Next Pair of shoes/boots?

[Steve Brandt]

Hey all, I have recently been thinking about shopping instead of just buying random crap because it looks cool(jeans that start falling apart after a few times wearing them) and have been upgrading my shoes lately. My old selection was a pair of Belvedere lizard skin shoes, which are one size to big(needed some dress shoes and wasnt thinking before ordering the same size as my skate shoes) and also a little too wide. Then a pair of also too large Nunn Bush(yeah I know...) loafers which though are too large they are decently comfortable. After finding out I am a size 14 in dress shoes instead of 15 I bought another pair of Nunn Bush 14Ds(Macallister model) before realizing that my feet are not a D width but rather a B. Those were also fairly comfortable but a little too wide.

Anyway NOW I recently bought a pair of used Allen Edmonds(Burgundy Shelton model) for a good price(or in my eyes it was, good condition for $60...?) and prior to that I ordered a pair of AE Ridgeways from Allen Edmonds but those are still in production. Soooo I am looking for a pair of 14B boots, dressier maybe a wingtip or just something edgy looking. Also a pair of loafers no tassels, maybe monk strap, something... unique looking but not too flashy. Do you guys know many brands that carry size 14B shoes/boots? I am having problems finding even 14D in boots. Allen Edmonds has a couple pairs but they are in the $400-700 range and I just cant afford that at the moment.

So having the AE Shelton and Ridgeway(in Black) would the AE Sanford be a good next addition for a black dress shoe? I found a pair used in good condition for under $100 so I could have them recrafted in a couple years if I really wanted them to look NEW...

Thanks for any help you can offer

Also I am looking to sell that pair of Belvederes which I got off amazon here http://www.amazon.com/Belvedere-Belevedere-Mens-Olivo-Oxford/dp/B000NNB0BC/ref=cm_cr_pr_product_top what do you think I should try to get for them?

 

[johng70]

Steve,
One of the things you're going to find as you move up the shoe/boot food chain is that better quality leather is not as pliable as the cheap stuff. You're also going to find that manufacturers use different "lasts" - that's the molding that the leather upper is formed on. You will also find that the combination of those two things mean that you are unlike to be comfortable in the same size shoe in different lasts. I will also suggest that simply being measured doesn't cut it. Those measurements are fairly simplistic and don't account for different contours in YOUR feet. For example, in one AE last I use an "E" but in another I use a "D". You'll find people here that size up/down all the time - they may be a 9.5D on one shoe but a 9E on another.
For this reason, I advise against buying high end shoes without trying them on. Or even within a given brand, buying sight-unseen if you don't already know what size you need in that last.

A great way to aquire some AE shoes - go to an AE store to try some on and then you can buy Seconds - they even have sales on Seconds several times a year. So you can pick up some shoes for <$200.