Allen Edmonds Appreciation Thread - reviews, pictures, sizing, etc...

[jjr4884]

Question folks... I have a useless jar of the AE Dark Brown cordovan cream. The reason I say useless is because it is much darker than what my shell strands should be.

Is this ok to use on calf skin? If not, whoever wants it....

 

[Winston S.]



Well I tried to reply late last night and lost everything at the end, so just going to break it up for now.

I only have one shoe a chukka on the Barrie and there are others on this thread that have a lot more experience with it than I. But I went down a half size from my normal TTS in AE. I am a 10D on the #1 and #5 last and a 9.5D in the Alden Chukka on the Barrie fits similar to my Dundee's on the #1 last. The Barrie is wide in the heel and I have a fair amount of heel slip but it is acceptable. Some of the more experienced people say the preferred sizing on the Barrie is to actually go down a width ie: from a D to a C but stay TTS. But there aren't a lot of Alden offerings in C width. Also this all applies to shoes and chukkas with boots they are tighter in the front because of how they are lasted and staying TTS is better for most people. There is a reason people on the Alden thread say they have a fear of lasts. 

I do not have a 7 last yet but the MacNeil is one of the last shoes I want to pick up so will know eventually how that fits in comparison. I feel the 5 last fits me best of all the AE lasts so far, and the 8 (Clifton) does not fit me at all no matter what combination I try.

Thanks for the review, will definitely take all of that into consideration if I end up getting a barrie lasted shoe.

 

[bucksfan]

I've had these forever, but recently started wearing them on the reg. Can I get some maintenance help. I own venetian shoe cream, but I probably need to get the AE walnut polish as well, right? Anytime I do conditioning, am I supposed to remove the polish on top the shoes came coated with? Then use Venetian, let dry, then polish and buff?

Nice shoes! I have the same pair, and treat them as my "beater" shoes. In other words, if I'm going to do something dusty / wet... during the day, but I need dress shoes, those are the shoes I wear. The great thing about the scotch grain leather and the double soles make these shoes very resilient. You can do almost anything to them and they'll look great with a brushing and quick moisturizing. I don't actually polish them, just moisturize periodically (1-2x per year).

Lots of action on the forum lately - great to see some new names and contributors! Thanks for the excellent write-up on the top-line bowing, Cold Iron!

 

[kmdsimpson]



I did use Renomat on my oldest pair of shell Leeds for the exact same reason you describe. And need to thank you for introducing me to Renomat over a year ago, and also for mentioning microfiber cloths for final polishing somewhere else recently. I've used nylon stockings for the final buff for years but know by now if you say something it is worth paying attention to. Don't see myself ever going to back to stockings, thank you. I also found the microfiber cloths are the best way to strip the cream off the shell. I use them as rags around the house, I buy the Amazon Basics 48 for $28 or so which is about .50 cents apiece.

Spoiler: Warning: Spoiler!

The other day I thought about how much they absorb and used one instead of an old cotton T-shirt. This was with Renoaveutor and my black shell PA but think you would get pretty good results on yours with Renomat. On my Leeds it did lift quite a bit but not as much as new shoes. The T-shirt on the right was used first and thought they were pretty clean. I followed up with the Microfiber cloth after and it actually picked up more on the second pass then the T-shirt did on the first one. I push hard when removing old finish just like the start of a mirror shine starting with Renomat doing a small section at a time. Then move my finger to a clean part of the rag wetting it and doing another section. As soon as the shoe is done repeated the whole process with Renoaveutor. As soon as that is done then I take a fairly wet rag and wipe the whole thing down which picks up quite a bit more:

I repeated the process twice, if you use the microfiber cloth not sure you would need to do it twice. Good luck and hope it helps.

Cold Iron, thanks for this recap! I thought you had said this before, but I then I also thought that you'd recommended using only 'vateur, so I was confused. This clears it up. I've been working on my 744s with 'vateur, and it's not enough to do the job. I'm going to order some 'Mat from Kirby. Already ordered the Amazon microfiber towels! I wonder if Saphir ever thought that people would shorten both products' names to "Reno" which can cause some confusion!

 

[masernaut]

Question folks... I have a useless jar of the AE Dark Brown cordovan cream. The reason I say useless is because it is much darker than what my shell strands should be.

Is this ok to use on calf skin? If not, whoever wants it....

I noticed that as well... My Patriot shell in brown are a much lighter brown than the cream.

 

[masernaut]

Here they are! What nobody seems to talk about is the grey is actually a clouded grey. That really put me off of them, to be honest. Up close they look like a complete mess. They are a knock-out from about 3 feet away though. Also, I can't figure out if it's a defect, but the Dalton is not a symmetrical design. Everything is off-set a bit from center.

I apologize for the quality, these were taken with my 3DS. I've taken shots from several angles including one in front of the black AE bag so one could see how not-black they are.

That's a strange clouded colour. I remember another user posting his grey Daltons and the colour was a smooth gun-metal grey without the blotches you see in the second last picture.

 

[MarioImpemba]

For AE shell, I never had much trouble bringing out a glossy shine by using a bit of Kiwi Neutral, a brush, and an old t-shirt; not that using Renomat isn't advised, just that there's more than one way to skin a cat.

I considered buying one of those clearance grey shoes. I would have immediately gone to town on it with blue and black products.

 

[otc]

What edge dressing goes on walnut (calf) daltons and players shoes?

People in this thread were saying to use Chili dressing but...looking at them, I would call it "brown" but its not as dark as some brown non-AE shoes I have.

Is the chili dressing not as red-toned as the chili shoes are?

 

[jayw]

What edge dressing goes on walnut (calf) daltons and players shoes?

People in this thread were saying to use Chili dressing but...looking at them, I would call it "brown" but its not as dark as some brown non-AE shoes I have.

Is the chili dressing not as red-toned as the chili shoes are?

The guys at the AE store told me that 'natural' is the one that should be used. However it was out of stock so they recommended I get the 'chili' and made sure not to let it dry and wipe it off right after applying.

This was for the walnut Strand though.

 

[patrick_b]

I did use Renomat on my oldest pair of shell Leeds for the exact same reason you describe.

And need to thank you for introducing me to Renomat over a year ago, and also for mentioning microfiber cloths for final polishing somewhere else recently. I've used nylon stockings for the final buff for years but know by now if you say something it is worth paying attention to. Don't see myself ever going to back to stockings, thank you.

I also found the microfiber cloths are the best way to strip the cream off the shell. I use them as rags around the house, I buy the Amazon Basics 48 for $28 or so which is about .50 cents apiece. The other day I thought about how much they absorb and used one instead of an old cotton T-shirt.

This was with Renoaveutor and my black shell PA but think you would get pretty good results on yours with Renomat. On my Leeds it did lift quite a bit but not as much as new shoes. The T-shirt on the right was used first and thought they were pretty clean. I followed up with the Microfiber cloth after and it actually picked up more on the second pass then the T-shirt did on the first one.

I push hard when removing old finish just like the start of a mirror shine starting with Renomat doing a small section at a time. Then move my finger to a clean part of the rag wetting it and doing another section. As soon as the shoe is done repeated the whole process with Renoaveutor. As soon as that is done then I take a fairly wet rag and wipe the whole thing down which picks up quite a bit more:


I repeated the process twice, if you use the microfiber cloth not sure you would need to do it twice.


Good luck and hope it helps.

Thanks CI, appreciate the help.

 

[MoneyWellSpent]

What edge dressing goes on walnut (calf) daltons and players shoes?

People in this thread were saying to use Chili dressing but...looking at them, I would call it "brown" but its not as dark as some brown non-AE shoes I have.

Is the chili dressing not as red-toned as the chili shoes are?

The guys at the AE store told me that 'natural' is the one that should be used. However it was out of stock so they recommended I get the 'chili' and made sure not to let it dry and wipe it off right after applying.

This was for the walnut Strand though.

Chili is the best choice. Natural won't cover up knicks and scuffs that go through the surface color of the leather. Brown may be a good second choice, but the Chili really does look best. Yes, it has a slightly reddish hue, but it isn't like you are turning your sole edge to a burgundy like color. They retain their natural brown look well, but take on a nice attractive reddish undertone that compliments the hue of the Walnut perfectly (particularly Burnished Walnut). I know that there has been some discrepancy in AE's recommendation for the sole edge for their Walnut Strand. They started out saying to use Natural, but moved to Chili. For some reason, their shoe care pdf says "n/a" in the sole edge column, but their other Walnut calf shoes with this color sole edge recommend Chili, and the "ask and answer" section on the Walnut Strand says to use Chili. At the end of the day, they are your shoes, so use what you like best though. You aren't doing permanent damage if you change your mind about what color you like.

 

[nicedream]

Does anyone have any idea why so many shoes on the AE website are out of stock and list delivery times of 3 to 8 weeks? Is this how AE normally is, or are the factory just behind for a while (maybe because of the 2 new stores in Philly and NYC)?

 

[AdamAdam]



Chili is the best choice.  Natural won't cover up knicks and scuffs that go through the surface color of the leather.  Brown may be a good second choice, but the Chili really does look best.  Yes, it has a slightly reddish hue, but it isn't like you are turning your sole edge to a burgundy like color.  They retain their natural brown look well, but take on a nice attractive reddish undertone that compliments the hue of the Walnut perfectly (particularly Burnished Walnut).  I know that there has been some discrepancy in AE's recommendation for the sole edge for their Walnut Strand.  They started out saying to use Natural, but moved to Chili.  For some reason, their shoe care pdf says "n/a" in the sole edge column, but their other Walnut calf shoes with this color sole edge recommend Chili, and the "ask and answer" section on the Walnut Strand says to use Chili.  At the end of the day, they are your shoes, so use what you like best though.  You aren't doing permanent damage if you change your mind about what color you like. 

+1 - I chatted with the rep online and mentioned that for walnut calf McAllister that the online PDF says "n/a". He recommended natural. However when I was in the store I asked the salesman the same question and he said while you could use natural that he uses chili on his and showed me an example. Chili looked really nice so that's what I bought. I haven't had to apply it yet so can't speak first hand other than seeing his sample.

 

[cbtaylor]

Does anyone have any idea why so many shoes on the AE website are out of stock and list delivery times of 3 to 8 weeks? Is this how AE normally is, or are the factory just behind for a while (maybe because of the 2 new stores in Philly and NYC)?

Many I have ordered state that, but they usually come sooner than listed time.

 

[wdahab]



Does anyone have any idea why so many shoes on the AE website are out of stock and list delivery times of 3 to 8 weeks? Is this how AE normally is, or are the factory just behind for a while (maybe because of the 2 new stores in Philly and NYC)?

I believe it's because AE stores a lot of shoes as uppers separate from the soles (so 95% finished), for space reasons. Since the shoe hasn't been completely assembled, it won't ship out immediately, but it'll probably be faster than a 3-8 week lead time. Of course other shoes may simply be out of stock in your requested size and they need to make them from scratch. I'd imagine that the inventory system online doesn't differentiate between these two states.

BTW, this is why some shoes mared as clearance are also marked as 3 week delay. They wouldn't make a shoe from scratch if they were already trying to clear out that model.