Moulded Shoe

[RevisIsland]

Wanted to post a review on my experience with moulded shoe and ask the members of this forum for advice.

I have touble wearing my dress shoes for long walks on concrete. I get knee and back pain so I'm forced to wear sneakers outside of the office. My goal has been to find a pair of dressy commuter shoes that don't hurt my knees and back. After reading about them on this forum, I went to moulded shoe to find out more about Alden's modified last and was told I am a good candidate. I was given advice to stick with leather soles. When they went upstairs to see what was in my size they came back with some borning looking calfskin shoes for $540. I asked if/when they could get me cordovan shoes and I was told I needed to go to to Europe/Japan and pay 1000 plus. I left the store considering buying a pair of $540 dollar calfskin shoes and stopped at Alden Madison on my way back to work to see what they had. Alden Madison had one pair of 10.5 V tips #8 in modified last so I pulled the trigger thinking I might not get the chance to get corovan modified last again at $650.

It turns out the modifed lasts are comfortable to wear on carpet (similar to my barrie last Aldens) but they still hurt my knees/back on concrete.

I read that Molded will resole and convert to commando soles or crepe soles and they use the same materials as Alden. When I emailed Moulded to ask about this service, I was told to go back to Alden on Madison if I was having trouble with their shoes. I read on these forums that they were willing to do work on shoes purchased elsewhere. I am upset/angry with their response and they have now lost a potential customer. I won't step foot in there again.

So I'm going back to the drawing board. I need to find a pair of commuter shoes that look good but provide some shock absorption. I'm looking at Alden of Carmel's Longwing with commando sole or JCrew's longwing with crepe sole.

I'm also looking at the idea of converting a pair of shoes that I already own.

Does anyone have any ideas as to how I may solve my issue?

 

[Grenadier]

You can order custom Allen Edmonds with a rubber tread sole and cushioned insole for ~$350. I suspect, however, that the problem isn't the shoes.

 

[RevisIsland]

I have flip flops, basketball shoes, runnings shoes and converse by john varvados chucks that give me no pain walking. Why would you suspect it is not the shoes?

 

[Grenadier]

There is nothing about a leather sole that contributes to appreciably more stress or force being exerted on your feet, knees, back, etc. than the soles of flip flops or Converse. Perhaps you have the wrong size shoe or just need to acclimate to a leather sole.

 

[RevisIsland]

Interesting. I was thinking about going 2-3 weeks with a leather sole and see if there are improvements. I've only given my new shoes about 1 week. Maybe that is what I will do.

 

[philosophe]

A few thoughts. I am sorry to hear that you're frustrated with Moulded and Alden. My experiences with Moulded have been extremely positive.

1. Your sneakers and your dress shoes are made on different lasts, and sneakers always feel different from leather dress shoes. Wearing the dress shoes will work your leg muscles differently from the sneakers. You might want to try wearing the leather shoes for short walks and then increase the duration. Building up the muscle tone gradually usually works better than going full-blast right away.

2. Have you consulted a really good podiatrist? Moulded Shoe does a lot of work with patients from the Hospital for Special Surgery. Maybe you need a thorough foot and ankle exam. I emphasize "really good" here. Have you consulted a really good physical therapist about your knee and back pain?

3. Re sending you back to the Alden shop. On the one hand, I can see the argument for gaining a repair customer. On the other hand, I'm guessing that someone at Moulded spent time with you and gave you advice--and then you shopped elsewhere. I'm sure Moulded wishes they could have sold you shell shoes. In any case, were you appreciative of their efforts when you were in the shop?

4. Maybe Moulded just doesn't want to mess with the project; they could be busy, the project could be difficult, etc. Why not consult Alden, which offers recrafting?

5. Last but not least, some of us just have a lot of difficulty finding shoes that work. Unfortunately, there's a lot of trial and error, and we inevitably end up with some misfires along the way to the best shoe. $650 hurts, but not as much as feet, legs, and a sore back hurt.

Good luck!

 

[dopey]

FWIW, Alden will not recraft Modified Last shoes with anything other than the same kind of sole as were original. I asked because I would like to get crepe soles put on a pair of modified last v-tips in whiskey shell.

Also, I had Moulded resole a pair of Modified Last no.8 plain toe bluchers. They most definitely did not use Alden sole material.

 

[RevisIsland]

Thanks Dopey. I contacted Alden as well and they won't resole ANY shoe with anything different than the original sole.

 

[f800gs]

Check out B. Nelson?