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Church's Appreciation Thread

aquatherm

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Like many here, I won't buy another pair of Church's. Even at the old prices
 

dukenukem4ever

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Have always wanted to try a pair of Church's but none of its lasts were ever of particular interest to me. Nevertheless, in terms of "quality" how does Church's hold up against C&J / Cheaney and other English makers? Just curious to hear some opinions.
 

PairOfDerby's

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I have just grabbed a pair of Chetwynd from Herrings. I don't need another pair of black shoes, but with the 20% discount in black shoes, the final price is almost half of the new price. Maybe my last pair of Church's.

It seams that Justin Fitzpatrick's predictions about Church's are becoming true :

That man is a clueless tool and the offerings on his blog are fugly tat.
 

PairOfDerby's

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Have always wanted to try a pair of Church's but none of its lasts were ever of particular interest to me. Nevertheless, in terms of "quality" how does Church's hold up against C&J / Cheaney and other English makers? Just curious to hear some opinions.
Wrong thread. There is another thread on this. Read the trust pilot reviews of Cheaney.
 

EUtroll

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Had a pair of Ryder 3 on the list for future purchases as a nice kick around shoe, but at these prices I can simply do a MTO with Enzo Bonafe, etc.
 

JUAN MANUEL

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Have always wanted to try a pair of Church's but none of its lasts were ever of particular interest to me. Nevertheless, in terms of "quality" how does Church's hold up against C&J / Cheaney and other English makers? Just curious to hear some opinions.

Hello

I own several shoes from both brands and find that Church's Custom Grade line is of similar quality of C&J Main Collection, maybe C&J has a better finishing but Church's has a heft that I like.

Comparing the shoes in my rotation, Church's lasts (100 and 173) fit me better than the C&J's lasts (341 and 224). My wish list for 2021 includes a pair of C&J Pembroke and a pair Coniston, the 325 last is generous and maybe is the right last for my bulky feet.
 
Last edited:

PairOfDerby's

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Hello

I own several shoes from both brands and find that Church's Custom Grade line is of similar quality of C&J Main Collection, maybe C&J has a better finishing but Church's has a heft that I like.

Comparing the shoes in my rotation, Church's lasts (100 and 173) fit me better than the C&J's lasts (341 and 224). My wish list for 2021 includes a pair of C&J Pembroke and a pair Coniston, the 325 last is generous and maybe is the right last for my bulky feet.
I have wide feet and take a G fit in Church's but I can wear C&J 325 E fit.
 

letsgofire

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I went into the Chicago Church's store yesterday and I have to concede that, even as a positive Church's fan, I'm growing more disappointed.

I went to see the Consul 1945 special edition in person and to compare it to the normal Consul shoe. It was disappointingly very similar...unless one looked very carefully (a small red piece on the back of the shoe, a different color on the sole) you would be hard-pressed to observe which is the more expensive one. Why pay a premium to the Consul I wondered.

The pricing then had me shocked. The Special Edition Consul is $890 USD but the regular Consul is now $950. I'm pretty sure the 2020 price for Consul was $790 USD - though I'm not 100% confident of this. This would mean that in Church's move to raise the prices of their core line, they've moved it ahead of one-off special edition variants that were priced at a small premium. This...doesn't make sense.

Church's Dubai model is rather similar to Consul. It's the cheaper variant that used be called the City Line but now I don't know what they are called as they change them too often. This is now priced at $625. It wasn't too long ago that this price level got you the Consul. This type of price inflation is difficult to understand.

The assortment in the store wasn't too interesting. They are over-assorted on the lower price (using that term loosely) lower quality, binder leather type items. I hadn't been into to the store since Covid-19 and I was wondering if they had some interesting boots as holdovers from winter or had some new loafers for Spring. There was nothing interesting for me. I'll check back in later in the Summer maybe.
 

dukenukem4ever

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I went into the Chicago Church's store yesterday and I have to concede that, even as a positive Church's fan, I'm growing more disappointed.

I went to see the Consul 1945 special edition in person and to compare it to the normal Consul shoe. It was disappointingly very similar...unless one looked very carefully (a small red piece on the back of the shoe, a different color on the sole) you would be hard-pressed to observe which is the more expensive one. Why pay a premium to the Consul I wondered.

The pricing then had me shocked. The Special Edition Consul is $890 USD but the regular Consul is now $950. I'm pretty sure the 2020 price for Consul was $790 USD - though I'm not 100% confident of this. This would mean that in Church's move to raise the prices of their core line, they've moved it ahead of one-off special edition variants that were priced at a small premium. This...doesn't make sense.

Church's Dubai model is rather similar to Consul. It's the cheaper variant that used be called the City Line but now I don't know what they are called as they change them too often. This is now priced at $625. It wasn't too long ago that this price level got you the Consul. This type of price inflation is difficult to understand.

The assortment in the store wasn't too interesting. They are over-assorted on the lower price (using that term loosely) lower quality, binder leather type items. I hadn't been into to the store since Covid-19 and I was wondering if they had some interesting boots as holdovers from winter or had some new loafers for Spring. There was nothing interesting for me. I'll check back in later in the Summer maybe.
950 is pushing EG / C&J handgrade level pricing lol. I just took a look at Church's styles again... just can't find it in me to be appealed by their last shapes. I suppose if I'm to spend 950 on a pair of shoes I'd just go for C&J handgrade or EG even.
 

Mercurio

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I believe that Church's prices are simply crazy, they are going to lose much of their potential customers. Even though for a few years I don't wear formal, I used to like some of their more casual models.

Some examples of their deranged prices:

I bought my Ryder chukka boots three years ago for 150 € at Farfecth, now they cost £ 620 (without VAT) on their web site...

c18228d9-1568-4ff3-85f2-a92d9bf6d92f-jpeg.1569749

Last Christmas I was considering a pair of penny-loafers, such as the Church's Pembrey, that now cost £650 (without VAT) on their site.

cq5dam.web.white.2560x2560.jpeg


To be on-trend, they decided to convert what used to be nice pair of shoes in an atrocity, which is being offered at the modest price of £ 750... :mad:

cq5dam.web.white.2560x2560.jpeg


In the end, after some research I finally bought the Cheaney's Dorking penny-loafers, which are almost identical to the Church's Pembrey except in their price: I paid £125 without VAT) during their sale.


To be fair, although the price I paid had a considerable discount, the actual difference still enormous for shoes that are not so different in terms of quality or even their last: Cheaney's is an awesome brand. The next image is a side-by-side comparison of the Church's Pembrey and Cheaney's Dorking.

Cheaney vs Churchs.jpg

Cheaney's Dorking on my feet:

03a89dfd-a3d1-41f2-bed2-7c3b1afb58c4-jpeg.1500521
 
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PairOfDerby's

Senior Member
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Dec 15, 2010
Messages
154
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I believe that Church's prices are simply crazy, they are going to lose much of their potential customers. Even though for a few years I don't wear formal, I used to like some of their more casual models.

Some examples of their deranged prices:

I bought my Ryder chukka boots three years ago for 150 € at Farfecth, now they cost £ 620 (without VAT) on their web site...

c18228d9-1568-4ff3-85f2-a92d9bf6d92f-jpeg.1569749

Last Christmas I was considering a pair of penny-loafers, such as the Church's Pembrey, that now cost £650 (without VAT) on their site.

cq5dam.web.white.2560x2560.jpeg


To be on-trend, they decided to convert what used to be nice pair of shoes in an atrocity, which is being offered at the modest price of £ 750... :mad:

cq5dam.web.white.2560x2560.jpeg


In the end, after some research I finally bought the Cheaney's Dorking penny-loafers, which are almost identical to the Church's Pembrey except in their price: I paid £125 without VAT) during their sale.


To be fair, although the price I paid had a considerable discount, the actual difference still enormous for shoes that are not so different in terms of quality or even their last: Cheaney's is an awesome brand. The next image is a side-by-side comparison of the Church's Pembrey and Cheaney's Dorking.

Cheaney's Dorking on my feet:

03a89dfd-a3d1-41f2-bed2-7c3b1afb58c4-jpeg.1500521
Sorry, i have tried the cheaney offerring and I have the Pembrey. Church's Pembrey are made of prestige calf. They are buttery soft. You can slip i to them with bare feet and they feel like suede boat shoes. The Cheaney are nice but are much stiffer.
 

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