Allen Edmonds Appreciation Thread 2020 - News, Pictures, Clothing, Accessories, etc.

[vdubiv]

Another huge drop on AE site.
Considering between

Weatherproof Higgins Mill Men's Casual Boot | Allen Edmonds

Higgins Mill Boot with Dainite Rubber Sole. Chromexccel Leather. Weatherproof Construction. Handcrafted in the USA of fine imported leathers. Allen Edmonds

www.allenedmonds.com

And

Liverpool Men's Black & Tan Chelsea Dress Boot | Allen Edmonds

Liverpool - Black & Tan Chelsea Dress Boot by Allen Edmonds. Handcrafted in the USA of fine imported leathers. Allen Edmonds

www.allenedmonds.com

Help my decide

since they are completely different colors, and different ends of the boot style spectrum I vote for BOTH!

 

[madhat]

Another huge drop on AE site.
Considering between

Weatherproof Higgins Mill Men's Casual Boot | Allen Edmonds

Higgins Mill Boot with Dainite Rubber Sole. Chromexccel Leather. Weatherproof Construction. Handcrafted in the USA of fine imported leathers. Allen Edmonds

www.allenedmonds.com

And

Liverpool Men's Black & Tan Chelsea Dress Boot | Allen Edmonds

Liverpool - Black & Tan Chelsea Dress Boot by Allen Edmonds. Handcrafted in the USA of fine imported leathers. Allen Edmonds

www.allenedmonds.com

Help my decide

Do you want a more casual dressy or weather shoe?
Which last fits you better?
Do you prefer dainite or combi sole?
Which color would you wear more?
Do you like padded footbeds or standard leather?

 

[dc_slicker]

since they are completely different colors, and different ends of the boot style spectrum I vote for BOTH!

Haha. Fair

 

[dc_slicker]

Do you want a more casual dressy or weather shoe?
Which last fits you better?
Do you prefer dainite or combi sole?
Which color would you wear more?
Do you like padded footbeds or standard leather?

Yeah. I realize that they are different.... but I guess was wondering what’s the better value or considered better AE shoe between the two.

I feel there is a lot of love for HM in this thread.
Guessing it is more of a boot and for dress people pick PA or other Oxford or Hamilton

 

[smfdoc]

Actually...I have some really great news.

Over the summer, we shifted ALL welted production back to Wisconsin. Previously we had moved some casual welts to the DR. We haven't changed the country of origin on the website because we obviously have some mixed inventory (DR and WI) in the distribution center. Really good news though, overall!

Even if I never buy another pair of AE shoes, I thank the company for bringing jobs back to the USA.

 

[smfdoc]

My adult daughter would never allow me to own a pair of shell cordovan shoes, but these are high on the LOVE list.

Buy the shell and tell the daughter they are made of corfam. Link.

 

[madhat]

Yeah. I realize that they are different.... but I guess was wondering what’s the better value or considered better AE shoe between the two.

I feel there is a lot of love for HM in this thread.
Guessing it is more of a boot and for dress people pick PA or other Oxford or Hamilton

I have HMs and Liverpools. They are both well made, it just depends what you will wear. I like the comfort of the HM, but they are so gat dang bulbous and only work with more casual stuff. I like the sleeker look of the Liverpool, but they don't have as much room for my toes. On the weekends I like being able to throw on the Liverpools rather than lacing the HMs. The wholecut styling of the Liverpool can be a bit awkward at times, but they still have their uses to me. I find the HM to be a better all rounder for casual, but I just get so tired of the round toes!

Availability and cost plays big into the HM's sucess as well. It was a solid $100 or more less than the Liverpool when introduced, and due to higher volume is regularly more available in "bargain" pricing.

But raw value, the Liverpool has a slightly higher discount...

 

[dc_slicker]

I have HMs and Liverpools. They are both well made, it just depends what you will wear. I like the comfort of the HM, but they are so gat dang bulbous and only work with more casual stuff. I like the sleeker look of the Liverpool, but they don't have as much room for my toes. On the weekends I like being able to throw on the Liverpools rather than lacing the HMs. The wholecut styling of the Liverpool can be a bit awkward at times, but they still have their uses to me. I find the HM to be a better all rounder for casual, but I just get so tired of the round toes!

Availability and cost plays big into the HM's sucess as well. It was a solid $100 or more less than the Liverpool when introduced, and due to higher volume is regularly more available in "bargain" pricing.

But raw value, the Liverpool has a slightly higher discount...

Wonderful!!! Thank you! Really helps

 

[FatTuesday]

Even if I never buy another pair of AE shoes, I thank the company for bring jobs back to the USA.

The BEST way to thank them is to buy another pair of AE shoes.

 

[madhat]

Wonderful!!! Thank you! Really helps

So, just a bit further commentary. My boot collection is mainly AE and Alden, with the odd JF or Rancourt thrown in.
In Alden, I primarily have Plaza (prefer visually) and TruBal (Indy, very similar to HM style wise). The Plaza toe is very similar to the Liverpools, so I get to wear that toe a lot more than I could if I was restricted to the (3) colors AE offered as standard. I no longer have my black ones due to just not getting them into rotation enough, but I still have the suede and walnut. That said, my preferred boot from AE is Fifth St/Hamilton.

 

[FatTuesday]

Brown shell Dundee chukkas and fat-wale corduroy trousers by Orvis.

 

[EZB]

Carbon seems different every time I wear it.
View attachment 1509384

Yeah. I returned my carbon pair in the beginning because at the time I didn't wear many blue or gray items. Now, that is all I wear. Unfortunately, it is just a bit too formal for me at the moment for regular wear, so I didn't buy again. You did well here. Carbon is a lighter black to gray in some lights, but brown in others. It often has purple undertones. The problem is that black and brown main colors don't go with the same pants colors often, and in some lights it just clashes. However, if you wear it with gray and blue, it should work well almost always.

Another huge drop on AE site.
Considering between

Weatherproof Higgins Mill Men's Casual Boot | Allen Edmonds

Higgins Mill Boot with Dainite Rubber Sole. Chromexccel Leather. Weatherproof Construction. Handcrafted in the USA of fine imported leathers. Allen Edmonds

www.allenedmonds.com

And

Liverpool Men's Black & Tan Chelsea Dress Boot | Allen Edmonds

Liverpool - Black & Tan Chelsea Dress Boot by Allen Edmonds. Handcrafted in the USA of fine imported leathers. Allen Edmonds

www.allenedmonds.com

Help my decide

First, do both fit you? The fit of each boot is very different. The HM has a large toe box, but the Liverpool does not. If you know that both can fit you, I also think you should look at the environments you will wear them. The HM is casual and almost like a work boot. The Liverpool is sleek and more for business/business casual.

 

[NYCTechNerd]

For today's (cold medicine induced) post I give you data and assumptions.

I help companies with their broken IT Systems and Staff. A part of this work is to review budgets (forecasted, current) and purchase histories to determine where the money went and/or is going. I look for patterns and outliers that tell a story. I speak with staff for context but it is interesting how much you can learn from data. My wife always says that in another life I probably would have made a great forensic accountant.

As I re-build my shoe collection because my foot size changed not that long ago, I reintroduced myself to Allen Edmonds. I am always amazed at the vastness of their collection and the depth of the sizing. While I have struggled to find my correct sizing and ran into the inevitable QC issues with some pairs, I am still very fond of the company and its offerings. I am not one who enjoys the constant sales model but I understand that these days everyone wants to feel like they got a deal. I took this as an opportunity to review current and closeout models, specifically lace up dress shoes, and determine what makes sense to purchase now and what might be worth waiting to purchase later (when the next sale comes around).

Notes:

• Yellow boxes depict closeout pricing.
• Green boxes depict outliers.
• I ignored most items, models and colors, that were on closeout and had few remaining sizes.
• I ignored the all-weather models because they are too new to make any determination on status.
• I ignored textured leathers as they are on closeout and/or often limited/special offerings.

Assumptions:

• Black is obviously a best seller and available in everything.
• Walnut is also a best seller based on how many current models offer it. This surprised me.
• Dark Chili appears to be the new most important (and probably best selling) "brown" color. Surprisingly, it is offered in everything except a Strand with a Dainite sole. Is this simply an oversight by the product team or a decision (based on data) in which they know nobody orders this combination so it's not worth having it as a stock shoe.
• Coffee is being dropped except for very limited cases (PA, 5A). If you ever wanted Coffee in one of the other styles, now is the time to get it, at a good discount, before it disappears.
• Oxblood is another interesting color because I get the sense that many people on SF love it and might consider it over other colors AE offers, especially brown, but it appears it is being dropped in several styles. Apparently, people only purchase Oxblood on the PA and Strand. If you ever wanted an Oxblood 5A or McAllister act now.
• Cigar appears to be an outlier. It is offered on the Strand which tends to be a good selling shoe so is this color being tested by AE before larger rollout? It does keep with the current trend of "museum" colors. It is also used on the Leeds but having spoken with a few SAs, it appears that Cigar Leeds is not selling well (at least in the Northeast).
• Mahogany is another interesting outlier. Currently offered on the 5A but in a separate listing which often depicts a special/limited color option. It is not on closeout sale, is offered on 2 boots, and is offered on a few mixed material leather/wool shoes so I am not sure what to make of this one. It is close to Dark Chili so is AE getting rid of remaining leather in this color, keeping it around as something special, or testing it for a larger future rollout?

Disclaimer: This is strictly my opinion based on a very limited data set (i.e. no actual sales data) and I have no information from Allen Edmonds and make no representation that any of this is accurate and/or based on what Allen Edmonds may (or may not) do now or in the future. This was simply a fun exercise that gave me a decision matrix on which to base my own current shoe purchases. I also thought others might find it interesting. I am not sure if @ae_ashley can confirm or deny any of this but I hope she at least appreciates the effort.

 

[Nick V.]

That's correct. We're talking about how Blake can look like GYW with the addition of a welt. What's disputed is how that's actually achieved. @EZB said the welt is stitched to an upper, and the sole is stitched to the welt. I (and @NYCTechNerd) are not disputing that Blake can look like GYW but how that affect is achieved. My explanation of how I think it's achieved is several posts back.

To expand on the topic of welts and mock welts, as a POI, Barbour is the company that supplies the shoe repair wholesalers with welts. They also supply new shoe factories with various types of welting.
A competent shoe repair shop can change the look of a shoe by adding a different looking welt.
They come in various thicknesses, widths, heights and, colors.
Here is more info:

Barbour Welting

barbourwelting.com

They may impose minimums on what they are willing to sell the wholesaler but, you can always ask your repair shop to look into the availability of something you may be interested in.

 

[munchau]

Navy shell First Avenue today.