• Hi, I am the owner and main administrator of Styleforum. If you find the forum useful and fun, please help support it by buying through the posted links on the forum. Our main, very popular sales thread, where the latest and best sales are listed, are posted HERE

    Purchases made through some of our links earns a commission for the forum and allows us to do the work of maintaining and improving it. Finally, thanks for being a part of this community. We realize that there are many choices today on the internet, and we have all of you to thank for making Styleforum the foremost destination for discussions of menswear.
  • This site contains affiliate links for which Styleforum may be compensated.
  • We would like to welcome House of Huntington as an official Affiliate Vendor. Shop past season Drake's, Nigel Cabourn, Private White V.C. and other menswear luxury brands at exceptional prices below retail. Please visit the Houise of Huntington thread and welcome them to the forum.

  • STYLE. COMMUNITY. GREAT CLOTHING.

    Bored of counting likes on social networks? At Styleforum, you’ll find rousing discussions that go beyond strings of emojis.

    Click Here to join Styleforum's thousands of style enthusiasts today!

    Styleforum is supported in part by commission earning affiliate links sitewide. Please support us by using them. You may learn more here.

What's with these Alan McAfee shoes?

83glt

Distinguished Member
Joined
Aug 4, 2008
Messages
1,683
Reaction score
11
I was wondering if someone could tell me a bit about these Alan McAfee shoes I picked up yesterday at Goodwill ($15). I searched around the forum and came to the link below. According to it, the label on the insole of my shoes was used at least as far back as the 60's. Is this correct? Can anyone confirm the vintage of my shoes? Also, forgive my newbie ignorance, but are they supposed to look as they do, with the sort of patina they have? Anyway, thanks for your assistance. They don't appear to be bespoke, at least from what I can tell. They simple say "Made in England" on the sole, so I figure them to be RTW. Regardless, I figured for $15 I couldn't go wrong for a lightly worn pair of English shoes.

http://www.oldhat-jpn.com/homepage/alan.htm
 

83glt

Distinguished Member
Joined
Aug 4, 2008
Messages
1,683
Reaction score
11
Thanks for your reply. Any reason why you suggest this era? When was this label used, and when did it stop being used? Does the style itself suggest early 80's? Thanks again!
 

RJman

Posse Member
Dubiously Honored
Spamminator Moderator
Joined
Dec 10, 2004
Messages
19,159
Reaction score
2,086
The font was used until the bitter end of the McAfee name around the turn of the millennium. The little polo player logo, not so sure. Also, the earlier McAfees had the street rather than "London" printed under the name (see the Japanese Old Hat site).
 

TCN

Distinguished Member
Joined
Jun 22, 2004
Messages
1,502
Reaction score
3
Didn't they drop the polo player around the same time they sold?
 

bengal-stripe

Distinguished Member
Dubiously Honored
Joined
Mar 23, 2002
Messages
4,621
Reaction score
1,280
Originally Posted by RJman
The font was used until the bitter end of the McAfee name around the turn of the millennium.

Originally Posted by TCN
Didn't they drop the polo player around the same time they sold?

Alan McAffee had several shops in London selling ready-to-wear shoes as well as their head quarters and bespoke house in Dover Street. They went under in the mid-80s.

I believe the company was never sold, but the name was bought by Church's from the administrator. Church's subsidiary Cheaney tried to revive the brand in the late 90s, obviously without success as they dropped the name after a season or two.

I remember Alan McAffee having two different labels (possibly for different quality ranges). The embossed Polo player, as featured here, and a woven green label that was mounted into the shoe's "˜sock' (insole liner).

I would agree with placing those moccasins into the late 70s, early 80s. They might not have been English-made. During the same period Church's offered a range of Italian-made moccasins and I presume those McAffee are Italian as well.
 

83glt

Distinguished Member
Joined
Aug 4, 2008
Messages
1,683
Reaction score
11
Thanks again for your replies and information. There is just so much knowledge here at SF it's amazing! For what it's worth, the shoes do have "Made in England" stamped on the sole, and the label on the insole is exactly like the second one on the Japanese site, i.e., it reads "38 Dover St." above the Alan McAfee name. Sorry, I can't figure out how to get quality close-ups of the insole.

Thanks!
 

83glt

Distinguished Member
Joined
Aug 4, 2008
Messages
1,683
Reaction score
11
Very nice shoes, too bad they're not my size!
 

alanmc

New Member
Joined
May 9, 2013
Messages
1
Reaction score
2
I worked at mcafee in the early 80s. there were two ranges one was cheeney made and the second and better quality was church made, the cheeney shoes startd with the prefix KN (knightsbridge) thing the other started with C ?
 

CTBrummie

Senior Member
Joined
Jan 26, 2012
Messages
707
Reaction score
198

I worked at mcafee in the early 80s. there were two ranges one was cheeney made and the second and better quality was church made, the cheeney shoes startd with the prefix KN (knightsbridge) thing the other started with C ?


There was also a Knightsbridge range before Church's acquisition of the company. C&J and Edward Green were amongst the makers for that particular line of shoes.
 

gtg441w

New Member
Joined
Sep 25, 2012
Messages
2
Reaction score
2
Hi, I have pretty much the same question with a pair of Alan McAfee shoes I picked up a couple of weeks ago. They have the "Custom Grade" stamp on the bottom and the "Made in England" script logo on the insole with no polo player. The handwriting on the inside of the shoes is extremely difficult to make out, but it looks like it starts with an "m" as opposed to a "KN" or a "C". There is also some strange creasing on the toe flex area of the left shoe. I can't tell if it's from the previous owner not taking proper care of the shoes or if it's a leather quality issue. So, could someone please help me figure out the following... or any help would be appreciated. Thanks.

1. What company actually produced this pair of shoes?
2. When were they made?
3. What leather it is most likely made from?

I think this is what the writing says in the inside

11.0 D 73
mo8676046/6613
364919013
1331.


 

Lazare St Gare

New Member
Joined
Aug 10, 2013
Messages
1
Reaction score
1
I own two pairs of Alan McAfee shoes. The first I bought in London in 1970 for about $80. A pair of brown oxfords that I'm still wearing after 42 years. The second pair I bought in London about 1975. A pair of black monk-straps. Still wearing them after 35 years.
Alan McAfee was a top English brand, second only to bespoke (or custom-made) men's shoes. Church's bought the brand, but never produced shoes of the quality of Alan McAfee.
If they fit, take good care of them and you'll probably be able to wear them for decades, although I wouldn't wear them so often as to wear them out.
 

L Lewis

Member
Joined
Sep 27, 2014
Messages
12
Reaction score
4
found these gems at a yard sale along with many other pairs like these ones and as well ones by church, some were never worn to lightly worn, trying to place a year on them or any info I can gather about them! can anyone help?









 

Featured Sponsor

How important is full vs half canvas to you for heavier sport jackets?

  • Definitely full canvas only

    Votes: 55 36.2%
  • Half canvas is fine

    Votes: 59 38.8%
  • Really don't care

    Votes: 17 11.2%
  • Depends on fabric

    Votes: 26 17.1%
  • Depends on price

    Votes: 26 17.1%

Forum statistics

Threads
505,158
Messages
10,578,902
Members
223,882
Latest member
anykadaimeni
Top