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

[otc]



I'm going to be very clear about my position on this. Small defects often have minimal, if any, effect on the longevity of a shoe. The problem I have is that when you are spending $300 - $600 on any product, I would expect the manufacturer to have basic quality control measures and not let items out the door that have obvious defects. If that's a big scratch, crooked stitching, whatever; if it affects how the shoes looks, it's a defect. It's an insult to the customer when they pass off shoes with obvious issues as new. I won't apologize for feeling this way

I think the crux of the matter is that AE themselves sells shoes with defects as seconds.

Anything that has that kind of visible but slight/inconsequential defect should be sold as seconds. Its not like they are losing 100% of the shoe when they can't sell it as first quality so it doesn't make sense to me that they would let things with that kind of defect out the door.

 

[facet]



So, after all of my bitching about the Lubbock about their finishing and quality, I tried them on again over the weekend at home while wearing jeans and I changed my mind about my first opinion. Overall, they are a sturdy shoe with the double sole. They are not perfect, but they are intended to be a casual shoe and are interesting--after all, that is what I want in a casual shoe.
I was wearing them around the house thinking about life and getting a better feel for their fit when my girlfriend came home and said that she loved them (she knows about shoes and my extensive collections of EG and C&J etc). I was a little unsure of fit as there is some movement. However, when I first bought my RL cordovan penny loafers, they also moved around a lot on my feet till I broke them in. These actually move less than those but I guess I was more forgiving of RL due to my bias towards C&J cordovan.
I then wore them out to brunch and to the dog park. I ran into a buddy (who is a professed Alden/AE hater) and he complemented me on them. Overall, I am happy with them and they serve their purpose. I have now officially joined the AE club. Now to break them in.

Welcome to the dark side.

"They slumming right now"

 

[bucksfan]



Spoiler: Warning: Spoiler!

Spoiler: Warning: Spoiler!

Brown shell Strands.

Nice, enjoy them! I wore mine yesterday too.

 

[msulinski]

So i was going to drop of my Walnut Daltons to get some Vibram soles put on for inclement weather. I live in DC so i went to a place called "Best Foot Forward". It had received good enough reviews on yelp and on stylefourm. Upon inquiring whether they are going to undo the Goodyear welting to put the soles on or basically glued on like a Topy, the girl behind the counter goes this is not goodyear welted, companies just put this threading on the sole for "show". I calmly told her i am positive Allen Edmonds does not "glue on" their soles. She basically didn't change her position and i knew i wasn't going to convince her that she was wrong. Anyways, WTF?!?!

My cobbler glued the sole guard on top of the sole and did not undo the stitching. Undoing the stitching to put a sole guard on seems like complicating things way too much. The store should be able to put the guard on without issue, though I can certainly understand why you may have lost confidence in them.

Regarding glued sole guards, when they wear out, is it easy for the cobbler to simply install a new one, or do I need a whole new sole at that point?

 

[g.michael]



I think the crux of the matter is that AE themselves sells shoes with defects as seconds.
Anything that has that kind of visible but slight/inconsequential defect should be sold as seconds. Its not like they are losing 100% of the shoe when they can't sell it as first quality so it doesn't make sense to me that they would let things with that kind of defect out the door.

I agree in most cases, but in the case of the Dalton boots pictured, I personally have a hard time seeing what the problem is--a minuscule notch in the leather? Maybe AE feels the same way and does not regard that as a defect. Now the shell Daltons with the ripple in the toe is another matter, and I'm sure AE would agree.

I would hope that all of us can appreciate the customer service of AE--second to none. If the notch is a problem for the buyer, they would probably take them back. Alden on the other hand, would politely tell you to go jump in the lake and they wouldn't miss you as a customer (which I personally think is a piss poor way of conducting business, especially given the price of their shoes).

 

[gooter]

brown Rutledge today

 

[elbastardocalvo]

brown Rutledge today

I love those.

 

[jch1]

I just got my Bourbon Strands in the mail and thought I'd share for those wanting to see how they look in this shade. Also, for my first post, I thought I'd could rub in the fact that I have them before they are even available online.

I ordered them back on September 22nd at their Dallas brick and mortar. I was just going to size them for future ordering, but the saleswoman was nice enough to put in the bourbon order early and honor the 15% off Rediscover America price.

I'm very happy with them. Walnut Strands are classic, but it's nice having something a touch different than everyone else... and having the same color on my feet as drink in my glass.

Surprised to see no comments on these. I'm currently trying to convince myself that these would fit perfectly between my walnut Strands and dark brown Jeffersons...

 

[spitshine123]

Surprised to see no comments on these. I'm currently trying to convince myself that these would fit perfectly between my walnut Strands and dark brown Jeffersons...

They look great- the toe cap seems to be much further back than the normal strands also

 

[cbtaylor]

Surprised to see no comments on these. I'm currently trying to convince myself that these would fit perfectly between my walnut Strands and dark brown Jeffersons...

I missed that post, they are gorgeous

 

[imainish]



brown Rutledge today 

Congrats! I have them in black and very happy with them. Yours look to be creasing a bit better than mine as well.

 

[Michael Haines]

I love the bourbon color. I am really struggling with getting a brown shell strand or the new Bourbon strand

 

[wigglr]

I love the bourbon color. I am really struggling with getting a brown shell strand or the new Bourbon strand

Shell

 

[New Shoes1]

Surprised to see no comments on these. I'm currently trying to convince myself that these would fit perfectly between my walnut Strands and dark brown Jeffersons...

I think the color is way too similar to the walnut Strands to have both walnut and bourbon strands. Just my two cents.

 

[g.michael]



I missed that post, they are gorgeous

I missed it too--very very nice.