Dress shoes in the $200-250 range

[bigbadbuff]

I'm looking to get a leather soled black oxford, preferably plain or cap toe. $200-250 won't get me into a lot of the higher end shoes, especially good leather soled shoes... any suggestions? I'd much rather spend closer to $200...

 

[Ambulance Chaser]

Several posters have previously recommended Johnston and Murphy at that price point.  If you're in the DC area, you will want to visit Church's in downtown DC, which seems to be having a perpetual 50% off sale, and Bally in Tysons Galleria, which often has a nice selection of shoes on sale.  I purchased my favorite pair of black oxfords from the latter for $195, discounted from $375.

On a side note, Bally seems to be going through some upheaval right now.  A salesman in the Beverly Hills Bally store told me that Scott Fellows is leaving after this season.

 

[bigbadbuff]

Churchs I have heard very good things about- but have never seen any in person. Bally I have seen and tried on some... never came away impressed at all. I will say it was from a lower price range than this, so it's all relative I suppose.

 

[Stone]

You can get good Allen-Edmonds shoes between $200-$250, ones I think you'll enjoy. I like Allen-Edmonds more than Johnston & Murphy, very good experiences with Allen-Edmonds' customer service.

Though, $200-$250 is at the higher end of Johnston & Murphy, so you should be getting the better examples of what J&M has to offer.

 

[Mike C.]

I found Johnston & Murphy to be a great choice; don't let the lower price discourage you. Another possibility might be Ferragamo on sale, or even Prada on sale. Your best bet is to go to an upscale dept. store with a good shoe dept. such as Nordstrom's, Neimans, Saks, or even Bloomingdales. During a good sale time there should be no reason why you can't find a really expensive pair on sale for around $200. My roomate got a pair of $470 Prada shoes for $210.

I would discourage you from buying Church's, just because the leather they use is so ugly. However their construction is impecable. Church's is probably the least expensive pair of hand made shoes to be found. I've ordered a pair from the DC store that was cheap as hell ($125...), but returned them.

 

[The_Foxx]

you should check out my favorite online shoe source, www.plal.com a GREAT place to get fine english shoes at a really good price (Grenson, Loake, Cheany, etc.); quoted in malaysian ringitts, just make the conversion for a really good american dollar price.

 

[bengal-stripe]

Go to a good shoe shop and have your feet properly measured. All the better American makers Alden, Allen-Edmonds, Johnston & Murphy produce their dress shoes in a wide range of fittings. European manufacturers have stopped doing that. They only come in wide-ish (E or F) fittings. The exception is Ferrgamo who produce for the American (but not the European) market B, D and EE fittings.

As long as you have the choice of different fittings make use of it. Find the correct size; your feet will be grateful.

 

[Stu]

Foxx: That's a great site. I have a question. Are the Crockett & Jones shoes any good? And at about $203 a pair for their Oxfords, is that a good deal? C&J is the only British shoemaker I've heard of on that site, are the others there better or more reputable?

 

[bengal-stripe]

Crockett & Jones might not be as well known as Church's but it is definitely a better product. The best English makes are John Lobb and Edward Green, they are superlative; Crockett & Jones is "only" very good and the hand grade range is very, very good. About 1/3 of C&J's output comes under their own name, the rest under a number of prestigious labels. In the States, for example they produce Polo "British bench made" and Brook Brothers' "J. Peale & Co" label.

The other manufacturers on this website: Barker, Chaney and Loake are all right, but nothing to get exited about. But as I pointed out, C&J, in common with all british shoes in that price range, only come in wide-ish fittings. If that is what you need, fine but have your foot measured beforehand to be sure.

 

[Stu]

Bengal Stripe: I take it then, that 987 Malaysian ringitts, which comes out to $257, for a pair of black hand grade C&J dress shoes is a hell of a deal.

 

[bengal-stripe]

Yes, that is a very good deal. The list price here in London for C&J hand grade is £ 265 - 300 which is $ 400 - 450.

Just make sure that you don't have to pay too much to US custom and excise. (But you would also have to pay, had you ordered the shoes from England. It would be even more, as taxes are based on the purchase price.) Even if (reasonable) tax becomes due, you still got yourself a bargain.

 

[The_Foxx]

stu--
i have the hand-grade C&J black oxfords, the Whitehall. same shoe carried by ben silver catalogue/ online site. a GREAT shoe, i like it a lot, esp. as i paid much less for it using the plal.com site. lighter than my allen edmonds (as american shoes tend to be heavier, i think), very elegant and nice hand-work and markings in them.

 

[Fanthom]

Have anyone else here, besides The_Foxx, done business with plal.com?

Marcus