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

[TheSizzle]

what do you guys think about the round laces on the krause boots that come on the daltons?
- round or flat?

In and of themselves, round laces might work on those boots, but they would have to be thicker. The heft of the shoe and minimalism of the laces you tried create a visual imbalance that I find displeasing. Others might disagree, but that's my opinion.

 

[sevenfoldtieguy]



what do you guys think about the round laces on the krause boots that come on the daltons?
 - round or flat?

They both look fine.

 

[zazadojo]

In and of themselves, round laces might work on those boots, but they would have to be thicker. The heft of the shoe and minimalism of the laces you tried create a visual imbalance that I find displeasing. Others might disagree, but that's my opinion.

I completely agree and was thinking the same thing. I do prefer a round lace but perhaps something like you would find in a hiking boot.

 

[zazadojo]

Nah, the waxy Dublin doesn't take polish very well, so just wipe them all over with a little black and you should be good; then post pics!

I have been waiting to see someone color the exposed ends of the leather. Do you plan on it or has someone done something similar with a desired or undesired result?

 

[mikeeygee]

Hey,

So I posted this a while ago, but since I'm relatively new it had to go through the mods, and for whatever reason got posted back to the time I wrote it rather than the time it was actually posted, so it ended up buried a few pages back. Just wanted to bump it to see if anyone knew what I should do. I'm kind of freaking out that there might not be a fix.

Gents,

I've been wearing a pair of Vernons for almost a year, polishing around every 4-6 wears. Up until this past weekend, they've been great and have always held their shine well. However, after I went through my usual routine of brushing, applying the tubed allen edmonds chili polish, letting them dry for 5-10, brushing again, and then polishing with a chamois cloth, the left shoe was noticeably shinier and lighter than the right, and the right had a couple dark spots (around the cap of the toe). You should be able to see what I'm talking about in the pictures (please excuse the scuffs-they would have been cleaned up, but I didn't want to mess with anything after I saw the dark spots). Anyway, I'm trying to figure out what to do, so if anyone has advice on this or has experienced it before, I'd love to hear it. Thanks.

 

[kmdsimpson]



what do you guys think about the round laces on the krause boots that come on the daltons?
 - round or flat?

Spoiler: Warning: Spoiler!

Flat. Agree with TheSizzle.

 

[MarioImpemba]

In and of themselves, round laces might work on those boots, but they would have to be thicker. The heft of the shoe and minimalism of the laces you tried create a visual imbalance that I find displeasing. Others might disagree, but that's my opinion.

This. Round, but fatter. I usually end up with square leather lacing all my boots. Not a fan of the flat laces at all.

I have been waiting to see someone color the exposed ends of the leather. Do you plan on it or has someone done something similar with a desired or undesired result?

I didn't even think about that, but now that you mention it, I think that would look great. I'll try something and get back to you.

 

[zazadojo]

This. Round, but fatter. I usually end up with square leather lacing all my boots. Not a fan of the flat laces at all.


I didn't even think about that, but now that you mention it, I think that would look great. I'll try something and get back to you.

No doubt. I was thinking it may be better to use edge dressing here..thoughts?

 

[catside]

Jay is very helpful. I am going to ask Paul G to appoint him SF AE thread ambassador.

 

[MarioImpemba]

No doubt. I was thinking it may be better to use edge dressing here..thoughts?

Definitely. If I had some on hand, I'd use that. Unfortunately, I don't. I'll probably just end up using a sharpie and then going over it with black polish. Might try to see if I can get edge dressing at the grocery store, though.

 

[clarksdb]



I would definitely wear them around the house for a few days to decide, but the idea of these naturally stretching due to being loafers may not apply as much with these since they are still goodyear-welted.  The rule of thumb that loafers should be borderline uncomfortably snug when new is generally applied to hand-stitched moccosin constructed loafers, like the AE Kenwood beef roll loafers.  Good-year welted loafers won't stretch as much as a moccosin constructed loafer, but they may still loosen up a bit compared to a lace-up shoe.  Just a heads-up so that you don't jump to a conclusion to quickly and ruin your chances of returning them by wearing them outside. 

Thanks for that info - something I didn't know about stretching of hand stitched vs goodyear-welted. Good to keep that in mind for the future. As for the Randolphs, they are easier to get into now after wearing them around the house for a bit. I will definitely be keeping them.

I have a couple questions if anyone can help me out please:

1) I received my Delray and Amsterdam shoes from the Black Friday sale today. They are both in fine condition to my eyes but the Amsterdam is on the combo sole. I am wondering if others who got the Amsterdam seconds also have the combo sole (rubber mostly with a little leather)? Just wondering, not a problem for me and it's good to have one pair in my collection in the combo sole.

2) I need to dedicate some time now to clean and polish all 5 pairs I have. I have Saphir Reno and various AE color polishes. Am I supposed to apply Reno and polish with my old t-shirts or the horsehair brushes? Right now I believe the method is to dust them off with my old t-shirts, apply Reno, buff with horsehair brush after a few minutes, then apply polish, wait a few minutes and then buff with horsehair brush.

 

[Firefox]

2) I need to dedicate some time now to clean and polish all 5 pairs I have. I have Saphir Reno and various AE color polishes. Am I supposed to apply Reno and polish with my old t-shirts or the horsehair brushes? Right now I believe the method is to dust them off with my old t-shirts, apply Reno, buff with horsehair brush after a few minutes, then apply polish, wait a few minutes and then buff with horsehair brush.

My understanding of Reno is that you would basically use it in place of the AE cleaner/conditioner when first using. I.e. apply a light coat of reno all over the shoe (with a clean cloth or t-shirt), allow to dry, then apply a coat of polish if desired, allow to dry, then brush with horsehair brush. If desired, you can finish by buffing with a clean cloth/t-shirt. Others may have different preferred processes, though.

After the initial polishing, you can then just continue to add a little Saphir from time to time to clean and condition the leather, and only need to add additional polish if desired (i.e. to cover scuffs, restore colour, etc).

 

[zchen]

Thanks for that info - something I didn't know about stretching of hand stitched vs goodyear-welted. Good to keep that in mind for the future. As for the Randolphs, they are easier to get into now after wearing them around the house for a bit. I will definitely be keeping them.
I have a couple questions if anyone can help me out please:
1) I received my Delray and Amsterdam shoes from the Black Friday sale today. They are both in fine condition to my eyes but the Amsterdam is on the combo sole. I am wondering if others who got the Amsterdam seconds also have the combo sole (rubber mostly with a little leather)? Just wondering, not a problem for me and it's good to have one pair in my collection in the combo sole.

All Amsterdams were made with the combination sole as far as I know, That was the advertised spec when they were available to order from Urbandaddy.

 

[clarksdb]



My understanding of Reno is that you would basically use it in place of the AE cleaner/conditioner when first using. I.e. apply a light coat of reno all over the shoe (with a clean cloth or t-shirt), allow to dry, then apply a coat of polish if desired, allow to dry, then brush with horsehair brush. If desired, you can finish by buffing with a clean cloth/t-shirt. Others may have different preferred processes, though.

After the initial polishing, you can then just continue to add a little Saphir from time to time to clean and condition the leather, and only need to add additional polish if desired (i.e. to cover scuffs, restore colour, etc).

Thank you! I will use this process then...seems simple enough. Apply reno with t-shirt, then if necessary polish with t-shirt, then buff with horsehair brush.

All Amsterdams were made with the combination sole as far as I know, That was the advertised spec when they were available to order from Urbandaddy.

Thanks, never knew that. I'm happy with either sole.

 

[BootSpell]

Ahhh, starting to look like a proper boot in my rotation now:

2nd photo more accurate to colour.

The toe gouge is pretty significant, but I'll just have to get over it.

You did an awesome job on those. They look a lot more now like the picture from the Wingtip site here:



As you say later in these posts, the Dublin leather resists absorbing the polish but it must absorb more along the seams and stitching giving it that almost two-tone finish. I like the idea of treating the raw edges, too. Thanks for sharing. And please post pics if you do the raw edges.