Allen Edmonds vs. Alden--Which American Great Do You Prefer?!! OFFICIAL

[Skelnik]

I prefer Alden to Allen Edmonds, but there are some things Allen Edmonds does better. Allen Edmonds has a good amount of stores and some of their shoes are sold at mainstream stores such as Nordstrom making them much more accessible than Alden. They also offer free shipping and returns so it is much easier and cheaper to find my fit or try on the shoes to see if they look as good on my feet as they do in the photo on a website. There are really only a handful of stores that sell Alden and I can't think of one that doesn't at least charge for returns. Allen Edmonds has a far superior web presence then Alden as well.

Also, Allen Edmonds customer service is the best. You can deal with a central customer service department for all of your issues and they will work with you from start to finish. Whereas with Alden you need to go through the place that sold you the shoes and I don't usually find them to be as cooperative, but that's just my experience. I do hear good things from people who are able to walk into the San Fran and DC stores to get serviced.

Allen Edmonds has much more reasonably priced shoe care products than Alden such as laces, brushes, etc. A shoe brush from Alden is $35 while an almost identical one sells for $10 from Allen Edmonds. Allen Edmonds polishes, paste waxes, etc I find are better quality as well. Alden paste wax smells like gas.

Allen Edmonds prices are far cheaper than Alden. They frequently have sales, clearance mark downs and it is really easy to purchase seconds at a reduced cost. The flip side of that is that Allen Edmonds shoes depreciate faster than alcohol evaporates into air. The moment you purchase a pair of Allen Edmonds the value plummets. You'd be lucky to get half of what you paid for it after wearing it only a single time. Wear it 10 times or more and your $400 shoe is worth $40 max on eBay. This is simply not so with Alden. In fact some shoes, mainly rare colored cordovan such as Cigar, Ravello or Whiskey can be sold for more than the original retail cost even after several wearings. Other shell cordovan models go for much higher resale prices comparatively. This is highly important to me because sometimes after wearing a shoe a few times I realize I just don't love it and I don't keep things I don't really like. Or worse, to have a new pair of Allen Edmonds in a normal size that just doesn't fit and I can't sell it to save my life without losing a couple hundred dollars. Allen Edmonds sucks for this.

Allen Edmonds does offer many more styles, but many of their lasts don't fit my feet well and some of them aren't very pleasing to look at or have odd proportions. Their attempts to create fashion forward shoe styles are sometimes a fail but at least they try.

Alden's looks are a little better IMHO when compared to their Allen Edmonds counterpart models. Most important to me is the that Alden is the king of shell cordovan. That is almost all I wear anymore and they do it best. I would prefer more cordovan colors in their usual offerings though.

All in all they are both good shoes. If I like a certain style and Alden offers it I will usually always choose Alden, but for the models that Alden doesn't offer I am fine with Allen Edmonds as long as I can them on a steep sale.

 

[ReppTiePrepster]

I prefer Alden to Allen Edmonds, but there are some things Allen Edmonds does better. Allen Edmonds has a good amount of stores and some of their shoes are sold at mainstream stores such as Nordstrom making them much more accessible than Alden. They also offer free shipping and returns so it is much easier and cheaper to find my fit or try on the shoes to see if they look as good on my feet as they do in the photo on a website. There are really only a handful of stores that sell Alden and I can't think of one that doesn't at least charge for returns. Allen Edmonds has a far superior web presence then Alden as well.

Also, Allen Edmonds customer service is the best. You can deal with a central customer service department for all of your issues and they will work with you from start to finish. Whereas with Alden you need to go through the place that sold you the shoes and I don't usually find them to be as cooperative, but that's just my experience. I do hear good things from people who are able to walk into the San Fran and DC stores to get serviced.

Allen Edmonds has much more reasonably priced shoe care products than Alden such as laces, brushes, etc. A shoe brush from Alden is $35 while an almost identical one sells for $10 from Allen Edmonds. Allen Edmonds polishes, paste waxes, etc I find are better quality as well. Alden paste wax smells like gas.

Allen Edmonds prices are far cheaper than Alden. They frequently have sales, clearance mark downs and it is really easy to purchase seconds at a reduced cost. The flip side of that is that Allen Edmonds shoes depreciate faster than alcohol evaporates into air. The moment you purchase a pair of Allen Edmonds the value plummets. You'd be lucky to get half of what you paid for it after wearing it only a single time. Wear it 10 times or more and your $400 shoe is worth $40 max on eBay. This is simply not so with Alden. In fact some shoes, mainly rare colored cordovan such as Cigar, Ravello or Whiskey can be sold for more than the original retail cost even after several wearings. Other shell cordovan models go for much higher resale prices comparatively. This is highly important to me because sometimes after wearing a shoe a few times I realize I just don't love it and I don't keep things I don't really like. Or worse, to have a new pair of Allen Edmonds in a normal size that just doesn't fit and I can't sell it to save my life without losing a couple hundred dollars. Allen Edmonds sucks for this.

Allen Edmonds does offer many more styles, but most of them aren't very pleasing to look at, have odd proportions or just weird things going on. Their attempts to create fashion forward shoe styles are usually an epic fail. I actually lose respect for them when I see this. It may be better if they created a spin off brand for this kind of nonsense and simply stuck to the classics.

Alden's looks are usually far superior IMHO when compared to their Allen Edmonds counterpart models. Most important to me is the that Alden is the king of shell cordovan. That is almost all I wear anymore and they do it best. I would prefer more cordovan colors in their usual offerings though.

All in all they are both good shoes. If I like a certain style and Alden offers it I will usually always choose Alden, but for the models that Alden doesn't offer I am fine with Allen Edmonds as long as I can them on a steep sale.

Notice that not a single one of your AE advantages/benefits actually has anything to do with the quality, construction, look, and comfort of the shoe itself. Being able to buy an AE shoe brush for a third the cost of an Alden brush is my favorite one of your listed AE pro's. I suppose we all buy shoes for different reasons.

 

[MrNord]

I like both of there shoes quite a bit but Alden just a bit better. I agree that Allen Edmonds is a much better company overall as far as accessories and customer service. I don't understand about the above criticism though. It seems he didn't read the comparison and just made a rude comment, but I guess people post things for different reasons.

 

[ledouche]

Own both, 5 of my AEs are from the original Independence Collection, 3 are AE for Brooks Brothers, the rest are mainline AE that I bought on a whim. Own 5 Alden shoes total, 3 calf, 2 shell. I don't wear any of them much anymore since I'm back to being a student, but I have a slight preference for AE over Alden and here's why:

Comparing the AE Strand ($395) vs the Alden 911 ($545), I confess I prefer the 911 for styling and quality. In my opinion, the 911 feels more substantial than the AE Strand, leather quality is better, the burnishing (not fond of burnishing) is much more subtle. Stylistically, Alden's design seems more purposeful. While details on my Alden shoes interact well with each other, often following the curvature of the shoe or other details on the upper, the details on my AE shoes don't always coordinate well, like a rounded wingtip design neighboring a square piece of leather, or an angle/curvature that just isn't quite right. However, given the price difference between both brands, it would be more appropriate to compare AE's Independence Collection ($495 today, don't remember what they were when I bought them) to Alden's calf. In that regard, I find my AE Independence superior in quality and comfort. They also really close the styling gap, although this is subjective. Leather on my Independence shoes is softer and thicker than Alden calf, uppers are lined with goatskin, a padded insole with arch support runs through the whole shoe and I do believe the Independence soles are also of higher quality, at least compared to mainline AE. They also appear to take more care ensuring details coordinate through the whole shoe.

Unfortunately, they aren't selling the original Independence Collection anymore. Figure many people couldn't see paying almost $500 for a pair of AEs. I know in typical AE fashion, there were 3-4 hits (Williams, Jefferson, Hancock come to mind) with this collection, and the rest probably could have used a bit more fine tuning on the drawing board. I grew to appreciate the Rutledge in tan, but it took awhile to bite on that.

My workhorse shoes are my AE for BB Park Aves. AE for BB is practically in a category of its own. A little compromise in styling, but they are the only shoes I own that I can wear and walk in all day without my feet trying to kill me. Perhaps it's just the perfect fit for my foot. 5 years of concrete and gravel parking lots around DC, lots of foreign travel, still kicking ass. I've been shot at in these things and they feel more like tennis shoes than dress shoes running for cover.

 

[ReppTiePrepster]

I like both of there shoes quite a bit but Alden just a bit better. I agree that Allen Edmonds is a much better company overall as far as accessories and customer service. I don't understand about the above criticism though. It seems he didn't read the comparison and just made a rude comment, but I guess people post things for different reasons.

In retrospect, that was a bit charged/rude. The tone wasn't necessary. And yes, there is a lot about AE that's more convenient, cheaper, and more customer friendly than Alden. I don't think anyone would challenge that. But my general point remains the same. The quality of construction, build, design, materials, etc... I don't think AE compares. Generally speaking though, most Alden aficionados admire the shell cordovan makeups, and more recently some of the newer more casual materials like suede, chrmxl, etc... Comparing calf dress shoes may give AE the edge because the additional cost may not be worth it. (i.e. I would rather spend more to buy the shell version than a calf dress shoe from Alden. I believe this sentiment is very common among Alden folks.)

I read the comparison, and as I said, the factors that he pointed out as strengths of AE over Alden, didn't actually involve the shoe itself. I've never had a problem with QC or customer service with Alden before, so I can't comment on that. But, I use AE shoe trees, horse hair brushes, and some other shoe products over Alden's accessories, but it doesn't mean I prefer their shoes. I'll leave the tone out of it next time.

All the best...

 

[1986Music]

For me, personally, no question - Alden is the better shoe. That's partly because I'm fond of the Barrie last. It happens to have a lot of room in the toe box, and the unlined models are ultra-comfortable. AE tries to do trendy and succeeds sometimes, but Alden largely sticks to timeless styles and I feel that their construction/finishing reflects this also. Despite my close proximity to their Milwaukee area stores, of all the different ones I've tried or owned, I've found Allen Edmonds shoes to be quite lacking. That said, they have an extraordinarily devoted clientele up here. At least 1/3 of my colleagues wear them. Anyway, the construction and fit of the AE's have just never come close to those of the Aldens I own. Whether suede, chromexcel, or cordovan, Alden seems superior to me and their flex welt soles seem to last longer than any other leather soles. I've owned unlined AE chukkas and unlined Alden ones and I donated the former less than six months after purchasing (and those had a dainite sole, even!). ***Also, while they hardly ever go on sale, Unionmade has a promo going until the end of the day: buy so much, get so much off. The max is 30% discount off of 1k or above worth of shoes. However, an excellent discount can still be had for purchasing a single pair of Aldens. Nothing to compare with AE's from the Rack, but the cost is worth the extra cheddar to me.

 

[1986Music]

E Strand

Alden 954

Alden 979


Alden 909

Alden 975

AE McGregor

AE LaSalle

The AE LaSalle is a damn fine looking shoe, I will say that.

 

[Michael Griffin]

Jumping in here. I’ve wondered about this too. Re padded insole - AE uses their signature cork infill... hence no padded insole required? Also, AE uses a steel shank as well, don’t they? An apples to apples comparison is AE Independence collection v Alden. AEI has wheeled edged sole like Alden plus lambskun lining, retails at $495. MG

 

[MoneyWellSpent]

Jumping in here. I’ve wondered about this too. Re padded insole - AE uses their signature cork infill... hence no padded insole required? Also, AE uses a steel shank as well, don’t they? An apples to apples comparison is AE Independence collection v Alden. AEI has wheeled edged sole like Alden plus lambskun lining, retails at $495. MG

All quality Goodyear-welted shoes have cork filling under the insole. That's not unique amongst the shoes discussed in these forums. The filling under the insole is mandatory for a Goodyear-welted shoe due to the void created by the canvas gemming. Cork is simply considered the best material for the purpose. It conforms to the shape of your foot better than most alternatives. It is strictly marketing that tries to build up the cork into something it isn't. It isn't a unique luxury addition for the privileged shoe.

Allen Edmonds does not use steel shanks. They are generally shankless. Occasionally they have been known to insert a fiber "heel tuck" that is a shank of sorts. However, it is more for the purpose of catching the serrated nails that the heel stack is nailed on with after they puncture the outsole. Most of their models don't employ that as far as I know though. I think the serrated nails catch in the leather outsole well enough that it isn't necessary.

 

[kilowatts]

Hi Guys:

I know I'm a little late to the feast, but I'd like to add my views:

I have both Alden and AE, and like them both all for the reasons before stated by others. However, I have one tiny comment which is that AE has made a decision many years ago to make shoes with no shank. I find that some older AE models appear to collapse in the middle and seem very flat after much wear. I think a shank somewhat prevents that. Further, compared to Alden some more formal AE styles appear to be made lower in height, witness the first photo comparison in this thread.

These comments are not complaints merely points of view as I have both brands which in all cases suit me fine.

kilowatts

 

[smfdoc]

Comparison shots side-by-side...
Alden Ravello Wingtip Boots versus Allen Edmonds Walnut Shell Cordovan Dalton










A little different lighting...

The one weird thing that has always bothered me about the Dalton is the spacing of the eyelets. To my eye, they just look too far apart and the thinner laces just accentuates this issue. Yes, they lace the boots but the proportions just look a little off. It's like seeing a house where all of the windows are just too small in relation to the wall. I personally think the boot's appearance would benefit had they used 8 or 9 eyelets rather than the 7 they went with.

 

[Stefan88]

I've owned only one pair of Allen Edmonds and 3 pairs of Alden.
My opinion is the Alden shoes in total are so much better. Quality, balance of all the details, the lasts, the curvatures...
I think Alden, like none other, always gets the balance right.