Finally Got My First AEs

[California Dreamer]

So far as I know, you can't buy Allen Edmonds in Australia, at least not easily. After reading all the endorsements for them here and at AAAC, I made up my mind to get some.

For a while, I've been in the market for a casual shoe that can be worn with business casual too. After a lot of toing and froing with STP trying to get my shoe width right, I finally took delivery of my first AEs - a pair of chestnut Hillcrests.

 

[wgiceman]

Welcome to the AE club. I think I got my first pair of AE's about 3 months ago and I immediately got hooked on them. I have managed to get 12 pairs in that period of time and now I am ready to start getting some of the dress casual models.

How do you like your Hillcrests so far?

 

[amerikajinda]

I've got those exact shoes too! Congratulations on your purchase. I'm sure you'll find (if you haven't already) that they're extremely comfortable shoes.

 

[Teacher]

You shall regret it. You shall wear the shoes and they will feel good. They will also look good. You shall like them very much, so you shall seek the shoes in another color. You shall then think upon yourself "hey, why don't I get a pair of cap toes? But which color?" You shall then accumulate, over time, more Allen Edmonds than you shall need, and Mrs. Dreamer shall smite you upon the head....

 

[well-kept]

Originally Posted by wgiceman

Welcome to the AE club. I think I got my first pair of AE's about 3 months ago and I immediately got hooked on them. I have managed to get 12 pairs in that period of time

A pair a week. Let's see, that'll be... five hundred or so in the next decade.

 

[Jared]

Speaking of AEs on STP: what are they chances that any of them will make it to clearance?

 

[wgiceman]

Originally Posted by Teacher

You shall regret it. You shall wear the shoes and they will feel good. They will also look good. You shall like them very much, so you shall seek the shoes in another color. You shall then think upon yourself "hey, why don't I get a pair of cap toes? But which color?" You shall then accumulate, over time, more Allen Edmonds than you shall need, and Mrs. Dreamer shall smite you upon the head....
This is humorous in how it is stated, but it is absolutely accurate. All I can say is 'you have been warned'.

 

[wgiceman]

Originally Posted by well-kept

A pair a week. Let's see, that'll be... five hundred or so in the next decade.
I know, it is a weakness. But I think I have regained control of it now. The only problem is that I was just looking at the John Lobb website earlier this morning, and ....... well ......... Christmas is just around the corner.

 

[sho'nuff]

congratulations on your firstAE!
i like the hillcrest alot, the leather is beefy and it has a special goodyear reverse? type welt around it not typical of most AEs.

 

[California Dreamer]

Originally Posted by Teacher

You shall regret it. You shall wear the shoes and they will feel good. They will also look good. You shall like them very much, so you shall seek the shoes in another color. You shall then think upon yourself "hey, why don't I get a pair of cap toes? But which color?" You shall then accumulate, over time, more Allen Edmonds than you shall need, and Mrs. Dreamer shall smite you upon the head....
That's scary. I am in fact already planning to buy a pair of black AE cap-toes. You see, I need a pair of brown shoes for work. If I buy some black cap-toes, I can take my black bluchers to work and leave them there for the days when I ride my bike in, and bring the brown bluchers I leave there home so that I have a wider choice of shoe styles at home for the days I don't ride in. Does that make sense to you? It doesn't to the aforesaid Mrs Dreamer.

 

[wheelerray]

Originally Posted by California Dreamer

Does that make sense to you? It doesn't to the aforesaid Mrs Dreamer.

Yes, of course it makes sense to me and fellow forumites. I may be able to give you a head-start on how to best handle the "Mrs. Dreamer" issue.

At the crux of the following suggestions is the old adage that "What she doesn't know won't hurt her." Because of this, you do not have to feel guilty--you are doing her a kindness by concealing your purchases from her.
.
1. Have your credit card statements sent out only by e-copy--to your email address only.

2. Get all packages delivered to your work address, or to a trusted friend's house.

3. Get a different cell phone and keep it only at work-- use this number for on-line and special orders where a phone number must be given.

4. Never, ever complain to her about breaking in new shoes. When asked; "Aren't those new shoes?" get angry and indignant about how little attention she pays to your efforts to dress nicely for her, since you've had these shoes for months!

5. Hide an old pair of shoes when you're ready to sneak in a new pair. That way the count remains the same until she gets used to seeing the new pair around. After a month or two, "find" the old pair while cleaning out the closet.

6. Buy lighter color shoes first. When you add in a new, darker pair you can claim you just antiqued an old pair and they just look different.

Good luck!

 

[StockwellDay]

Originally Posted by wheelerray

Yes, of course it makes sense to me and fellow forumites. I may be able to give you a head-start on how to best handle the "Mrs. Dreamer" issue.

At the crux of the following suggestions is the old adage that "What she doesn't know won't hurt her." Because of this, you do not have to feel guilty--you are doing her a kindness by concealing your purchases from her.
.
1. Have your credit card statements sent out only by e-copy--to your email address only.

2. Get all packages delivered to your work address, or to a trusted friend's house.

3. Get a different cell phone and keep it only at work-- use this number for on-line and special orders where a phone number must be given.

4. Never, ever complain to her about breaking in new shoes. When asked; "Aren't those new shoes?" get angry and indignant about how little attention she pays to your efforts to dress nicely for her, since you've had these shoes for months!

5. Hide an old pair of shoes when you're ready to sneak in a new pair. That way the count remains the same until she gets used to seeing the new pair around. After a month or two, "find" the old pair while cleaning out the closet.

6. Buy lighter color shoes first. When you add in a new, darker pair you can claim you just antiqued an old pair and they just look different.

Good luck!

This should be pinned.

 

[Teacher]

Originally Posted by California Dreamer

That's scary. I am in fact already planning to buy a pair of black AE cap-toes.

You see, I need a pair of brown shoes for work.


And so it came to pass that upon that day, the very words of Teacher, mightiest among all Seers, came to fruition.

 

[JLibourel]

Originally Posted by wgiceman

Welcome to the AE club. I think I got my first pair of AE's about 3 months ago and I immediately got hooked on them. I have managed to get 12 pairs in that period of time and now I am ready to start getting some of the dress casual models.

How do you like your Hillcrests so far?

Good heavens! If you keep going at that rate, you'll have outstripped me--probably the second-worst A-E junkie in forumland--in less than six months and in a year you may have outstripped FlatSix, the worst of them all! (Last I heard from the lad, which was some time ago, he was up to 50 pairs and climbing.)

As for the wives' spotting new shoes, if mine is an example, they are not very good at it. Sometimes I will show her a new pair to admire, and she will say, "They all look alike to me."

 

[EL72]

Originally Posted by JLibourel

As for the wives' spotting new shoes, if mine is an example, they are not very good at it. Sometimes I will show her a new pair to admire, and she will say, "They all look alike to me."

Yup, mine is like that too. When I proudly displayed my new pair of Grenson Masterpieces after a trip to Atlanta/Bennies last summer (half-brogue bals with a neat medallion), she said: "don't you have another pair just like that?" referring to a cheap pair of rubber-soled bostonian captoe bluchers.

I love her to death