Allen Edmonds Appreciation Thread - reviews, pictures, sizing, etc...

[swetooth9]

would the bourbon colored Strands go well with a navy suit (for work)? I tried on the walnut Strands today at Nordstrom, and they may be to light/bright for business attire. I've only seen pictures online of the bourbon colored Strands, but they look a little more work appropriate (business formal attire). I know black shoes are the most formal, but I was looking for a brown pair that would work well.

Thanks!

 

[f1fan]

I am having some issues with the kenilworths. I purchased a pair of factory seconds That were great, except for that the left foot bed felt as if there was a hard lump, or ridge under the ball of my foot. I spoke with the sale representative, who advised me to wear the shoe for a week to see if the cork molded to my foot. About a week passed, but there was no change and the shoe was still extremely uncomfortable.The store was great, and took back the worn shoes and sent a new pair of factory seconds. The second pair arrived a few days ago, but unfortunately the leather was visibly cracked increased. Even more troubling, This pair also had a hard lump in the foot bed, but in the right shoe.

So I am at a loss. Should I request that the store take the second pair of shoes back? Or should I talk to corporate customer service and request that they send a pair of factory seconds, maybe out of a different batch? Or just get a totally different pair of shoes? I am disappointed because I really like the look of the Kenilworths. Any advice would be appreciated.

 

[Hermitedge]

I've had these forever, but recently started wearing them on the reg. Can I get some maintenance help. I own venetian shoe cream, but I probably need to get the AE walnut polish as well, right? Anytime I do conditioning, am I supposed to remove the polish on top the shoes came coated with? Then use Venetian, let dry, then polish and buff?

 

[Winston S.]

Some pics I said I was going to post and some other ones relevant to discussion these past weeks.

Quinton after recraft due to my heel stack coming apart

Spoiler

Burgundy Shell Kenwoods I picked up on the 'bay with no cleaning or brushing

Spoiler

Kenwoods after some brushing and venetian shoe cream

Spoiler

Saphir Cordovan Colored Cordovan Polish

Spoiler

Off topic. Card wallet carrier myself and since there were some earlier

Spoiler

Good Flock Waxed Cotton Card Holder, Coach money clip, Saddleback card holder for my Metrocard

 

[Mike Lucas]

Here they are! What nobody seems to talk about is the grey is actually a clouded grey. That really put me off of them, to be honest. Up close they look like a complete mess. They are a knock-out from about 3 feet away though. Also, I can't figure out if it's a defect, but the Dalton is not a symmetrical design. Everything is off-set a bit from center.

I apologize for the quality, these were taken with my 3DS. I've taken shots from several angles including one in front of the black AE bag so one could see how not-black they are.

 

[Mike Lucas]

Apparently I'm too new to post such a significant post without it getting approved by the mods. A handful of pics of the Grey Daltons will be up as soon as the post is deemed "not-spam."

 

[jayw]

What color is the edge of the Strand?

I bought brown Saphir edge dressing but I don't think it matches up. I would prefer to stick with Saphir products, I'm a little OCD like that.

I'm a little late to the party, but I was in the AE store in OC last week. I was looking to buy sole dressing but they were out of the 'natural' one that's supposed to be used on the Strand, and recommended that I'd get 'Chili' but not let it dry completely and wipe it slightly with a paper towel.

 

[GOP Shoe Guy]

would the bourbon colored Strands go well with a navy suit (for work)? I tried on the walnut Strands today at Nordstrom, and they may be to light/bright for business attire. I've only seen pictures online of the bourbon colored Strands, but they look a little more work appropriate (business formal attire). I know black shoes are the most formal, but I was looking for a brown pair that would work well.

Thanks!

I own a pair of Bourbon Amsterdam McCallisters, and I feel they look great with Navy Blue. Get some fun socks. I also think you can wear your Walnut with Navy Blue. I have done both with success.

 

[Cold Iron]

Well I tried to reply late last night and lost everything at the end, so just going to break it up for now.

Does anyone else have any input on this? I don't have any Alden shoes yet or even Barrie lasted, but I always under the impression that Barrie lasted shoes were wide. In my experience, 7 lasted shoes are narrow and I feel they are even more narrow than their 5 last counterparts.

I only have one shoe a chukka on the Barrie and there are others on this thread that have a lot more experience with it than I. But I went down a half size from my normal TTS in AE. I am a 10D on the #1 and #5 last and a 9.5D in the Alden Chukka on the Barrie fits similar to my Dundee's on the #1 last. The Barrie is wide in the heel and I have a fair amount of heel slip but it is acceptable. Some of the more experienced people say the preferred sizing on the Barrie is to actually go down a width ie: from a D to a C but stay TTS. But there aren't a lot of Alden offerings in C width. Also this all applies to shoes and chukkas with boots they are tighter in the front because of how they are lasted and staying TTS is better for most people. There is a reason people on the Alden thread say they have a fear of lasts.

I do not have a 7 last yet but the MacNeil is one of the last shoes I want to pick up so will know eventually how that fits in comparison. I feel the 5 last fits me best of all the AE lasts so far, and the 8 (Clifton) does not fit me at all no matter what combination I try.

Some pics I said I was going to post and some other ones relevant to discussion these past weeks.

Quinton after recraft due to my heel stack coming apart












Burgundy Shell Kenwoods I picked up on the 'bay with no cleaning or brushing

















Kenwoods after some brushing and venetian shoe cream


Saphir Cordovan Colored Cordovan Polish



Off topic. Card wallet carrier myself and since there were some earlier
Good Flock Waxed Cotton Card Holder, Coach money clip, Saddleback card holder for my Metrocard

Very Nice!

 

[Cold Iron]

Cold Iron,
How did you get down to the shell, Renomat?

My burgundy shell macneil's have never really shined up as much as I thought they should. I've only used renovateur on them and done that infrequently. They have a dry-like feel to the vamp, where the shoes naturally crease (roll). I always thought they were just dry but now you've got me thinking if there is just a buildup of polish from the factory. I've never applied any wax to that part of the shoe. Note, my shell leeds feel very similar but my Alden shell shoes/boots never had the same feel.

I wonder if I should try a Renomat treatment, followed by Renovateur to see if I could get them more to my liking.

Look forward to you thoughts.

I did use Renomat on my oldest pair of shell Leeds for the exact same reason you describe. And need to thank you for introducing me to Renomat over a year ago, and also for mentioning microfiber cloths for final polishing somewhere else recently. I've used nylon stockings for the final buff for years but know by now if you say something it is worth paying attention to. Don't see myself ever going to back to stockings, thank you.

I also found the microfiber cloths are the best way to strip the cream off the shell. I use them as rags around the house, I buy the Amazon Basics 48 for $28 or so which is about .50 cents apiece. The other day I thought about how much they absorb and used one instead of an old cotton T-shirt.

This was with Renoaveutor and my black shell PA but think you would get pretty good results on yours with Renomat. On my Leeds it did lift quite a bit but not as much as new shoes. The T-shirt on the right was used first and thought they were pretty clean. I followed up with the Microfiber cloth after and it actually picked up more on the second pass then the T-shirt did on the first one.

I push hard when removing old finish just like the start of a mirror shine starting with Renomat doing a small section at a time. Then move my finger to a clean part of the rag wetting it and doing another section. As soon as the shoe is done repeated the whole process with Renoaveutor. As soon as that is done then I take a fairly wet rag and wipe the whole thing down which picks up quite a bit more:


I repeated the process twice, if you use the microfiber cloth not sure you would need to do it twice. Good luck and hope it helps.

 

[ddgdl]



would the bourbon colored Strands go well with a navy suit (for work)?  I tried on the walnut Strands today at Nordstrom, and they may be to light/bright for business attire.  I've only seen pictures online of the bourbon colored Strands, but they look a little more work appropriate (business formal attire).  I know black shoes are the most formal, but I was looking for a brown pair that would work well.

Thanks!

Works really well actually- one of my favorite combinations.

 

[Cold Iron]

It seems my post went unnoticed amidst the haze of the unnecessary stir-up created by foo.

Any more thoughts on the gaping issue, particularly in regard to Park vs Fifth Ave and brown vs black calf? Comments on the formality of the perf cap Fifth vs the Park Ave, and the interchangeability of the two?

I personally think a brown 5th Ave. and black PA are a great combination to have in the stable.

Concerning bowing if the 5th Ave. works for you then the black calf PA should also. I have had some people PM me that they tried every shoe on the 5 last on in an AE store and they all gaped but that is rare, if one fits you then they all should. NewShoes1 and I both can look at some shoes out of the box and tell you that are going to bow. I've had 2 pair of MTO shell Bradley's on the #1 last bow and a pair of Cliftons in brown on the 8 last bow. It isn't just material or last that causes it. When I returned my first pair of Bradley's I had never dealt with AE CS and wanted my ducks in a row so measured the throat opening of several of my 1 lasted shoes and did a comparison to the Bradley's.





The Bradley's measured 3.1" but some other #1 lasted shoes in the same size measured:
Leeds shell……….2.4”
Leeds calf……...…2.4”
Shelton……………2.4”
Wilbert brown….…2.4”
Wilbert black...…..2.4”

Turns out all that work was not needed as QA called me after getting them and said they were defective and made me another pair. And one shoe of the replacement pair bowed so back they went. A regular poster on here that is very sharp sent me a picture last week of a pair of new shoes he got in and used a ruler to show the same thing. He said guess they are going back which is the right attitude IMO, it isn't a big deal as long as you can return them. And if it bothers you, some people it doesn't but that flaring seems to catch my eye and bothers me so I will not accept them.

The CEO of AE responded to my posting and another gentleman on AAAC about the bowing. A few people there had said that bowing (cursed bowing one called it) has been happening for a long time so don't think the DR leather assembly is causing it. And think the MTO shell are done here in the US.

The CEO (Paul) of AE was gracious enough to respond inline on a thread where I posted about it on AAAC. There is still a manufacturing issue which is not addressed however.
====================================================



Greetings -

Sorry, I've been on-the-road a great deal lately and have fallen behind on correspondence. I meant to reply to this thread a couple weeks ago but it slipped through the cracks.

Bulging toplines like in the picture could be caused by two things -- 1) not enough time on the last in production so that the toplines don't take the form as well as they should, or 2) too much time in the box on a shelf or, after purchase, in the closet without shoe trees in the shoes. As you probably know, we put a "heel counter" between the lining and the external calfskin of our dress shoes to protect the shape of the heel. We also put what's called a box-toe in front to keep the toe firm and to hold the shape.

There isn't anything stiff on the sides of the shoes, however, for comfort reasons, so the only thing to hold the shape around the ankle over the long term is the cord-like binding that we sew around the topline. We extended the time we leave shoes on the last 3 years ago, just for this very issue. However, if the shoes get jossled around in transport and then sit awkwardly for months on a shelf in inventory, the shape can get compromised. As you wear them, the shoes also take the shape of your foot and walking, by nature, makes the toplines bulge out as the foot flexes. If the shoes are not a great fit, the bulging as you walk can be exacerbated. Shoe-trees and a couple of days rest in a shoe rotation, can help return the toplines to the tightened look.

Toplines do get tightened somewhat in the Recrafting process. Putting good shoe trees in the shoes and leaving them there is an at-home step that should help. Polishing the shoes with the shoe trees inside and then leaving them to "settle" could be enhance the rebound.

Some of the shoes bought in outlets stores or on e-Bay preceed me in this job. As I've mentioned in other posts, we take quality assurance extremely seriously at AE and have done a number of things over the past 3 years to take it to a higher level, including extending the time that shoes stay on the last in production. The results are evident in our quality control scores internally, and at our most demanding major wholesale customer, Nordstrom. Our scores in the Nordstrom Quality Center are the best they've ever been now and are at levels that they say are unheard of for shoes. We're proud of that, but we remain relentless in our pursuit of perfection.

Thanks for your interest and thanks for your support of Allen Edmonds!

Best wishes,
Paul

I'd keep trying those black PA until you get a pair that works for you, and they should work for you.

 

[elbastardocalvo]

Brown Delray today.

 

[elbastardocalvo]

IGNORE. Double post.

 

[jjr4884]

would the bourbon colored Strands go well with a navy suit (for work)? I tried on the walnut Strands today at Nordstrom, and they may be to light/bright for business attire. I've only seen pictures online of the bourbon colored Strands, but they look a little more work appropriate (business formal attire). I know black shoes are the most formal, but I was looking for a brown pair that would work well.

Thanks!

I have both, and i wear both with navy pants and they look great. there are some navy's out there that are very very close to black, almost, and for those i would go with bourbon. the walnut strand is perfectly fine for business attire, however if you are buying these strictly with the color navy in mind, bourbon would be your better choice.

walnut looks best with lighter navy and light gray