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First C&J's... comment and questions (and pictures)

K to Wall St

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Just bought my first pair of C&J's... Westbourne (Last 348) in Chestnut Burnished Calf (pictures below).

(1) My excitement to own these shoes is only matched by my sorrow for how much I paid.

(2) I probably will not be buying a pair of shoes of this quality again for awhile, so I tried to pick out the most versatile pair I could (color, style). What do you think?

(3) I know they look good with a navy suit... and I know theoretically a grey suit looks great with brown shoes... but do you think of the grey suit pairings below? Are they great? Maybe pull it off? or just no.

(4) What shoe trees do I need? I think I have a couple OK pairs, but not positive if I really need something better.

(5) What shoe polish (brand and color) would someone suggest? I know the burnished calf means the polish will affect the color over time.

Thanks!




 
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add911_11

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My first pair of dress shoe is also in this colour (the guy called it dark bordeaux), such colour looks good with pretty much all conservative suit colours.
That is an excellent purchase. congrats.
 

kayjaybee

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Congrats on your purchase...the feeling you get when thinking about the cost will QUICKLY fade when you begin wearing them.
smile.gif
All of the combos you've pictured look great...the color and style you chose is very versatile and should treat you very well. Buy a pair of Woodlore shoe trees - many seem to like the "epic" style. The epics were a bit too large for my size (9UK) so I use the "combination" style and they fit a little better. Saphir is a very well respected brand of shoe polish and should do a nice job.

For now, stop worrying about all that stuff and enjoy wearing your new purchase.
biggrin.gif


Wear in good health!
Kevin
 
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SharplyTailored

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Are these not too light-coloured to wear with a navy suit? I read years ago (in GQ or somewhere) that the shoes should be at least as dark as the suit. I wear shoes in a similar colour as the OP's with jeans, but with my suits (which are all quite dark) I stick to darker shoes.
 

SuitedDx

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Congrats on the pickup. I wear my blues and grays with burgundy shoes/boots. Saphir polish is great; Meltonian and Kiwi are also fine IMO (darker, even black, would give your shoes a nice patina after a few years). I use C&J trees on mine but you could opt for the split toe Woodlore with the narrow heel. I also use the Epic and the ball and heel are too wide for the 348.

Wear in good health!
 

msulinski

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These are my favorite C&Js. I like them with #1 and #2 above, not as much with 3. They look great with navy.
 

ezlau

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Those shoes look good. Go with Saphir branded cream. Can't go wrong with them. As far as the color of the cream, it depends if you want the shoe to darken (pick a darker) or not (pick a lighter shade) of brown.
 

msulinski

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The C&J salesman recommended their dark brown polish. I haven't tried it yet, but he swears by it
 

Mr Engineer

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I like then with the 1st & 2nd combinations...

Shoes look good
 

kayjaybee

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Is the third combo dark grey/charcoal or navy? Obviously navy works better than the dark charcoal, IMO.
 
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Journeyman

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Are these not too light-coloured to wear with a navy suit? I read years ago (in GQ or somewhere) that the shoes should be at least as dark as the suit. I wear shoes in a similar colour as the OP's with jeans, but with my suits (which are all quite dark) I stick to darker shoes.


I suppose that it depends where you work, but I think that unless you work in a very conservative workplace, you'd be fine to wear those shoes with navy, grey and charcoal suits.

I wear shoes of that colour, as well as shoes in mid-brown (such as C&J's chestnut and beechnut) colours with navy and grey suits and no-one's ever minded.
 

RogerP

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I would not choose to wear these with navy. While not nearly as bad as some of the light tan shoes I see below navy cuffs, they are still too light for me for that pairing. They would be good with grey (save for the very darkest charcoal) as well as taupe / tan trousers paired with a navy blazer.

For navy, I prefer oxblood, medium-dark to dark brown, bordeaux and black.

Oh, and congrats on that gorgeous pair of shoes.
 
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Harrydog

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Great shoes. C&J chestnut is awesome. I have been polishing with saphir mahogany paste wax - works great for me. Disagree with the suggestion to polish with black. Why darken such a great color. I also disagree with the opinion that shoes should be as dark or darker than your pants. Unless you are in very conservative business setting, I find black with navy very boring. The chestnut color really shows its richness next to a dark fabric.

Enjoy.
 
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RogerP

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Unless you are in very conservative business setting, I find black with navy very boring.

I agree that black with navy is conservative, I don't agree that it is boring. That said, there are a number of other colours that look much better with navy than chestnut, should one fine black to be boring. IMO, natch.

I would also never ever put black polish on these shoes.
 

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