Allen Edmonds Appreciation Thread 2018 - News, Pictures, Clothing, Accessories, etc.

[madhat]

X-post from AE MTO thread... Dalton MTOs - burgundy, split/reverse welt, natural welt/edges, JR soles, and Road Warrior inserts.

I've gone back to the stock laces on these. The volume is a little much for me and I couldn't get them tight enough with the nicer looking flat laces from Guarded Goods.

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Stellar as always. I forget - did you MTO these yourself? Funny you mentioned round vs flat laces. I traded out my kudu HM's flat laces for the round ones from my Daltons.

Do the HM laces ever get to where they slide easily through the eyelets?

Maiden voyage of Brown Shell PA’s...
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Sweet.

 

[M635Guy]

It's probably the best way to handle things; it's just difficult to swallow price jumps! On the plus side, at least it's not $100 at a time!
In my market my mfg's have yearly price increases correlating to the increase in metal prices. They try to absorb as much of the cost as they can, but at some point you're out of cushion and either have to cut corners or charge more.

Even as a guy that hates preachy business/self-help books, One of my favorite non-fiction books is What They Don't Teach You at Harvard Business School. It's a bit dated in some respects, since it was written well before the internet and most technology, and you have to filter the sometimes campy self-aggrandizement, but there was a lot of gold in that book for me, and more than a few (almost certainly unintended) life-lessons.

One of the stories in the book talks about a friend of Mark McCormack (the author and founder of the sports marketing company IMG) who had a business that was running so hot that they were out of control. He ran into the guy later and things seemed much better, and when asked the guy gave a few example of how they'd improved things, and then said something like "But mainly things got better when we doubled our prices."

The point is that the race to the bottom of the spreadsheet often really benefits nobody. If you have a partner, the partner needs to be healthy. One shouldn't overcharge, but knowing how to keep yourself from a inexorable approach of the cliff is key to the long-term stability of any good company. I'd hope Alden isn't arbitrary about it, and I hope to see them (and AE) in business for a long time.

 

[middlepP]

Stellar as always. I forget - did you MTO these yourself? Funny you mentioned round vs flat laces. I traded out my kudu HM's flat laces for the round ones from my Daltons.

Do the HM laces ever get to where they slide easily through the eyelets?


Sweet.

These were "pushed" through by an unnamed SA, shortly after AE supposedly took a hiatus from doing any one-off (or group) makeups. At the time, these and natty Dundees were my two AE grails. Was happy to check one off the list. Still waiting patiently for natty in something.

I have noticed the lace issue with my HMs, though it's not nearly as bad as the Daltons. Drives me nuts when flat laces get twisted.

 

[madhat]

Even as a guy that hates preachy business/self-help books, One of my favorite non-fiction books is What They Don't Teach You at Harvard Business School. It's a bit dated in some respects, since it was written well before the internet and most technology, and you have to filter the sometimes campy self-aggrandizement, but there was a lot of gold in that book for me, and more than a few (almost certainly unintended) life-lessons.

One of the stories in the book talks about a friend of Mark McCormack (the author and founder of the sports marketing company IMG) who had a business that was running so hot that they were out of control. He ran into the guy later and things seemed much better, and when asked the guy gave a few example of how they'd improved things, and then said something like "But mainly things got better when we doubled our prices."

The point is that the race to the bottom of the spreadsheet often really benefits nobody. If you have a partner, the partner needs to be healthy. One shouldn't overcharge, but knowing how to keep yourself from a inexorable approach of the cliff is key to the long-term stability of any good company. I'd hope Alden isn't arbitrary about it, and I hope to see them (and AE) in business for a long time.

Agreed on long term Alden/AE hopes.

This particular example rings exceptionally true for me. We've been struggling the past two years with the same scenario. Raising our prices wasn't helping short term as our quoting to project management/sales can lag 6 months to a year. We've got more personnel in place and a better control of work, but I certainly was worse for wear until recently!

 

[madhat]

These were "pushed" through by an unnamed SA, shortly after AE supposedly took a hiatus from doing any one-off (or group) makeups. At the time, these and natty Dundees were my two AE grails. Was happy to check one off the list. Still waiting patiently for natty in something.

I have noticed the lace issue with my HMs, though it's not nearly as bad as the Daltons. Drives me nuts when flat laces get twisted.

Hmm, interesting. I don't have nearly the issues with my GG flat laces on my Daltons, but I certainly do with the HM.
I'll just say (as I think I do every time I see these) that THIS is what the Dalton should be in my eyes. I just think the reverse contrast welt fits the shoe much better than the flat welt. It's basically the boot version of @smfdoc 's reverse welt MacNeils.

 

[BagleyBrown]

Hmm, interesting. I don't have nearly the issues with my GG flat laces on my Daltons, but I certainly do with the HM.
I'll just say (as I think I do every time I see these) that THIS is what the Dalton should be in my eyes. I just think the reverse contrast welt fits the shoe much better than the flat welt. It's basically the boot version of @smfdoc 's reverse welt MacNeils.

Agree with you about this pair and @smfdoc pair.

Both of these builds will cost me $ at some point, love the look more than original / black or dark welts.

I had thought they were a clever resole.

 

[middlepP]

Hmm, interesting. I don't have nearly the issues with my GG flat laces on my Daltons, but I certainly do with the HM.
I'll just say (as I think I do every time I see these) that THIS is what the Dalton should be in my eyes. I just think the reverse contrast welt fits the shoe much better than the flat welt. It's basically the boot version of @smfdoc 's reverse welt MacNeils.

I understand why it typically comes with the flat welt, being AE's only tall dress boot. Agree though that the reverse welt looks much better, especially when planning to wear them more casually. Funny, I really want a HM in flat welt. Go figure!

 

[BagleyBrown]

Funny thing happened today.
See. I bought these Donegals 2 winters ago, and just recently lost enough weight to wear them.

Grabbed them from box in dark basement this morning, put them on before sun came up. Whined a bit about the blue specks they did not have, you can see in earlier picture. No blue. Right?

As daylight and office lighting came upon them, though, seems I was wrong.

I have similar woolens from Bills, but these Donegals rock. Again, my lameness knows no boundaries!

 

[middlepP]

Agree with you about this pair and @smfdoc pair.

Both of these builds will cost me $ at some point, love the look more than original / black or dark welts.

I had thought they were a clever resole.

Resole? Never heard of it! Like for many on this thread with a heavy rotation, resole is more of a theoretical option, than reality.

 

[DoubleOldFashioned]

X-post from AE MTO thread... Dalton MTOs - burgundy, split/reverse welt, natural welt/edges, JR soles, and Road Warrior inserts.

I've gone back to the stock laces on these. The volume is a little much for me and I couldn't get them tight enough with the nicer looking flat laces from Guarded Goods.

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Those are perfect; that welt looks so much better on those than a flat, IMO. Same make up in Natural would be amazing (like @BackInTheJox ‘s beautiful CJ Lindricks).

 

[St Hubbins]

Funny thing happened today.
See. I bought these Donegals 2 winters ago, and just recently lost enough weight to wear them.

Grabbed them from box in dark basement this morning, put them on before sun came up. Whined a bit about the blue specks they did not have, you can see in earlier picture. No blue. Right?

As daylight and office lighting came upon them, though, seems I was wrong.
View attachment 912790

I have similar woolens from Bills, but these Donegals rock. Again, my lameness knows no boundaries!

Those are fantastic. Makes me want to search for something as close as possible.

 

[M635Guy]

Those are fantastic. Makes me want to search for something as close as possible.

Epaulet just beggared me for a while (jumped on a suit and a sportcoat), but their stuff is amazing. I'm moving Quality>Quantity on that horizon too.

 

[Shoenut]

I saw an interesting video of one of the Alden honchos discussing price points and the two philosophies. He said some companies will find a maximum price point and then do what is necessary to stay at that point. He felt that with time the quality drops as corners are cut to stay at a specific price. Their position was that they continue to produce the same shoe and that the price will continue to rise each year. Now all of that can be taken with a grain of salt, but it does correlate with the annual price hike reality. Speaking of Alden, black shell LWBs today.

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You think that there would be a happy medium. Like trying something to increase efficiencies and thus productivity, so the same worker can produce more with less effort involved. That way you can make the same shoe with less cost. You are still at the mercy of the supply price, but I got to believe that you can cut costs without cutting corners. Where I work we made some simple product flow changes, and I mean simple, and cut costs and the work became much easier. 25% more product without any more effort.

 

[PbgGuy]

PSA: DEEEEEEEP discount being offered on the merlot McAlisters today

 

[smfdoc]

You think that there would be a happy medium. Like trying something to increase efficiencies and thus productivity, so the same worker can produce more with less effort involved. That way you can make the same shoe with less cost. You are still at the mercy of the supply price, but I got to believe that you can cut costs without cutting corners. Where I work we made some simple product flow changes, and I mean simple, and cut costs and the work became much easier. 25% more product without any more effort.

All things being equal, you are correct. But in this specific case, Alden and AE are not equal. They both make shoes, but that is where the similarities end. Alden makes a tiny fraction of the number of shoes AE will produce. In essence, Alden I feel Alden is a boutique brand. They have a small line of stock shoes and a variety of special make ups for individual retailers. They have their place in the world and I don't think they see any need to change. AE is a very different beast. I am sure AE sends more shoes to the shoe bank and Alden produces in a year. Two very different companies and they just happen to both make shoes.