***The official Alden thread *** - Page 2554

No size 10's in the J Crew #8 captoe. Oh, well. 

Quote:

Originally Posted by Hermitedge 

Question:
I'm highly considering the "Indy" boot, and am leaning towards the original 405 model. However, in a lot of pictures, i notice an almost burgundy/reddish hue either the 403 or 405 or maybe the jcrew 405 (which is a lighter version of the 403 as opposed to the 405?). I was curious, which version gives off that color?
And it's not the cordovan, bc you can tell when it's cordovan.
thanks.

Someone correct me if I'm wrong, but the 403 is the Brown Chromoexel leather.  It's brown with only a hint of red.

The 405 is the full grain leather (not chromoexel) and is more reddish in hue.

Anyone have the J. Crew Tobacco Plain Toe Boot? Thoughts on it?

Both the 405 and the 403 will show reddish undertones in certain lights. The 405 leather will tend to become a bit more red with some age, though results will vary depending on how you care for it. The 403 chromexcel I have found to become a deeper brown with age; before I sold mine they had lost almost all of the red undertones.

Brown chromexcel is quite clearly brown from most other shoemakers, but Alden may do some additional finishing of their own that causes variation in the color. They do that for their #8 shell cordovan which is why it possesses that distinct, rich darkness that other shoemakers lack.

Both Horween Brown Chromexcel, so yeah, same leather.