Is this normal? (Possibly damaged AE shoes from factory) Help!

[ESSR181]

I bought these Allen Edmonds 'Hale' on Black Friday for $234, normal retail price $315. I'm a 12B and this was the only pair of 12B's they had in stock for the model on sale. The sales lady was generally nice so I believed her when I asked if it was normal to have been stitched like this, but she was really tired of me because of my annoying-to-fit foot. Anyway:

If it isn't normal, is there anything I can do? I've worn them 3 or 4 times (and one time I walked from Broad Street to 14th street up Broadway--)...

 

[Teacher]

The stitches are simply sitting about a millimeter in from their normal position. There is no structural difference, and after wearing the shoes a few times you won't notice it for all the dirt etc. anyway. Enjoy your purchase.

 

[sho'nuff]

you'll find that for both first quality and seconds , AE is known for relatively bad consistency throughout their production, i won't say quality control , because most of it is cosmetic, like your problem,
but others i have experienced when dealing with AE are:

• stitching that is not in the channel but a mm outside the channel, so they can get abraded when walking occurs.
  
  
• eyelets not lined up
  
  
• leather uppers and insole leathers not firmly attached in some areas on the counters and such. kind of floating and pockets of air .
  
  
• shapes and seams and lines not congruently lined up on a pair, like they should be in a mirror image of each other left and right side.
  
  
• welt width of extension past upper is different on either side of a shoe. meaning, on one side of the shoe, the welt extension is less , but the other side , the extension is too much. meaning the sole was attached sloppily on the upper not lined up correctly.

etc.

these and other 'anomalies' of AE is one of the things that prevents me from purchasing any AE for myself.

 

[Cantabrigian]

For AE it is normal - in my experience.

As Teacher and shoe said, it's cosmetic but it's one of the reasons I don't buy any more AEs.

 

[ESSR181]

* stitching that is not in the channel but a mm outside the channel, so they can get abraded when walking occurs.
* eyelets not lined up
* leather uppers and insole leathers not firmly attached in some areas on the counters and such. kind of floating and pockets of air .
* shapes and seams and lines not congruently lined up on a pair, like they should be in a mirror image of each other left and right side.
* welt width of extension past upper is different on either side of a shoe. meaning, on one side of the shoe, the welt extension is less , but the other side , the extension is too much. meaning the sole was attached sloppily on the upper not lined up correctly.

I'm highly confused. If AE is held in such high regard around here and elsewhere for consistency and quality, how the hell is this possible??

 

[sho'nuff]

let me explain.

AE is held in high regard around here for those who are starting in their shoe interest and epicureanism.

from there, as your tastes and reasonings seasons and gets more refined, you will find out more about other makes that are superior and highly superlative.


for the common shoe buyer, AE is still a huge value at its retail price and regular discounted prices throughout.

but for more seasoned shoe connoisseurs , like on this forum, we represent not the average at all.
small subtle things detract us from AE and onto makes that are much better , however at a higher cost of course.

that is the key to AE . pricing and value. starting off.
that is the rub to AE. lack of refinement, anomalies, and not a superlative nature both in leather quality, lasts/shapes, and styles.


if you havent already known this, there are many here who would pay several hundreds more (or even a thousand) for a shoe that contains a few superlative elements, which in the eyes of the norm, are usually negligible for those who dont care.

 

[binatang]

Apart from being unpleasing to the eye ... there's nothing wrong with'em.
There's this common misconception that goodyear welted shoes are merely stiched to the upper & any wayward stiching will affect the structural integrity of the shoe In reality they are both stiched & glued!

The whole surface of the sole is glued to the upper. Its the glue that really holds the shoe together. You can physical remove every welt stich in your AE & it will wear fine until the sole disintegrates.

 

[Mr T]

Es occupy the sweet spot where price and quality intersect to make a good value. They are great shoes. But on the shoe pyramid of this forum they are the bottom tier - only slightly below Alden but still above 99% of what your fellow bi-peds wear. In my shoe rotation are Alden and Tricker too but mostly AE. I am so hard on my footwear that I just don't trust myself with truly decadent shoes and continue to buy AE at the point that others may have progressed to Santoni or Ferragamo Tremezza etc.

As to your specific issue, AEs do have a consistency issue and I am not surprised to see your wandering stitching. I once purchased pairs of AE Delrays in black and chili from the same store, at the same time. These were not seconds and, except for the color, identical in every way. The black pair have refused to break-in. The leather is just as stiff as the first day - apparently from the ass of an old goat. The chili pair however are luxurious and have developed a great patina.

 

[style from the heartland]

Indeed, my pair of PA's (my first!) arrived last night with a minor imperfection inside the sole "pad." Apparently a little of the glue in the seam between the leather and sole (under the capped area) had globbed over to where my big toe rides.

It was quite uncomfortable to walk on. But it was quickly remedied by my wife's nail file. Everything else looked spectacular about the PA. It truly does look much better on the foot than in online pictures!

+1 to Shoe: well put!

 

[Tarmac]

I had a pair of macneils which were near comically bad. The sole length was mismatched by at least 1/4 inch. One heel was seriously about 1/2 inch wider than the other. It looked like they took a sole which was too big and slapped it onto the last pair of shoes of the day.

AEs have decent materials, decent design, but bad manufacturing. Its like a modern Volkswagen

 

[zarathustra]

Originally Posted by Mr T

The black pair have refused to break-in. The leather is just as stiff as the first day - apparently from the ass of an old goat. The chili pair however are luxurious and have developed a great patina.

My mora's are like that. The black ones refused to break in while the brown ones are now soft and supple, perhaps too much so. I at least know why now... damn goat.

 

[ENT]

That goat must really be getting around because I have the exact same problem with my black Steen loafers compared to my chili ones.

 

[riveroaks]

Hmm, this may be a color-dependent thing as my chili Kingsley is the most comfortable out of my AEs while the black Glasgow and Burtons are the most uncomfortable...

 

[style from the heartland]

Aforementioned black PA's took about two half-days and 3-4 full days to get truly comfortable for me. Don't wear them all day for the first couple wearings (trust me).

 

[Big A]

If you call AE, tell them the problem, and mail them back they'll probably replace them for free