Shoe Advice - AE Park Ave Cap Toe Oxford

[cheps]

Can I get your advice on this shoe? This will be my "first" style forum shoe purchase. I am looking for a comfortable brown work shoe. I am a traveling auditor, I mainly work in an office environment but I do quite a bit of walking from office to office (think outside sales rep). So I am also looking for a comfortable dress shoe.

I wear a 12 in my current dress shoe (Bostonian). Do AE shoes size similar? Is size D normal shoe width?

Just to give you an example of what I am upgrading from, I am attaching a pic of my current black dress shoe.

 

[EricE.]

the allen edmonds is a solid shoe! my advice is to get them...they are pretty good but you should really get them on discount somewhere! or just search ebay for them!
i have never ownd a pair but ive tried them on and they are actually very comfortable, but everybody has to find that out by himself...

 

[ac4g63]

I don't travel as much but I use those as my daily work shoes and think they're great! Comfortable and the price isn't bad.

 

[Dewey]

cheps, that is a good upgrade. your sizing in that square shoe (which looks very wide in the toes) may or may not be your sizing in the park avenue, which runs a bit long and a bit narrow. and all feet are different.

if you can't get to a store, amazon is selling that shoe in brown right now for $180 shipped. you might order two or three sizes and return the other two. maybe 12, 12.5, and 13D. you could always keep the two that fit the best, wear thicker or thinner socks to tweak the fit, and after a few months you will have a much better idea of which of the two sizes you prefer.

it can be very hard to make a snap judgment about your first real, quality dress shoe if you have no experience wearing them.

you'll also want to rotate the shoes - not wear them every day - so that would be one way to quickly learn about your sizing and not destroy your shoes by wearing day in and day out.

 

[Twotone]

I have several AEs including a Park Ave -- very well made and comfortable. However, the brown shoe in your photo looks dull and boring to me. I'd go with a color closer to oxblood, burgundy, chili or similar -- more versatile and stylish. Whichever you get will be a step up over what you currently have. I highly recommend finding a local retailer, trying them on to see which is the best fit. Buying on-line is best once you know your size.

Twotone

 

[JLibourel]

How comfortable the Park Avenue will be on your feet will depend largely on how good a match the A-E #5 last is with your feet. The quality and durability is certainly there. Fit is an individual matter. The #5 last is a good fit on my feet but not as good as the discontinued #4. I love Allen-Edmonds shoes, but some of their other lasts like the #2 and the new #8 are just not good matches for my feet. You will just have to find out these matters by trying some on.

The #5 last is A-E's longest and narrowest. Some men find they have to go to a slightly shorter and wider size than normal for shoes on the #5 last. However, I find it a good fit in my normal size.