J Crew credit- thoughts on their shoes?

[Truism]

Due to the holidays and a lot of, to be kind to friends and family, ill-informed ideas of my personal preferences, I came into about a lump sum total of $350 in credit at J Crew. I certainly have enough of their stuff and am not in need of much by way of cloth but I am thinking of going into their shoes for some new goodies.

http://www.jcrew.com/mens_category/shoes.jsp

Unfortunately this puts me below Alden level. I'm leaning towards some boots, and I wanted to ask- as for the casual/chukka boots, anyone have any thoughts or recommendations? Could use something for a bit of office casual while being sturdy enough.

Also I'm looking at the Chippewa section, but I already have a pair of AE Cascades in chocolate brown/black and don't want to get too redundant with the rugged boots. You think that'd be the case? And certainly if there are any of their other third party offerings that I should consider please let me know.

What say? I'm a little bit of a newbie to the shoe game and don't know too much about the stuff, but I mostly just don't fully trust J Crew to make a thing that will last based on some shirts/pants I've gotten from them.

Thanks all, my comfy feet thank you in advance

 

[papa kot]

I have inspected and considered J. Crew shoes in the past and I simply could not justify the purchase due to sloppy work. J. Crew is not in the business of making luxury shoes. Move on.

 

[msulinski]

The only true J-Crew brand shoes I have are a pair of dirty bucks. I've only worn them one summer so far, so I can't really comment on their durability. They are GYW though.

Have you considered putting a little extra money towards a pair of Aldens?

 

[NefariousSabatour]



Have you considered putting a little extra money towards a pair of Aldens?

this is the correct answer.

 

[Thanks SF (a new me)]

or the AS line...

 

[Truism]

As I feared, the in house shoes don't seem to get too many ringing endorsements. Out of curiosity, how does the forum feel about Chippewa? I feel I've heard decent things and would be curious if they hold up with the "for J Crew" suffix

 

[rutabaga]

I have the Chippewa JCrew moc toe boots and am very satisfied with the leather quality and appearance.

 

[Exdeath]

Another vote on using that for some nice Aldens. Get a pair of shells, you won't regret it.

 

[HughJ]

Generally their shoes are an extremely poor value, but I have a couple of pairs I got on the cheap that I reserve for foul weather. The collaborations appear to be made to the maker's usual standards. I can't comment on the quality of Chippewa, but they look clunky to me. I don't know what appeals to you, but I could get a lot of use out of some of the AS shoes they have listed, personally.

 

[Viral]

JCrew drivers a are a good deal when bought on sale..........