New butler at a 5 star hotel, what shoes do I get?

[dressnoob]

Hi, have been working as a hotel butler at a 5-star for 1 month, and I am still wearing oversized shoes to work. I want to get a better pair and will be able to treat them well since I can polish them myself at work. It has to be Professional/Fashionable, Black colored, and Formal. My step counter has an average of 13k steps in 8 hours plus a lot of crouching and picking up things. Will nice good year welt + full grain shoes be able to withstand the workload + provide decent comfort?

Shoes currently that are on my list are:
1) Meermin - Cap Toe Oxford (UltraFlex system)
2) Allen Edmonds - Fifth Avenue (Dainite?)
3) Ecco shoes
4) Herring - Rackenford / Stansted

Any other suggestions or experience on the above shoes will be appreciated!!


I also want to know which sole to get for walking. Dainite/ Leather / or Rubber for my situation?

 

[daizawaguy]

How about TLB Mallorca with a rubber sole - I would say these are a smart and durable shoe that can take some stresses.

https://www.skolyx.se/en/tlb-mallorca-artista/603-tlb-artista-black-plain-cap-toe-oxford.html

 

[Duke Santos]

The one thing about Dainite is that it is deadly on either hard ice or a freshly mopped slick office floor. If your hotel has some nice marble floors that are frequently mopped and cleaned, I would avoid Dainite and go with some other form of rubber sole.

 

[stuffedsuperdud]

Potentially unpopular opinion, but I've had roommates who worked in fine dining restaurants, i.e. had to maintain a sharp appearance while doing lots of running up and down stairs carrying things, navigating wet floors and splashes, getting stepped on, etc. and they all wore stuff from Shoes for Crews, for comfort and slip resistance. Now the rooms they worked in were oftentimes dim plus no one was really looking down at their feet anyway, so style wasn't as important as it probably is for you. I took a quick look just now and their lineup is admittedly pretty ugly, but a few models seem reasonably StyleForum approved. The Stanton, for example, hits a lot of SF-checkboxes. What I wouldn't do is shell out for any of the $400+ stuff that is popular here. Costs aside, they're frequently not the most comfortable option after an 8 hour shift, plus, while leather is durable, it still doesn't really like being constantly splashed about with food, booze, cleaning solutions etc. and it'd just be a waste of fine D'Annonay leather.

If your hotel has some nice marble floors that are frequently mopped and cleaned, I would avoid Dainite and go with some other form of rubber sole.

This. Every time I've slipped and fallen like a cartoon character, it's been Dainite soles at either a hotel lobby or an airport ticketing area, as both seem to source their flooring from the devil himself. If you might be having to run around taking care of the kind of people who like 5-star hotels, this might be something to watch out for.

 

[dressnoob]

Potentially unpopular opinion, but I've had roommates who worked in fine dining restaurants, i.e. had to maintain a sharp appearance while doing lots of running up and down stairs carrying things, navigating wet floors and splashes, getting stepped on, etc. and they all wore stuff from Shoes for Crews, for comfort and slip resistance. Now the rooms they worked in were oftentimes dim plus no one was really looking down at their feet anyway, so style wasn't as important as it probably is for you. I took a quick look just now and their lineup is admittedly pretty ugly, but a few models seem reasonably StyleForum approved. The Stanton, for example, hits a lot of SF-checkboxes. What I wouldn't do is shell out for any of the $400+ stuff that is popular here. Costs aside, they're frequently not the most comfortable option after an 8 hour shift, plus, while leather is durable, it still doesn't really like being constantly splashed about with food, booze, cleaning solutions etc. and it'd just be a waste of fine D'Annonay leather.



This. Every time I've slipped and fallen like a cartoon character, it's been Dainite soles at either a hotel lobby or an airport ticketing area, as both seem to source their flooring from the devil himself. If you might be having to run around taking care of the kind of people who like 5-star hotels, this might be something to watch out for.

Nice, would you have any recommendations as to what brands I can try in the sub $250 dollar club? Or are the shoes I have listed just fine? Is there a post in this forum that talk about what shoes are approved by the majority here at different price point?

Also, leather shoes will last as long as they will regardless of wear time right? Wear time only affects the sole and you will need to get it resole sooner or later am I right?

 

[Duke Santos]

AE 5th Avenues with a leather sole are on sale right now for $237. That's a hell of a price. You can have a cobbler add the rubber topy half sole to it if you want.

Fifth Avenue Cap-toe Oxford Dress Shoe | Men's Dress | Allen Edmonds

Handcrafted Since 1922. Shop the Men's Fifth Avenue Cap-toe Oxford Dress Shoe by Allen Edmonds. Luxury footwear, apparel & leather goods. Free shipping on orders $100+

www.allenedmonds.com

 

[trg12]

3 considerations:

If you’re doing 13k steps a day, fit is really all you should care about. The compatibility of your feet with a last shape is something you can only find out through a very good retailer or years of trial and error. Both options will strain your budget.

Leather shoes disintegrate very quickly if you don’t rotate them —especially if you put them through a lot. A common rule of thumb is 1 day of rest after 1 day of wear. So you should really be looking at 2 pairs minimum.

I agree with the others that Dainite soles are really dangerous on wet surfaces (like often found in kitchens). The studded soles from other manufacturers like Vibram don’t have this problem in my experience.

 

[notdos]

I would recommend getting a couple of pairs because rotation is the key to any shoe lasting. That many steps in a day, without rotation, no shoe is gonna really last as long as it should.

 

[dukenukem4ever]

I would go for Blake stitched with rubber outsole. Maybe TODS?

 

[dougc33]

Whatever you do - check out EBay ("The Bay") or Poshmark (I've even had good luck on Mercari) for your size - you will be amazed at the "used" values to be found. For sub-$50 I've been able to find:
- $500 retail Aldens (needed $15 of repair)
- Shell Cordovan Leeds (Black so seller had no idea)
- Brand NEW AE Cliftons in Walnut

Remember we are at "peak" used-dress-shoe value right now:
- Great Resignation
- Zoom meetings where no one sees your feet
- Boomers retiring
- "Who wants dress shoes when I can wear sneakers"?

Where do all those dress shoes go? Yep - online used clothing platforms.

Would hate to see you spend $200-$300 on a shoe you're not sure about when you could experiment for a lot less.

 

[dauster]

I have stayed at a bunch of 5 star hotels and never found that the staff was dressed particularly great. some are dressed better than others but unless you will start to work at Buckingham Palace, I am guessing it will be something like Four Seasons, Ritz (Carlton) and Mandarin Oriental or maybe even Aman? If that's the case I would only care about fit and budget and the fact that you seem to care about it makes me think you will find a comfortable shoe that also looks ok. I'd go and find an Outlet such San Francisco Premium Outlet that has a variety of options such as Ecco or even Zegna, Tod's and Gucci.

 

[barutanseijin]

The one thing about Dainite is that it is deadly on either hard ice or a freshly mopped slick office floor. If your hotel has some nice marble floors that are frequently mopped and cleaned, I would avoid Dainite and go with some other form of rubber sole.

Short of crampons, nothing really works on ice.

I find the slipperiness of Dainite to be greatly exaggerated. My workplace has slippery stone steps at the entrances. Numerous co-workers and the big boss have broken bones on these steps. I myself have taken a couple falls on them, once on leather soles and once on commando. Never on Dainite, for what it’s worth.

Even so, i wouldn’t choose Dainite in this situation. It’s too hard to be comfortable; it sends impacts straight to your knees. Maybe it would work with some sort of cushiony inserts.