Allen Edmonds Appreciation Thread 2016 - News, Pictures, Sizing, Accessories, Clothing, etc

[SLCRich]

**WARNING, WALL OF TEXT**

Question for you fine gentleman. What got you into finer footwear? My conversion happened just recently. After I graduated from college, I got a cushy job that has a horrible dress code (depending on your view.) I've stated before, but you can wear a v-neck down to your belly button, jeans tight enough to give yourself a vasectomy, and shoes with holes in them so your toes stick out. (Serious outfit, and sadly I didn't send him home because I knew how behind the rest of the team would get for making up his work.) Anyway, I'd go out with friends and start to see how people with "real" jobs would dress and it was an eye opener. So Black Friday rolls around and I hit up Banana Republic. Mind you, their stuff is/was 20x better than the stuff I had been wearing, that's how bad my situation was.

For Christmas, I told my dad I'd like a few dress shirts so we go to Nordstrom. I get fitted for my size, try on a few, and the lady asks if I need these right away. I say no, she says they go on sale after Christmas (awesome for her to say that ps.) Next errand was heading to another store that my dad had bought me some dress cords a few years prior and I needed them tailored. I remember being in this place but not liking it. So I start looking around and notice sport coats. Grab one, try it on, feels fine, look at the price...8k. It was then I realized I wasn't at Nordstrom anymore.

My dad hands me another dress shirt to try on, and as soon as I did, I could immediately feel the quality difference between the Nordstrom one and this one. As we're about to leave I notice their shoe selection. And about had a heart attack at the pricing. I honestly can't remember the brand but I'm sure it was Italian. (I looked it up later, Di Bianco.)

Long story short, after that trip I started researching and was mind blown at what is actually out there for men's style. Lucky for me, there's an AE store 15 minutes from my work and home. THEN I learn about the shoebank and my life is now over.

Side question, how the hell do you married guys do this???

TL;DR: What got you into wearing shoes of better quality?

 

[danwatts2005]



Speaking of rain and split toes. Went with the Bourbon Portland today. I was resistant to split toes in the pass, but have really come around lately. Now, I really want a super casual heavy soled boot in this style...

Spoiler: A few more pics:

Why does a split-toe matter for rain? I've had several in the past, but I've grown reaistant. Yours might make me change my mind. Very nice.

 

[DapperDriver]



TL;DR:  What got you into wearing shoes of better quality?

For me it was simply placing value on things that aren't disposable, throwaway trash and that are made in the USA.

 

[7_rocket]



**WARNING, WALL OF TEXT**

Question for you fine gentleman.  What got you into finer footwear?  My conversion happened just recently.  After I graduated from college, I got a cushy job that has a horrible dress code (depending on your view.)  I've stated before, but you can wear a v-neck down to your belly button, jeans tight enough to give yourself a vasectomy, and shoes with holes in them so your toes stick out.  (Serious outfit, and sadly I didn't send him home because I knew how behind the rest of the team would get for making up his work.)  Anyway, I'd go out with friends and start to see how people with "real" jobs would dress and it was an eye opener.  So Black Friday rolls around and I hit up Banana Republic.  Mind you, their stuff is/was 20x better than the stuff I had been wearing, that's how bad my situation was.  

For Christmas, I told my dad I'd like a few dress shirts so we go to Nordstrom.  I get fitted for my size, try on a few, and the lady asks if I need these right away.  I say no, she says they go on sale after Christmas (awesome for her to say that ps.)  Next errand was heading to another store that my dad had bought me some dress cords a few years prior and I needed them tailored.  I remember being in this place but not liking it.  So I start looking around and notice sport coats.  Grab one, try it on, feels fine, look at the price...8k.  It was then I realized I wasn't at Nordstrom anymore.  

My dad hands me another dress shirt to try on, and as soon as I did, I could immediately feel the quality difference between the Nordstrom one and this one.  As we're about to leave I notice their shoe selection.  And about had a heart attack at the pricing.  I honestly can't remember the brand but I'm sure it was Italian.  (I looked it up later, Di Bianco.)

Long story short, after that trip I started researching and was mind blown at what is actually out there for men's style.  Lucky for me, there's an AE store 15 minutes from my work and home.  THEN I learn about the shoebank and my life is now over.

Side question, how the hell do you married guys do this???

TL;DR:  What got you into wearing shoes of better quality?

I actually stumbled on this forum a long time ago. A friend of mine was making fun of someone who had like 30k posts here. Anyways I signed up but didnt post .

I started working DT and noticed everyone certainly dressed well compared to the suburbs. Oh and the last and most important point. WOmen seemed to be drawn to men who dressed well.

TLR - Started working DT and my environment changed

 

[nbj08]

PSA: Listing ending tomorrow - bid currently at only $32!

http://www.ebay.com/itm/272154140038...%3AMEBIDX%3AIT

 

[mosy]

Any theories as to why Lexington in size 9D fits me well but the McGregor in same size feels too big? Same last, both have blucher lacing. ????

 

[losingxbattle]

Saw these at the Charleston outlet store, cordovan macneils not my size :/ they're a 9e and $399

 

[RichieP]



@danwatts2005 @RichieP@BL70 Thanks for all the pics and info - yeah this one really does seem like a "box of chocolates..." kind of thing. Might pull the trigger - I'd be ok with anything either a little lighter or with any kind of reddish hints. Only thing I didn't want was a solid brown. From the pics this is really all over the map. I looked at the tan a while back - high variation on that one too - I saw lots of extremely light pairs with lots of mismatched colors between left and right shoes (bad mismatch). I'm just concerned that one these are gone they'll pull a Randolph and re-release the same shoes at 395.

You know, you don't have to buy all the shoes.

Sacrilege, I know.

 

[Shazb0t]

I've decided to buy a pair of Allen Edmonds Strands. I'm favoring them in walnut. Is there a sale coming up I should be waiting for? Or a place to buy them at a discount? Thanks.

 

[BL70]

I didn't convert until my 40s. A work friend had mentioned being into shoes and how he always travelled with multiple pairs, shoe trees, etc. I thought it was odd having never really thought about my shoes other than seeing what I liked at the Bass outlet or timberland and buying it. Then one Christmas having a few Amazon gift cards and nothing much I needed, i decided to look into decent shoes, what they cost and what makes a shoe 'decent.' i was looking at a cole haan and googled something like "are cole haans good quality?' That lead me to a forum post (possibly this one) where someone posted for the money how much better AEs were and why. Also that AE seconds could be had for similar prices to CH. that was it, I got my first pair of AEs (Harrison black captoes), then I found this forum and bought 7 more

**WARNING, WALL OF TEXT**

Question for you fine gentleman.  What got you into finer footwear?  My conversion happened just recently.  
TL;DR:  What got you into wearing shoes of better quality?

 

[BL70]

Also once you start don't think you can ever buy
'normal' shoes again. I remember being in a DSW a few months after converting looking for a brown wingtip with a rubber sole to wear on rainy days. Just feeling the leather on the shoes there made me feel ill

. Needless to say I left empty handed.

 

[BackInTheJox]



Saw these at the Charleston outlet store, cordovan macneils not my size :/ they're a 9e and $399

Whoa.

Here I am trying to sell a pair of natty shell Daltons in an incorrect 9.5D, and you go and post a beautiful pair of natty shell MacNeil in my exact size.

Must restrain self.

 

[22busy]



**WARNING, WALL OF TEXT**



Side question, how the hell do you married guys do this???

TL;DR:  What got you into wearing shoes of better quality?

For me, I'm in my fifties. I've always appreciated well made stuff, especially shoes, but couldn't afford it. I thought a shoe rotation meant you had a black pair and a brown pair. A couple of years ago I wore a pair of Justin Ropers to work EVERY day for a year. I finally blew the soles out. That's when I realized I had a problem. A hole in the bottom of my boot and no back up pair of shoes.

I'm also a research fanatic. I research everything before I buy. I decided to research shoes to find out if J&M and Cole Haan were worth the extra money. That's when I ran across this forum. The rest is history. That was December 2014. A little over a year later I have 10 pair of AE.

My wife knows that I bought junk for a long time, so she doesn't give me too much grief. If she does, I remind her that she has more tennis shoes than I have shoes. If she still fusses I buy her another pair of tennis shoes.

 

[danwatts2005]

**WARNING, WALL OF TEXT**

Question for you fine gentleman. What got you into finer footwear? My conversion happened just recently. After I graduated from college, I got a cushy job that has a horrible dress code (depending on your view.) I've stated before, but you can wear a v-neck down to your belly button, jeans tight enough to give yourself a vasectomy, and shoes with holes in them so your toes stick out. (Serious outfit, and sadly I didn't send him home because I knew how behind the rest of the team would get for making up his work.) Anyway, I'd go out with friends and start to see how people with "real" jobs would dress and it was an eye opener. So Black Friday rolls around and I hit up Banana Republic. Mind you, their stuff is/was 20x better than the stuff I had been wearing, that's how bad my situation was.

For Christmas, I told my dad I'd like a few dress shirts so we go to Nordstrom. I get fitted for my size, try on a few, and the lady asks if I need these right away. I say no, she says they go on sale after Christmas (awesome for her to say that ps.) Next errand was heading to another store that my dad had bought me some dress cords a few years prior and I needed them tailored. I remember being in this place but not liking it. So I start looking around and notice sport coats. Grab one, try it on, feels fine, look at the price...8k. It was then I realized I wasn't at Nordstrom anymore.

My dad hands me another dress shirt to try on, and as soon as I did, I could immediately feel the quality difference between the Nordstrom one and this one. As we're about to leave I notice their shoe selection. And about had a heart attack at the pricing. I honestly can't remember the brand but I'm sure it was Italian. (I looked it up later, Di Bianco.)

Long story short, after that trip I started researching and was mind blown at what is actually out there for men's style. Lucky for me, there's an AE store 15 minutes from my work and home. THEN I learn about the shoebank and my life is now over.

Side question, how the hell do you married guys do this???

TL;DR: What got you into wearing shoes of better quality?

I'm going to be completely honest here, and hope it doesn't cost me any friends.

I decided last year that I wanted to step it up a bit, style wise. I have worn decent stuff, not bespoke, but decent enough, and I started looking around. Most of what I saw didn't suit me, but I picked up a few things. My shoes at the time were a 2 year old pair of Stacy Adams in brown, and a black pair of plastic from Kohls. I bought a pair of Allen Edmonds Hales in Walnut, on clearance, and that was it.

As soon as they arrived, I drooled over how beautiful they are, but realized I have very little to wear with them. So I was wearing AE one day per week, and black Hefty the other days. From what I read, I figured out that I needed a better brown, so this forum led me to shoebank. I bought my first pair of seconds, a Bourbon Strand from CAC. They were the answer to my problems. For six weeks or so, I got by with those, plus the Heftys and a pair of J and M loafers that look like Nashua. Oh, and somewhere in there the Gobi went on clearance, so that's in my closet now.

Then, it was Springtime, and there was a sale. The Shreveports would give me just the right look going into Summer. So I picked up a pair of those in Walnut. Wore them once at Easter, then put them away until it was 80 degrees out. They came in handy in full Summer.

After the Spring Sale, it was Fathers Day. I got the catalog, and the Kirkwood looked really nice, so I got that. Three days later, I ordered the Maritime. You know...it's bad to wear a pair of shoes two days in a row. So with one dress shoe and two casual, plus what I already had, I was good until September.

During that time, I had ditched the Heftys and revived my black Florsheim captoe. That shoe is about 25 years old, and still the only black I own. I also picked up a pair of Dark Chili McAllisters, mostly to wear with gray slacks. They look awesome with gray, IMO.

By this time, it's about October or so, and I realized that these leather soles wouldn't get me through a Chicago winter, so since the Rush Street was on clearance, I had to have them. That got me through until this year's clearance sale. By that time, you filthy barn weasels had done your damage, and I am now the proud owner of a Cognac McT and a Bellevue.

In addition to this, you people have also caused me to do something I would never have considered before. I am currently anxiously awaiting the receipt of a pair of Daltons in Oxblood from a fellow member. I never thought I would buy a used pair of shoes, but these were too good to pass up. The only thing you haven't done, but I'm sure you will in the near future, is cause me to spend over $600 for a pair of shell somethings.

With all that said, here is the kicker: I'm not sure I dress any better than I ever did. This is where I might lose friends. I am probably not going to buy a three piece suit very soon, and I don't have $2000 to drop on one sport coat. Nothing wrong with either of those, but they just aren't my personality. The only things I have that are "bespoke" are silver baby items engraved with my initials. I like my jeans Levi (uncuffed), and my stuff realistic. I wear nice shoes, and want to get better, but most of my clothes are from JAB. I"m never going to be the guy I saw in a resturant last week, who had on a full ascot, and all the trimmings, but put a bib over it when he ate his dinner.

 

[SLCRich]

I love the walnut shade. I just can't pull the trigger when I see the same pair in oxblood. I'm also worried that deep down once I buy one pair of walnut, six more will follow.