Johnson and Murphy shoes: Quality and appropriate price point?

[JLibourel]

Originally Posted by Teacher

Lovely shoes. I have a pair of brown wingtip Handmades (no spade soles), and they're fabulous. Unfortunately they're also extremely rare, as they haven't been made since 2000 (when the SINGLE guy who made them died) and they were made in tiny numbers to begin with.


As I recall the story from Mr. Pollock and others, the story behind the J&M Handmades was that they were more a publicity thing on the part of J&M and never intended to be any sort of profit center for the company. The tab on them was $1,000 a pair, and so at that price they damn well ought to be good! Some of these turned up at Bennies a while back in oddball sizes and at very appealing prices, which made them a point of interest in forumland for a spell.

 

[Renault78law]

http://www.styleforum.net/showthread.php?t=3912
http://www.styleforum.net/showthread.php?t=3782

 

[j]

Shovel soles, sorry. I was close, I guess.

 

[Renault78law]

Originally Posted by j

Shovel soles, sorry. I was close, I guess.
no, you were right. according to RIDER in the first link provided above, "the sole was called a 'Detroit Spade'. Probably not the most politically correct term now . . . ."

 

[UMass]

I have two pairs of J&M, one made in India and one in Mexico.
The Indian made pair is actually better made than the Mexican pair.
Regardless, I will not be purchasing any more J&M shoes.

 

[EL72]

You can always trust j to call a spade a spade.

 

[Kai]

I have a couple of pairs of J&M shoes I purchased in 1989. One is calfskin and one is shell cordovan. The calfskin shoes are US made, and the shell cordovan shoes are made in Italy. Both look good, have held up very well, and have been very good shoes for me.

I guess if they have been letting the quality slip, then who knows what you'd get now, but the shoes I purchased from J&M in the past have been great.

 

[LegB4Wicket]

I've purchased several new pairs of J&M's from eBay for around $50 each. They were all made in Italy and have held up very well.

They are not the greatest shoes in the world, but for what I paid are well worth the price. Well styled, comfotable and reasonable quality.

Not everyone can afford to drop $300 plus on a pair of shoes. Please keep this in mind when comparing.

Regards,

LBW

 

[Jovan]

While that is true, I'd buy some shell cordovan shoes now if I could afford them in any way. You get a lot of life out of $300+ for them.