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

[DGY1atTMW]

I feel ya here...

I personally need/want a few new pair, but living in Canada with the current horrible exchange rate means a $127 pair of Patriots will cost me $250 $$$CDN by the time they get to my doorstep - so great price or not, it just doesn't make financial sense....sometimes, we must remember: they're only shoes after all.

That said: I will always fall on the side of wanting a few "great" pair rather than a bunch of "good" pair - and Shell 1sts for $100 more definitely qualify...if it meant my next purchase gets put off another 3 months so I can get them, I'd get them, no question

 

[Grumpton]



The differences in the lacing were just amplified for me because the 65 last is NOT designed around my foot. If they are the right last for your foot, you should be about the same size in each.

This.

I'm just going to add that if it's not the right last for your foot, don't buy the shoe.

Yeah, you can get it stretched or whatever, but IMO if the shoe doesn't fit, don't get it. PERIOD.

I won't comment further on bal vs bluchers fit. I guess I don't have that problem so am unqualified to comment other than the above.

 

[BespokeBrooklyn]

Thanks for the tip! I just picked up a pair of black Adams loafers for $99!

And then, from the “Now I've Seen EVERYTHING” file: At the Downtown Brooklyn Burlington Coat Factory store, I came across these two... A simply magnificent pair of Chocolate Suede DelRays in an 8.5E. They ARE seconds, but I couldn't find the “defect”. The CRAZY shoe I saw however is a pair of “Maize and Blue” (Yeah, Michigan team colors) unlined Neumoks in a 10.5D—also seconds. They are as loud as a blown trumpet being run through a trash disposal, but...I don't know why...they somehow still kinda work. With maybe one outfit a Michigan fan would have, I guess. The leather? Buttah-soft! I don't know the provenance behind these. Some sort of SMU (No, not Southern Methodist University you smart-asses, but rather, a “Special Make Up”) shoe for an event or regional group of stores...I dunno. I just know I saw 'em. Snapped 'em. So here they go! If you've got a Michigan fan in your circle of friends, go down there and git 'em for him! But those DelRays are sweet as molasses themselves.

 

[sleepyinsanfran]

I take a 12E on 65 lasted blucher and a 12eee in 65 lasted bals..i get zero difference in the heel feel but the 12eee allows me to get the v-gap closed on the bal

to add to the sizing info - I've found suede bals in EEE (5 last) to fit a little tighter than calf bals in EEE

Edit: corrected the number of "E"'s in comment, lol.

 

[Odradek]



The CRAZY shoe I saw however is a pair of “Maize and Blue” (Yeah, Michigan team colors) unlined Neumoks in a 10.5D—also seconds. They are as loud as a blown trumpet being run through a trash disposal, but...I don't know why...they somehow still kinda work. With maybe one outfit a Michigan fan would have, I guess. The leather? Buttah-soft!

Anyone know when the multicoloured Neumok web gems come round again?
Isn't around October?

I've been tempted the past two years but have never bought.
The whole "web gems" section seems to have disappeared from the AE website too.

 

[peppercorn78]



Anyone know when the multicoloured Neumok web gems come round again?
Isn't around October?

I've been tempted the past two years but have never bought.
The whole "web gems" section seems to have disappeared from the AE website too.

I think "web gems" (special edition runs at reduced prices) are over. They now do "limited time" color or sole changes at full price.

 

[RitchieBro]



to add to the sizing info - I've found suede bals in EE (5 last) to fit a little tighter than calf bals in EEE

EE fit tighter than EEE??
Wow, that's a shocker!

 

[CGKIII]

Anyone know when the multicoloured Neumok web gems come round again?
Isn't around October?

I've been tempted the past two years but have never bought.
The whole "web gems" section seems to have disappeared from the AE website too.

The past (3? 4?) years have been in Februrary I believe, for delivery in time for the March college basketball hoopla. This past year had a more limited color range than prior, and with all the other MTO freezing I wouldn't get my hopes up too much for a repeat.

 

[sleepyinsanfran]

EE fit tighter than EEE??
Wow, that's a shocker!

sry meant 5-last EEE bals in suede vs EEE bals in calf. But I guess that was low-hanging fruit for some online snark haha.

 

[misterellington]

Thanks for the tip! I just picked up a pair of black Adams loafers for $99!

They had a few larger sized Independence line shoes there. Glad you nabbed a pair!

That's where I got my Stewarts, Jodox', Schautals, Sands', Gobis and Hollywoods. Spent about $800.00—got six pairs of AEs at that particular BCF. Hard to beat that kinda savings.

Hollywoods and Stewarts (A VERY rare “Web Gem” and a rare Lands End SMU suede “Leeds” variant)



Jodox (Formerly “Jomoc”)



Gobis




Schautals (Another weird off-the AE-site SMU that looks awesome)



And my Sands' Pennies—made in the DR and thus, NOT eligible for recrafting, but still damned nice...



All found there amidst “The Crazy”. The GOOD thing? After awhile, the nice stuff fairly jumps out at'cha from the surrounding awfulness, so you don't have to go rooting too far.

 

[BespokeBrooklyn]

They had a few larger sized Independence line shoes there. Glad you nabbed a pair!

That's where I got my Stewarts, Jodox', Schautals, Sands', Gobis and Hollywoods. Spent about $800.00—got six pairs of AEs at that particular BCF. Hard to beat that kinda savings.

Hollywoods and Stewarts (A “Web Gem” and a rare Lands End SMU)



Jodox (Formerly “Jomoc”)



Gobis




Schautals (Another weird off-the AE-site SMU that looks awesome)



And my Sands' Pennies—made in the DR and thus, NOT eligible for recrafting, but still damned nice...



All found there amidst “The Crazy”. The GOOD thing? After awhile, the nice stuff fairly jumps out at'cha from the surrounding awfulness, so you don't have to go rooting too far.

 

[misterellington]

Yeah...they had a few 10.5Ds, an 11D and a couple of 8.5-9Ds in the Gobis, and that beautiful pair of Aberdeens on the back wall too. Saw a couple of 14D Adams' as well as that pair of Bleecker Streets (14D) with the less polished left toe cap. I think somebody came and got the football leather Patriot in the Size 8 that had been there for months. Damned things were immaculate.

 

[rc121]



Schautals (Another weird off-the AE-site SMU that looks awesome)

Not sure what you mean but the Schautals were not SMUs, they were supposedly made for the European market. They apparently did not do too well since you can find them in stores like BCF, nordstrom rack, and other discounts stores.

 

[misterellington]

Not sure what you mean but the Schautals were not SMUs, they were supposedly made for the European market. They apparently did not do too well since you can find them in stores like BCF, nordstrom rack, and other discounts stores.

I've heard dueling tales about ye olde Schautals—the Euro Market tale, another about them being a special Nordstrom make-up and so on. I wore them into the Fifth Avenue AE flag store here in NYC and the SA knelt down and said “Hmmm...never saw THESE before. A suede Macneil?” When I took the shoe off only to reveal NO style name below the Allen Edmonds logo inside, the other SA said, “Oh...it's gotta be an SMU. We don't put style names in the JABs (Joseph A. Banks) or BBs (Brooks Brothers).”

I think there are exceptions to that “rule”. AND the Schautal may well have been a non-stateside makeup that just didn't sell there (Again, you're not the first I've heard cite this). That said, it's a hearty, substantial shoe (that double oak sole is indestructible) and is a near-perfect Fall weather gunboat with a slightly casual tweak. It kills with a pair of flannel pants and a corduroy jacket. Makes me feel all Liberal Artsy and whatnot.

Sadly, as of about a month ago—the few that remained on the shelves here in NYC BCFs were all pulled because...they weren't selling (Rim Shot!). They'd been marked down to $69.00 and then according to a BCF person i've become friendly with, when they didn't move at that price, they ALL got sent off to the 'Isle Of Misfit Gorgeous Orphaned Shoes”. Which in this case meant clunked about on a shelf at a T.J. Maxx or sold at cost to some discounter who'd take 'em off BCF's hands. Too bad, as it's a damned nice shoe.

 

[BackInTheJox]

I know a poster had asked about the BB Shaker Heights. I was just messing around my phone and remembered I had a few more pictures, comparing the Brooks Brothers and AE models that I own (both in same cor leather).