AE Park Avenue: Coffee or Chili

[starfly]

Alright, bought my first pair of AE about 4 years ago, Carlyle in Bourbon. Love the shoes and color, a nice medium brown, pretty versatile.

Also have a pair of tan colored shoes from Cole Haan which are starting to wear out, will probably stop wearing those in a few months.

So I recently picked up two Park Avenues, in Coffee and Chili (both with Dainite rubber sole). The odd thing is that every other variation of the PA will show the color Dark Chili, but with the Dainite sole it only shows the color as Chili. Says so on the box as well, so is that not the same as Dark Chili?

Besides that point, I will only be keeping one of these, but am split between which one to pick. I like both colors but for different reasons. The Coffee is a nice dark brown color, versatile, can be worn with practically anything. The Chili is a bit more special, in a way I like it more, but in certain lighting (especially indoors) it can look quite reddish and I'm wondering if it will not be as versatile overall. And between both pairs the Chili fits slightly nicer (though I'm sure after the break in period they'll both be quite comfortable), but has a minor issue with the leather being bent (it bows out slightly) by where the outside of my ankle is. The Coffee version doesn't have this, but the initial fit feels less perfect than the Chili (but I'm sure it'll be fine once broken in, my Carlyle became much more comfortable once they were broken in).

If this was my third or fourth pair of dress shoes I would have no problem with the Chili color. But since it will essentially be my second pair and I'll be rotating between the Carlyle Bourbon and the PA, I wonder if I should have a color that's a bit more versatile. I do like the Chili color though, but perhaps wish it didn't appear so reddish under certain lighting conditions.

Thoughts?


Coffee on left, Chili on right


Chili has a weird design defect by ankle


Coffee has imperfections at cap toe seem


Coffee on left, Chili on right

 

[Lionel Hutz]

Coffee is the safer choice but go with what you like. If you like the chili go with that. I have dark chili PAs and 5th avs and like the way they change in various lights. I think you will find that they are quite versatile. Anyway that's my .02

FWIW chili and dark chili are close and AE only sells chili polish. They also don't sell coffee polishes only brown so if you buy their polishes your dark chili will tend towards chili and your coffee towards brown

 

[starfly]

Coffee is the safer choice but go with what you like. If you like the chili go with that. I have dark chili PAs and 5th avs and like the way they change in various lights. I think you will find that they are quite versatile. Anyway that's my .02

FWIW chili and dark chili are close and AE only sells chili polish. They also don't sell coffee polishes only brown so if you buy their polishes your dark chili will tend towards chili and your coffee towards brown

Thanks. I might just go with the Chilis as that's what my heart wants, but my brain says go with the slightly more conservative color

It also comes down to that there was one other Chili with Dainite sole in my size (12A) in stock, so the store could overnight it to them so I can see if those are right (the current Chilis have a minor defect, and given the price, I want them to be just about perfect). The Coffee also has a defect, but those would need to be built. And I was hoping to wear my new shoes on a business trip next week. That is nudging me to the Chilis, and I just wore them again and they really do look great and are just a tad more special than the Coffee.

 

[Veremund]

Keep both.

 

[eagleman]

Thanks. I might just go with the Chilis as that's what my heart wants, but my brain says go with the slightly more conservative color

It also comes down to that there was one other Chili with Dainite sole in my size (12A) in stock, so the store could overnight it to them so I can see if those are right (the current Chilis have a minor defect, and given the price, I want them to be just about perfect). The Coffee also has a defect, but those would need to be built. And I was hoping to wear my new shoes on a business trip next week. That is nudging me to the Chilis, and I just wore them again and they really do look great and are just a tad more special than the Coffee.

I have both colors. Chili is my favorite and my go-to color for most rigs.

 

[starfly]

I have both colors. Chili is my favorite and my go-to color for most rigs.

I've decided to go for the Chili. It's just a little bit more special than the Coffee. Now just hoping that AE can get me one without any defects. Pretty amazing that out of the two pairs I've had so far, both have defects. Poor QC for a $350 shoe. $80 shoes at DSW seem to have better QC.