AE Love/Hate now want better

[Zinn]

Hello, newbie to this forum. I have been wearing AE's for sometime and feel the quality is pretty good. While looking on this forum and through various stores, I have seen so many brands of shoes costing $500 up. I am not that wealthy but would like shoes that are very good quality. I have done some research on Alden, C&J, Church etc. but they all appear to be to much money for me. Any suggestions for a very good shoe for less than $450 or so. Any suggestions, greatly appreciated. Thank you!

 

[fuji]

You can get crocket and jones bench grades for under $450. You can get most mid tier english shoes for $450. Grenson, Barker, Cheaney, Churchs and C&J are all available for under $450.

 

[JLibourel]

Originally Posted by fuji

You can get crocket and jones bench grades for under $450. You can get most mid tier english shoes for $450. Grenson, Barker, Cheaney, Churchs and C&J are all available for under $450.

Whether C&J Bench Grade, Grenson Footmaster, et al., are significantly better than A-E may be open to debate. The C&J Bench Grades I've seen never impressed me as a quantum jump up.

I personally don't believe you get a manifest, readily discernible jump in quality over A-E until you get up into the $1,000+ bracket although there may be some exceptions to this. For example, I have never so much as seen a pair of Vass shoes, which are esteemed by many forum members and typically cost $750 or so, last time I looked.

 

[TC11201]

This also largely depends on the type of shoe you are looking for. If you want something English, given sterling's drop, you can get Crockett and Jones handgrade, which I would place a step above AE, for under $500 from any number of online suppliers - pediwear, plal, etc. If you want something with a more Italian sensibility, you could try Martegani and stay under $500, whether from Franco's, The Shoe Mart or Ron Rider's ebay shop.

 

[bigbris1]

You can find C&J Benchgrade, Grenson Rose, Church's Custom Grade, Alden, Barker, Trickers all for around $200 or less by searching eBay's different location sites, i.e. eBay.co.uk. Also, some Aldens can be found on their site for $245 in the Specials section.

You can find additional discounts by inquiring directly of the respective factory shops of many of the above brands.

This is what I do.

 

[TheFoo]

Aren't Aldens only marginally more expensive than AEs? I don't know if the construction is any better, but I think the styling certainly is. Of course, if you want something sleek looking, neither is really a good choice.

 

[Zinn]

Mafoofan and all others, thanks for the suggestions. I am looking something similar to Mafoofan's avatar. AE McLains etc. are sort of like what I am looking for. Alden Blucher also looks like a good shoe!