.

+1 on that. Whiskey shoes are great "trophy" shoes to own due to their lustre, cache and rarity, but sadly they're way left on the formality continuum, and have little range. As such, my Whiskey shells (unfortunately) get very little mileage on my feet.

 

[Alcibiades]



+1 on that.  Whiskey shoes are great "trophy" shoes to own due to their lustre, cache and rarity, but sadly they're way left on the formality continuum, and have little range.  As such, my Whiskey shells (unfortunately) get very little mileage on my feet.

Alden NY had a pair of the whiskey monk straps in my size. After thinking about it I didn't buy them and went with some color 8 boots instead, which will get much more wear in the coming months.

 

[HorseHide]



Same shoes, Cigar Indys from J. Gilbert. I have one question though

Spoiler: pardon my low quality pictures

On the outer body of the left boot, there is a 4-inch 10-inch squiggly convex line of something that can be felt by touch. Does anyone know what this is? Is this considered 'acceptable'?

Looks like someone wasn't wearing their hairnet when they finished that pair! Me? I'd live with it (and maybe rant a little about Alden QC )

 

[pelican]

Should I just plan on my Indy boots ripping holes in my pants with the speed hooks?

gorilla? that's hilarious!

thinking that speed hooks will wear holes in your pants is hilarious

 

[Beatlegeuse]



thinking that speed hooks will wear holes in your pants is hilarious

Speed hooks won't necessarily ruin your pants, but if you're wearing a nice pair of trousers you can easily get the hem caught in them and rip the seam. This has happened to countless people and is one of the reasons why a "dress" boot will usually have all eyelets rather than speed hooks.

 

[Morgan]

Speed hooks catch on my trouser hem all the time. My hems ride up onto the hooks when I sit, and when I stand they pull pretty hard. It drives me nuts, and though I haven't actually ripped any seams yet I'm sure it'll happen sooner or later.

 

[ElDave]

I guess I can see the issue if you're wearing the boots with proper dress pants. My experience has probably been better as I wear my boots with jeans or chinos and wear only balmorals with suits.

 

[Renton]



I guess I can see the issue if you're wearing the boots with proper dress pants. My experience has probably been better as I wear my boots with jeans or chinos and wear only balmorals with suits.

but what about balmoral boots?

 

[Alcibiades]

Speed hooks can catch on the end of wool pants. It is true that a lot of dressier boots don't have speedhooks, but some (such as a several captoe models) do. Most Indy boots have speedhooks, but a few (like the cigar at Alden NY) don't. LeatherSoul seems to be consistent in that its dressier boots and certain unique boots like Jumper have all eyelets while the more casual boots have speedhooks. The tanker boot models on commando soles tend to have speedhooks, but the NST high boots tend not to. I say that if the boot looks good with suit/wool pants but also has speedhooks, you just have to wear them and try to pay attention and make sure they don't catch. Otherwise, you can switch them out at a cobbler like many people see to be doing in this thread...

 

[pelican]

Before we all get overly sentimental about the Blackbird Christopherson's Creamery Milkman Boot - I owned that boot and ultimately flipped them without ever wearing them. As we all know, the Barrie last isn't "sleek". Add to that the 360 degree storm welt and you have a pretty "substantial" boot (they may have been based on Peter Boyle's boots in Young Frankenstein). I never seemed to find a place to wear them.

Well, with this I'll throw it out there. I'm looking for a used pair in 10.5 if anyone has a pair they don't use very often or sees a pair for sale please let me know.

 

[ElDave]



but what about balmoral boots?

I'm not saying there's anything wrong with boots and suits. If I was to wear bal boots with a suit, I guess I'd want all eyelets...but that's just not how I prefer to wear suits. I like my boots more rugged.

 

[closerlook]

but what about balmoral boots?

I'm not saying there's anything wrong with boots and suits. If I was to wear bal boots with a suit, I guess I'd want all eyelets...but that's just not how I prefer to wear suits. I like my boots more rugged.

bal boots wouldn't have speed hooks.

 

[closerlook]



Same shoes, Cigar Indys from J. Gilbert. I have one question though

Spoiler: pardon my low quality pictures

On the outer body of the left boot, there is a 4-inch 10-inch squiggly convex line of something that can be felt by touch. Does anyone know what this is? Is this considered 'acceptable'?

that is a hair that got mixed in with the colorer and finish that alden puts on the shoes. find an area where it can be lifted, pull it off (this should be easy) and then brush the finish smooth. its no biggie. plus with the rare shell/rare models, you kind of have to take the good with the bad.

 

[sevenfoldtieguy]



Speed hooks can catch on the end of wool pants. It is true that a lot of dressier boots don't have speedhooks, but some (such as a several captoe models) do. Most Indy boots have speedhooks, but a few (like the cigar at Alden NY) don't. LeatherSoul seems to be consistent in that its dressier boots and certain unique boots like Jumper have all eyelets while the more casual boots have speedhooks. The tanker boot models on commando soles tend to have speedhooks, but the NST high boots tend not to. I say that if the boot looks good with suit/wool pants but also has speedhooks, you just have to wear them and try to pay attention and make sure they don't catch. Otherwise, you can switch them out at a cobbler like many people see to be doing in this thread...

The captoe boot below, which I own in color 8, is fairly dressy, and has no hooks. My personal preference is for no hooks, but I understand why some prefer them.

http://www.theshoemart.com/alden-me...d-4060_ald_m_cap_toe_boot_shell_cordovan.html