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

[ktown]

I think the walnut Player is nice. I assume, since they are on clearance, that you are getting a discount? Its hard to beat them for $225 or whatever they are going for. As for a merlot shoe, I recommend the shell Bradley. If you want the Daltons, now might be the time to pick them up in Chili ($299 in this color only). They also look good in dark brown or #8 shell.

Since the Player is discontinued and they are factory seconds, they told me $179. I'm the type of person who agonizes over new purchases... I don't really want the chili Dalton so I'll most likely end up getting those in dark chocolate. I'll sleep on it and either pull the trigger tomorrow morning, or just let the Players pass.

 

[RogerP]

(Creases are nearly non-existent)

And what do you suppose happens the moment he gets out of the chair and takes 5 steps?

I can make creases "disappear" just by inserting slightly oversized shoe trees. But they are back again as soon as I do this crazy thing called walking.

By all means purchase a deer bone and see if you can banish creases forever. Or even for a few steps. I have one - it' great for dealing with small scuffs in shell and for (temporarily) minimizing the appearance of creases. But mine must have come without the magic ingredient for permanently banishing creases, because it doesn't do that.

 

[RogerP]

I'm a little bummed about the shell shortage as well. It may have caused me to go a little overboard on the purchases this month.

You're the shell expert - do you know the cause of the shortage?

 

[Pastor]



[COLOR=0000FF]Using a Deer Bone Video[/COLOR]

(Also, notice the Edge Dressing on the edge and the welt is applied before the upper is polished.  Some forum members have mentioned doing the Edge polish last instead of first, and they were worried about over applying the edge polish onto the upper.)

Saphir Products are also used.

The Deer Bone is used about 55 seconds into the following video:


(Creases are nearly non-existent) 

If i'm not mistaken these are shell and not calfskin. The deer bone is used for polishing not removing of creases. There is no way to "remove" creases. Shell is unique in that is doesn't crease like calfskin. Shell produces more waves but calfskin will have a definite crease when worn. I can put shoe trees in my shell shoes and the creases virtually disappear. But they come right back when I wear them. I'm not sure if you've ever handled shell or not but you owe it to yourself to go and see some in person. Then you would know a little better about what i'm talking about.

 

[David Copeland]

As entertaining as the "Made in USA" debate has been, to me as long as AE shoes qualify as "Made in USA" under the law, I consider them to be Made in the USA. I think AE absolutely should emphasize the "Made in USA" part because that's just good marketing. And the fact that we are even having the discussion of AE's Dominican production tells me that they are transparent enough. If no one at AE ever mentions their Dominican production of some uppers of their mainline shoes, I would have never knew about it in the first place.

Anyway, I'm doing some late night work in my chili grain MacNeils:

What a great looking pair of shoes.

When I looked at the AE description, they are made with a 7 Last - which is exactly what my old Saffords were, instead of the current 5-Last in the Strand. This may be a better fit for me.

Anyone notice how wide the welt is?

 

[Pastor]



You're the shell expert - do you know the cause of the shortage?

I'm not the shell expert. On the Alden thread someone mentioned that Horween just could not keep up with the demand of shell. One of the owners from The Shoe Mart said he visited Horween in Chicago and there was none on their shelf at all. This included even standard colors like #8 and black. My personal thoughts are that this will have the biggest effect on bigger companies like Allen Edmonds and Alden. Carmina seems to be able to get shell regularly but they deal in a smaller volume. The rare colors I have from Carmina (ruby and navy) were limited to only 6-8 pair per run.

My advice - eat more horse meat so that more shells can be produced!

On a side note my friend has several horses and every time I go to his house I tell him, "that horse would make a fine pair of shoes."

 

[Pastor]



That's an even more insane deal.  I thought they were sold out, but I'm happy for the sake of others that there are still (?) some available.

They are still having the 20% sale. Yesterday I ordered brown shell patriots and the sale price was $359. I was looking at the Alden LHS but $359 for the Allen Edmonds compared to $704 for the Alden (if I could even find them in my size) helped me make the decision to go with the AE's.

They had just about every shell shoe available in a second for this price.

 

[RogerP]

^^^ Okay - so it's likely increased demand as opposed to some reduction in supply - that I can believe - shell seems to be gaining popularity right across the board.

 

[Cold Iron]

Does anyone know the reason for the shortage?

Supply and demand of course. There is an increased demand for shell from existing and new markets such as Italy and Japan. Horween supplies much of the shell produced and it takes 6 months to make. Nick Horween posted somewhere a few months ago (just did a quick search and couldn't find it) that the price of horse hides has increased dramatically and IIRC he slowed down production because of that. He purchases his hides from Canada and Europe where they are a source of food.

The US had a ban for almost 5 years on the slaughter of horses put in place by the Federal Government due in large part by the American love affair with horses. They lifted the ban about a year ago however there are no slaughter houses yet in the US that are processing horses. They are still being transported to Canada and Mexico. If we could get one or better yet several to open in the US it would certainly help with the supply side and end cost.

 

[Shoedog1089]

I think you should read his CEO blog on the AE website all the way back to April 8, 2010 where he proudly talks about the DR facility. To your original point about why didn't he release press about the DR facility in 2007, I am not sure how he could have done that since he became an employee of AE in late 2008.

 

[RogerP]

They are still having the 20% sale. Yesterday I ordered brown shell patriots and the sale price was $359. I was looking at the Alden LHS but $359 for the Allen Edmonds compared to $704 for the Alden (if I could even find them in my size) helped me make the decision to go with the AE's.

They had just about every shell shoe available in a second for this price.

This was the Cleveland store or the shoebank, or where?

You are a bad influence.

 

[David Copeland]

So I see the Daltons on sale right now. I've never worn a dress boot and I'm a little confused by the thought. Are these acceptable to be worn with suits?

Thanks in advance.

Or if you prefer, lower the pants cuff and they look like an Oxford.

 

[cbtaylor]

This was the Cleveland store or the shoebank, or where?

You are a bad influence.

Jeffersonville OH

 

[mediahound]

To your original point about why didn't he release press about the DR facility in 2007, I am not sure how he could have done that since he became an employee of AE in late 2008.

Clearly AE would have been talking about it at the time (or now) via their press releases, if they were proud of it.

 

[RogerP]

Jeffersonville OH

Thanks.