Best English Dress Shoe (Oxfords)

[MontyChapman]

Per my suggestion above, here are C&J's for $385. Plenty others on the site..

https://www.paulstuart.com/clearanc.../chestnut-brown-cap-toe/412WESTBCHT-2198.html

Although, not English made shoes have you checked out TLB Mallorca? Reasonable priced but on the same level as C&J IMO. Lots of youtube reviews. Cobbler Union also has a "Last Call" sale with Oxfords at $199.. Here are a couple recently purchased:

I have these incoming for $199. You can't go wrong. IMO, CU is above the level of both AE and Carmina. For one C&J at MSRP, you can purchase 3 Cobbler Union's at their Last Call sale.

https://www.cobbler-union.com/collections/last-call/products/robert-cognac-calf-371

I think I'm a 7.5E but it looks like that they are all sold out. Would a 7E fit or would it be too tight?

 

[JohnMRobie]

I wear suits all the time!

I was eyeing the Lobb City II and the EG Chelsea - rival Oxfords. After purchasing a pair, how would you go about wearing it/caring for it? I was told to buy other cheaper pairs to wear in a cycle to lengthen the life of all the shoes collectively.

City II and Chelsea are both good. I prefer the Chelsea on the 82 last and how they fit. There isn’t really a wrong option as long as they fit you.

I think I'm a 7.5E but it looks like that they are all sold out. Would a 7E fit or would it be too tight?

Don’t do this.

 

[R.O. Thornhill]

Generally I would go with a punched cap for a black Oxford, just for some extra interest. The best ones I have (RTW) are Yohei Fukuda. There are also some good options in the Anthony Cleverley range (not sure if any available on sale at the moment). EGs age very well. I have a pair of Berkeley on the 202 last that must be nearly 15 years old and they still look good and are as soft as slippers by now. But I probably have +10 pairs of black oxfords in rotation

 

[ducatiti]

Generally I would go with a punched cap for a black Oxford, just for some extra interest. The best ones I have (RTW) are Yohei Fukuda. There are also some good options in the Anthony Cleverley range (not sure if any available on sale at the moment). EGs age very well. I have a pair of Berkeley on the 202 last that must be nearly 15 years old and they still look good and are as soft as slippers by now. But I probably have +10 pairs of black oxfords in rotation

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Very nice. Was this maintained and conditioned from day 1 despite the micro creasing/webbing on the vamp?

 

[dieworkwear]

Generally I would go with a punched cap for a black Oxford, just for some extra interest. The best ones I have (RTW) are Yohei Fukuda. There are also some good options in the Anthony Cleverley range (not sure if any available on sale at the moment). EGs age very well. I have a pair of Berkeley on the 202 last that must be nearly 15 years old and they still look good and are as soft as slippers by now. But I probably have +10 pairs of black oxfords in rotation

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If I could buy my EGs over again, I would have chosen the Berkeley. I think it looks better than the Chelsea.

Will at ASW used to say that punch caps are good for the afternoon and normal caps are nice at night. I think I would be fine with wearing either, but the Berkeley would have been a nice pick since I already have the normal caps through City IIs.

 

[MontyChapman]

Generally I would go with a punched cap for a black Oxford, just for some extra interest. The best ones I have (RTW) are Yohei Fukuda. There are also some good options in the Anthony Cleverley range (not sure if any available on sale at the moment). EGs age very well. I have a pair of Berkeley on the 202 last that must be nearly 15 years old and they still look good and are as soft as slippers by now. But I probably have +10 pairs of black oxfords in rotation

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That's a lovely model! I wish the city dress code wasn't as strict. Apparently, brogued shoes are off-limit for most young city professionals...

 

[R.O. Thornhill]

That's a lovely model! I wish the city dress code wasn't as strict. Apparently, brogued shoes are off-limit for most young city professionals...

I find that hard to believe. I have spent the last twenty years in professional services in London; including working with a number of investment banks and PE houses.Even when I started out it was totally acceptable to wear a punched cap. Nowadays dress codes are so diluted you could get away with almost anything.

As for the EGs, yes they have been very well maintained; resoled once; always stored with shoe trees; and probably worn every other week

 

[R.O. Thornhill]

If I could buy my EGs over again, I would have chosen the Berkeley. I think it looks better than the Chelsea.

Will at ASW used to say that punch caps are good for the afternoon and normal caps are nice at night. I think I would be fine with wearing either, but the Berkeley would have been a nice pick since I already have the normal caps through City IIs.

I also have the City II and a pair of Vass black plain cap oxfords. Just don’t wear them very often. The austerity is just too much even for me

 

[MontyChapman]

I find that hard to believe. I have spent the last twenty years in professional services in London; including working with a number of investment banks and PE houses.Even when I started out it was totally acceptable to wear a punched cap. Nowadays dress codes are so diluted you could get away with almost anything.

As for the EGs, yes they have been very well maintained; resoled once; always stored with shoe trees; and probably worn every other week

Might bite the bullet then.

Some IB associates told me to stay away from brogues but I could wear monk straps? I don't get the logic... Those Berkeleys look very slick!

 

[R.O. Thornhill]

Might bite the bullet then.

Some IB associates told me to stay away from brogues but I could wear monk straps? I don't get the logic... Those Berkeleys look very slick!

There is a big difference between “brogues” (generally speaking a fully brogued derby) and an Oxford with a punched cap

 

[JFWR]

I personally prefer the fit and quality of C and J. EGs are great shoes, but I don't think the closed channel stitching is enough to warrant the difference in price.

A c and j handgrade has all the benefits of an Edward Green with a better price point.

 

[te0o]

I personally prefer the fit and quality of C and J. EGs are great shoes, but I don't think the closed channel stitching is enough to warrant the difference in price.

A c and j handgrade has all the benefits of an Edward Green with a better price point.

I don't think one can objectively say that the closed channel stitching on the sole is the only important difference between C&J Handgrade and Edward Green.

 

[JFWR]

I don't think one can objectively say that the closed channel stitching on the sole is the only important difference between C&J Handgrade and Edward Green.

The difference between c and j standard and eg is the close channel stitching and c and j don't use single oak bark soles. Both change with handgrade.

Besides that, what's the difference?

 

[JohnMRobie]

I personally prefer the fit and quality of C and J. EGs are great shoes, but I don't think the closed channel stitching is enough to warrant the difference in price.

A c and j handgrade has all the benefits of an Edward Green with a better price point.

EG > CJ and it isn’t close.

Don’t you have like a pair of Pembrooke’s and a pair of Chelsea’s or something? Should get some more reference points.

 

[te0o]

The difference between c and j standard and eg is the close channel stitching and c and j don't use single oak bark soles. Both change with handgrade.

Besides that, what's the difference?

I think this is something that has been discussed ad nauseam in this forum. While we can probably say that some of the differences can be subjective (proportions, fit of individual lasts), EG is clearly above in all the rest (as it should be for the price point). Namely, the quality of materials (uppers, linings, etc), the precision of the finishing, overall quality control, and so on.

I find it strange that we argue about such obvious matters, really if you handle the two side by side there is no contest. And to reiterate, I find this completely normal given EG is like 50% more expensive.