Bostonians Vs Johnston and Murphy

[bigbadbuff]

could someone link to the Bennie site re: Grensons, or post a pic? I see them talked about all the time and must have missed the original thread. I assume that the maker is not mentioned often as I don't see Grenson, Cheney etc listed there.

 

[drizzt3117]

Chris has made multiple links to the Grenson stuff... but here's the link: www.benniesshoes.com/grenson.htm

 

[demeis]

How much are the grensons at bennies gonna be. I remeber reading a post and he hadn't decided yet, are they still gonna be 150? Cause if they are am gonna wait. I am ordering some magnannis from him soon and would like to do both at the same time Is there any other place out there that has good deals like bennies? Or any other place that has grensons that are in my price range? Also any good place to find some AE we don't have any oultets around here and would have to order them cause the place that sells them around here probibly won't put them on sale. Thanks for all your responses so far.

 

[shuman]

surry, but what is bennies?

 

[johnnynorman3]

LOL..

If you had joined the forum 2 months ago, you'd have a closet full of shoes from Bennies.

Bennies is a store in Georgia that sells shoes. Many have compared it to heaven in fact, due to the large selection of bargain shoes that used to be sold for obscene prices for Paul Stuart.

 

[drizzt3117]

$80-150 at Bennies, I just bought some suede chukkas from Chris for $80 today.

As for AE, you can order from the outlets, I know the one in Cabazon will take phone orders and ship.

The Grensons will range in price, the ones with leather soles are $150 for the most part, but some of the others are much less. Keep in mind these shoes retail for $500-600+

 

[demeis]

drittz is that just at bennies? Cause i've looked at what hes got right now and hes doesn't have anything in my size except for loafers. Is there some place else that sells grensons for cheap? Oh and are the grensons hes selling the masterpeices, I've been wondering that since i found out he was selling them.

 

[drizzt3117]

Yes, that is at Bennies, I would recommend you call and ask for him because they have a bunch of different stuff in stock at all times (he gets returns, etc...) Some them are of the masterpiece line and others are of footmaster, feathermaster, etc...

 

[j]

Another option in your price range might be the Loakes from Charles Tyrwhitt, if they are still having that sale. Check a few weeks back for the long thread on that and see what people thought of those. They look like good basic shoes, most likely better than a comparably priced Bostonian or J&M.

 

[STYLESTUDENT]

I have the Grenson Masterpiece black captoes from Bennies. They're the equivalent in quality to the C&J handgrade Whitehall black captoes and superior to the Church Consuls. These are all $500 shoes. They run a bit narrow-be careful about size. I can't imagine buying Bostonians now as opposed to waiting for another six weeks.

 

[JohnMS]

Stay clear especially of Bostonian. I unfortunately tried a pair a couple of years ago because their "Italian" line was $35 instead of the usual $150. The shoes were uncomfortable and weren't even worth the $35 in my opinion.

Try an Allen Edmonds outlet.

 

[JLibourel]

I would second the suggestions about Allen-Edmonds outlets. They seem to be an unbeatable way to buy quality shoes at reasonable prices. HOWEVER, I have for many years had a hard and fast rule about not buying shoes by mail-order...too much risk of a poor fit with the attendant nuisance of returning the things. I'll give a recent example to show how much difference minor lot-to-lot variations can make. This summer I bought a pair of A-E Lexingtons in black that were a good fit. However, when I tried the same shoe in merlot (three different pairs), they were always a poor fit. (This may be because the AE #1 last seems to be sort of borderline on my foot. Another example: usually the AE #4 last gives a bespoke-like fit on my foot. However, the last time I was in Cabazon, I tried on the Hancock in black. It was...well, sorta "okay," but certainly not as good a fit as the brown Hancocks in my wardrobe. Unfortunately, a great many Americans do not live anywhere near an A-E outlet. Until the store in Cabazon opened late last year, the A-E outlet nearest my Long Beach, California, home was in Omaha, Nebraska. As I recall, the original inquirer was based in Rochester, NY, meaning that the nearest A-E outlets are in Manchester, VT (I think) and Riverhead on Long Island. Neither is an easy jaunt for our inquirer just to buy shoes unless he is really into wardrobe building.

 

[demeis]

Yep alittle to far, i am in the city every now and then but i take the metro in from po town so long island would be out of the question for me and as for calling a outlet i doubt i will because i feel i would be more of a nuicence then anything cause most outlets, not sure about AE, have different things everywhere and i don't want to ask what they have. I think i will wait for a pair of Grensons from bennies. Another question on fit for grensons. I am usually a 10.5 B or C in some shoes or a 10 b-c in others. Do gresons run small in all types? I was thinking of trying the 10 B captoes but i think they might be small, the last post said they run small. http://www.benniesshoes.com/grenson10.htm Also does anyone know how much he is going to charge for his new batch of shoes? I don't know any place in Upstate or CNY, Western NY that sells grensons. If you know of one i would love to hear it. thanks Nik

 

[STYLESTUDENT]

Another question on fit for grensons. Â I am usually a 10.5 B or C in some shoes or a 10 b-c in others. Â Do gresons run small in all types? Â I was thinking of trying the 10 B captoes but i think they might be small, the last post said they run small. http://www.benniesshoes.com/grenson10.htm Also does anyone know how much he is going to charge for his new batch of shoes? Â

I wear a 9E Alden and the same size in AE. My Grenson captoes (9E) (same model you are thinking about) are the right length and width in the toe area but run narrow between the heel and toe. They are stretching a bit. That's the only real difference size-wise. Conversely, I'm often told that the Alden Aberdeen last, which is what I wear, runs big. My suspicion is that these may be a tad small. On the other hand, returns are free and there will be a price increase (Chris hasn't yet specified). Maybe, if you email Chris, he can measure the length and the maximum width of the outsole so that you can compare them with your existing shoes.Incidentally, delivery is very,very fast-if you order, you won't wait to get your shoes.

 

[Horace]

I wear a 9E Alden and the same size in AE. My Grenson captoes (9E) (same model you are thinking about) are the right length and width in the toe area but run narrow between the heel and toe. They are stretching a bit. That's the only real difference size-wise.

I found the same to be the case with the way the Gren's fit.

Also re: J&M shoes. They do make three models (and I believe one is a cap-toe, though it didn't strike me as a particularly attractive model) made in the USA. I haven't tried a J&M in years, so I don't know about these models. They are about US$325 and without inspection, I'd say you might as well cf. to Alden and AE