• Hi, I am the owner and main administrator of Styleforum. If you find the forum useful and fun, please help support it by buying through the posted links on the forum. Our main, very popular sales thread, where the latest and best sales are listed, are posted HERE

    Purchases made through some of our links earns a commission for the forum and allows us to do the work of maintaining and improving it. Finally, thanks for being a part of this community. We realize that there are many choices today on the internet, and we have all of you to thank for making Styleforum the foremost destination for discussions of menswear.
  • This site contains affiliate links for which Styleforum may be compensated.
  • We would like to welcome House of Huntington as an official Affiliate Vendor. Shop past season Drake's, Nigel Cabourn, Private White V.C. and other menswear luxury brands at exceptional prices below retail. Please visit the Houise of Huntington thread and welcome them to the forum.

  • STYLE. COMMUNITY. GREAT CLOTHING.

    Bored of counting likes on social networks? At Styleforum, you’ll find rousing discussions that go beyond strings of emojis.

    Click Here to join Styleforum's thousands of style enthusiasts today!

    Styleforum is supported in part by commission earning affiliate links sitewide. Please support us by using them. You may learn more here.

My thorny shoe dilemma -- with pic

DocHolliday

Stylish Dinosaur
Dubiously Honored
Joined
Apr 21, 2005
Messages
16,090
Reaction score
1,158
What do you think of these shoes?

shoe1.jpg


Here's the dilemma: I've had a hankering for a pair of light brown shoes in an Italian style to wear with navy and gray suits. Thing is, I would rarely have an opportunity to wear them. Only for casual occasions in the spring and summer -- probably no more than four or five times per year, if that.

Then I stumbled across these shoes. They fulfill most of my needs. They're a nice shade, in my size, very comfortable and made of very soft leather. I even like the contrast stitching, save for the unneeded detailing on the toe. But that's not very noticeable, except up close. (Still a bit busy, though.)

The problem: They're Cole Haan. Not a terrible brand, but not a particularly good one, either. These seem nicer than some other CH I've seen, and they're made in Italy. But combined with my style reservation, I wonder if buying them is a mistake.

The draw: They're $40. And I can't see paying $300 and up for good quality light brown shoes that will get so little use. At the same time, I've always believed that a light brown shoe needs to be top quality to really work well with a dramatically darker suit.

All things considered, what do you say?
 

montmorency

Senior Member
Joined
Nov 26, 2004
Messages
187
Reaction score
0
They have a lot of style and at $40 are a good price, even for Cole Haan. I would not wear them with a suit, however. They look too casual for that to me.
 

j

(stands for Jerk)
Admin
Spamminator Moderator
Joined
Feb 17, 2002
Messages
14,663
Reaction score
105
I wouldn't wear those with a suit either, but they aren't bad. A little much going on, but they would be ok with jeans or cords, etc. For $40 in good shape you could probably flip them back for that much.
 

Tomasso

Distinguished Member
Joined
Mar 10, 2006
Messages
4,067
Reaction score
19
Doc, for $40, they won't be much of a mistake. Are they great, no. Are they terrible, no. Do it, you may find that you don't like lighter colored shoes and if so, you wont be out much for the experiment.
 

JSK

Well-Known Member
Joined
Mar 11, 2006
Messages
46
Reaction score
0
It's only $40. If you wear them 4 or 5 times a year, you'll probably have them for a good number of years, so they'll fill a hole in your collection and your hankering for such shoes will be met. Also, you can use them to pad the number of shoes you have in your collection, and get into the 46+ range all that much faster.
smile.gif
Where can they be found for $40, may I ask?
 

whoopee

Distinguished Member
Joined
Jun 7, 2005
Messages
2,420
Reaction score
4
I think they're pretty ugly and would try to sell them at ebay. No matter what you won't be out oo much money.
 

Patrick Bateman

Senior Member
Joined
Dec 30, 2004
Messages
877
Reaction score
1
For me, those look sufficiently casual that I wouldn't even wear them with odd trousers. Just my $0.02.
 

Baron

Distinguished Member
Dubiously Honored
Joined
Oct 5, 2004
Messages
8,154
Reaction score
3,458
I think they're pretty ugly too. I don't think I could wear shoes with that "bicycle" toe or whatever it's called.
 

GQgeek

Stylish Dinosaur
Joined
Mar 4, 2002
Messages
16,568
Reaction score
83
I'm going to disagree with everyone and tell you to return them. You could better spend 40 dollars. How much you're saving off of retail is really irrelevant unless you actually like them, which it sounds like you don't. Since you want opinions, they've just got way too much going on and the stitching on the toe is particularly tacky imo. I wouldn't be caught dead wearing a shoe like that... I think you should keep looking.
 

gdl203

Purveyor of the Secret Sauce
Affiliate Vendor
Dubiously Honored
Supporting Member
Joined
Jun 9, 2005
Messages
45,576
Reaction score
54,239
Am i the only one who thinks that Doc obviously omitted a 0 here? More likely to be $400 than $40, no?...
 

Connemara

Stylish Dinosaur
Joined
Mar 9, 2006
Messages
38,384
Reaction score
1,827
Originally Posted by gdl203
Am i the only one who thinks that Doc obviously omitted a 0 here? More likely to be $400 than $40, no?...

Yeah, definitely seems that way.

Doc, for $400, I'd have to say no.
 

DocHolliday

Stylish Dinosaur
Dubiously Honored
Joined
Apr 21, 2005
Messages
16,090
Reaction score
1,158
Originally Posted by gdl203
Am i the only one who thinks that Doc obviously omitted a 0 here? More likely to be $400 than $40, no?...

No, they're really $40. That's the main reason I'm considering them. I wouldn't dream of paying $400 for a CH shoe.

I appreciate all the comments so far. I think part of what is troubling me is that I'm in the process of cleaning out my closet, winnowing down to things I really like. So I'm torn on whether to try these as an experiment, even though I have mixed feelings, or to simply go without. I certainly haven't run across other shoes that meet my criteria at this price point.

The casualness of the shoe doesn't bother me terribly. I'd only wear them on very casual occasions, and the combination of very light shoe with dark suit strikes me as an inherently casual style.

Other thoughts?
 

gdl203

Purveyor of the Secret Sauce
Affiliate Vendor
Dubiously Honored
Supporting Member
Joined
Jun 9, 2005
Messages
45,576
Reaction score
54,239
Originally Posted by Connemara
Yeah, definitely seems that way.

Doc, for $400, I'd have to say no.


I agree - too much stitching for me (never seen that much thread on a dress shoe!
plain.gif
)
 

gdl203

Purveyor of the Secret Sauce
Affiliate Vendor
Dubiously Honored
Supporting Member
Joined
Jun 9, 2005
Messages
45,576
Reaction score
54,239
Originally Posted by DocHolliday
No, they're really $40. That's the main reason I'm considering them. I wouldn't dream of paying $400 for a CH shoe.

I appreciate all the comments so far. I think part of what is troubling me is that I'm in the process of cleaning out my closet, winnowing down to things I really like. So I'm torn on whether to try these as an experiment, even though I have mixed feelings, or to simply go without. I certainly haven't run across other shoes that meet my criteria at this price point.

The casualness of the shoe doesn't bother me terribly. I'd only wear them on very casual occasions, and the combination of very light shoe with dark suit strikes me as an inherently casual style.

Other thoughts?


Really? Then I think it's $40 well spent - but I would not wear them with a suit... business casual or casual IMO
 

edmorel

Quality Seller!!
Dubiously Honored
Joined
Mar 10, 2006
Messages
25,960
Reaction score
5,153
I would have a tough time wearing a pair of shoes with that type of leather and stitching and styling with anything but the most casual of outfits. I just can't possibly imagine a suit that these shoes would look good with, if anything, I think they would "dumb down" any suit.
 

Featured Sponsor

How important is full vs half canvas to you for heavier sport jackets?

  • Definitely full canvas only

    Votes: 45 40.5%
  • Half canvas is fine

    Votes: 44 39.6%
  • Really don't care

    Votes: 5 4.5%
  • Depends on fabric

    Votes: 18 16.2%
  • Depends on price

    Votes: 25 22.5%

Forum statistics

Threads
504,469
Messages
10,574,040
Members
223,698
Latest member
Brownchad
Top