2 questions about shoes

[bartil]

Hello!

I have 2 questions, I'll start off with this one: I have now searched every possible website in UK (or at least pediwear and herringshoes...) after a pair of brownish, brogued derbys, that will suit well in the autumn and spring and nice winterdays. I have now come up with that I have to choose between these or these. The first ones' £30 more expensive with shippingprize, but on the other hand, a really good pair of shoes recording to a past thread about them. I'm not quite sure about this last 73, if it has some "features" that would be good to know about, for ex. if they're wider or narrower than normal?

The other pair of shoes seems very nice also, to my no-expert point-of-view. And £30 less expensive...

Any advice?

The second question: If a shoe fit very close to perfect, but not perfect, is there any help out there for this (except perhaps extra thick or thin socks), to enhance the perfection of the size or what it's called?

Many thanks,
bartil

 

[Master-Classter]

Limited knowledge here but here's my $0.02.
1. They're different shoes functionally. The Churches are more formal, shinier finish, and sleeker and more for slacks and a button up while the Sargents are thick soled and matted leather with thick broeging, probably better for wearing with jeans (like a clark boot).
2. As for fit, make sure you've either tried them on, something similar, or there's a airtight return policy. As for discomfort, you can wear thicker or thinner socks, also insert things like insoles, tonge/heel pads, etc to compensate. You might be used to wearing sneakers which are cushy so these sort of shoes will take at least a few wearings to "break in". So they may not be 100% comfortable at first, but they should be something like 90-95%, ie pretty damn close.
Hope that's a start...

 

[koolhistorian]

I have a pair of Alfred Sargents (you can source them with some patience on the e-bay at better prices) which are the best fitting shoes in my wardrobe, and breaking them was not painful. Very good leather - looks non-corrected grain, they look dull before the first waxing - polishing, but then they reveal a glorious, warm brown - comfortable, well constructed.
With the Church's everyone on the net says that after the Prada merger they lost quality, and the "bookbinder" they use is prone to creasing and early decay!

 

[Real estate]

The Sargents are designed more for outdoor, ie walking longer distance on concrete sidewalks or outdoors, where as the Church's are leather soled so they are more for wearing in the office, attending meetings etc so they won't be as comfortable if you're on your feet all day

 

[academe]

Why not these?

http://www.pediwear.co.uk/crockett/products/363.php

If you're in the UK, you can probably by them cheaper in-store than online. I buy my C&J shoes from Rogerson's in Scotland, and at full retail, they're about £30-40 less than any of the online distributors. Not sure why this is; may be the mark-up is higher for online stockists, or could be it's higher in England...

 

[tomrakewell]

I personally don't like the Church's you have chosen. I'd much rather go for something like the Cheaney Tay (http://cheaney.co.uk/product.asp?id=69), which is also available from Herring. Alas, this is a wide fit ...

 

[TKDKid]

How about these?

- elongated round toe last, so probably quite sleek for a derby.

For something a bit more substantial-looking, maybe these?

 

[bartil]

Thank you for all your answers and advice, it's indeed very hard to choose the "right" shoes when buying from Internet. I do know, though, that I generally go well with 10,5F (maybe EX on some shoes, I don't know, but G is definitely too wide), so that's partially why I'v decided for choosing between these 2 pair of shoes.

It's a shame in a way, because many shoes, especially boots and more casual shoes that I mostly wear nowadays, tend to have G-fitting, and when it comes to C&J, E-fitting sometimes also. The other thing that make me inable to pick any of the great C&J choices, is the price - I'm a student and can't afford to spend that much on just shoes (YET).

But after your advice, I actually think I will choose the Sargent's - because of the price and because of their functionality (already a Dainite-rubbersole on them for an example, which is perfect for the streets where I live, and the weather).

I have 1 more question (

): Is both shoes goodyear welted or not, or is just one of them?