Sneakers With Tailoring: Yes, No, Maybe?

[H. E. Pennypacker]

I just scrolled through the IG tagged sections for both AE and Alden, and I'm struck by the difference in demographics. Allen Edmonds' customers seem to be mostly based in the US (assuming that their IG fans are representative). Whereas, Alden's fans are mostly based in South Korea and Japan.

It's weird to me that South Korean and Japanese men execute classic American style better than actual Americans (I realize this is the subject of David Marx's book, Amatora, but it still is very striking when you scroll through these tags).

These outfits are so tasteful and well done.





A brown suit with a pair of Alden's plain toe derbies. The color of the shoes contrasts enough with the pant, but also looks harmonious. Very well done. Also how amazing it is to see someone choose plain toe derbies instead of adding more and more details nowadays, like floating medallions, Norwegian welts, fiddleback waists, etc.




Another excellent combination: blue sport coat, grey trousers, light blue shirt, brown foulard tie, dark socks, and Alden's penny loafers. This guy's whole Instagram is very good and he does the "Amatora looks" very well.





Look at this guy. He dressed down his sport coat with Resolute's white denim jeans. And then he sensibly choose a semi-casual shirt and semi-casual shoes (Alden's suede chukkas). I don't know if he did this intentionally, but there's also a nice balance between the tan in his shoes and the tan in his sport coat. The shoes are classic and casual. A very harmonious outfit.





I like how this is simple, but sensible. Many guys don't find themselves in positions where they can easily wear a suit or sport coat nowadays. I think it's always better to at least wear some kind of casual jacket, but if you can't do that because of the weather, this is also fine. It's also the outfit that you'd find on AE's page, but a more classic version: tan chinos, sporty blue shirt, and classic brown derbies. This guy's IG is also very good.




This outfit is a little more fashion-forward: black corduory suit with black loafers. But it shows how far you can stretch modern while still being tasteful and classic. Like the other accounts mentioned above, this guy's IG is very good. He's based in Oslo.

These outfits span nearly every point on the formality spectrum. There's casual (chinos and a button-up shirt) to semi-formal (brown suit). It also spans the very classic (blue sport coat) to modern-classic (black corduroy suit). But you can see how the shoe choices are sensible in terms of formality, color, and material. The shoes work with the entire outfit. I don't understand why you would force dressy shoes into a casual outfit, or why you would choose unusual colors or material when such tasteful, elegant outcomes are possible with more classic choices.

Although they’re wearing Aldens, I wouldn’t consider them as Alden’s centric customers as I referred to in my initial comment. The images you posted are men who most likely appreciate fine clothing and shoes being the subset of their focus which imo isn’t an Alden customer. They probably have a healthy rotation of shoes with a few Aldens sprinkled in. If you look at the Alden thread, you’ll get a realistic perspective of how an actual Alden customer dresses.
All I’m saying is, Alden customers donot necessarily dress better than a Allen Edmonds customer.
Alden has a unique allure worldwide among CM enthusiasts that AE doesn’t. Which would probably only makeup a small percentage of Alden sales imo.

 

[dieworkwear]

Although they’re wearing Aldens, I wouldn’t consider them as Alden’s centric customers as I referred to in my initial comment. The images you posted are men who most likely appreciate fine clothing and shoes being the subset of their focus which imo isn’t an Alden customer. They probably have a healthy rotation of shoes with a few Aldens sprinkled in. If you look at the Alden thread, you’ll get a realistic perspective of how an actual Alden customer dresses.
All I’m saying is, Alden customers donot necessarily dress better than a Allen Edmonds customer.
Alden has a unique allure worldwide among CM enthusiasts that AE doesn’t. Which would probably only makeup a small percentage of Alden sales imo.

Fair points. My comment wasn't necessarily a follow-up to yours. I was just grabbing IG links in the middle of when you posted yours, and my comment came after.

I wasn't trying to say that one can't dress in good taste while wearing AE. I think they have many good designs (their Grayson is among my favorite tassel loafer designs). I also know that Alden puts out some strange shoes. I was just struck by how different the tagged sections look for both IGs.

 

[H. E. Pennypacker]

Fair points. My comment wasn't necessarily a follow-up to yours. I was just grabbing IG links in the middle of when you posted yours, and my comment came after.

I wasn't trying to say that one can't dress in good taste while wearing AE. I think they have many good designs (their Grayson is among my favorite tassel loafer designs). I also know that Alden puts out some strange shoes. I was just struck by how different the tagged sections look for both IGs.

Lol oh. I was actually impressed by how fast you conjured a very detailed response to my comment, if it were one lol

 

[Mr Stevens]

Sometimes a photo is just a photo. It can evoke a feeling or something. Not everything is a technical manual for how to dress. It can be just fun or a way to say "hey look at this cool thing." We're literally talking about fashion (style, if you want).

Here is a duck in sneakers


View attachment 1673798

Too much Northern Lights. (Kidding)

 

[Mr Stevens]

But with regard to the initial prompt, there are definitely instances where I think a fit looks good that includes sneakers with tailoring, but (and I imagine this has been said many times before on this thread), I wonder if a different choice of footwear might be better. Like navy pants -- often not terrible but often not the best choice. That said, some of the non-suit/SC fits posted look great and could make me a convert in those instances. I feel like there's a place for a pleated mid gray wool flannel pant with a Shetland or cable knit sweater that kind of works with a clean sneaker. Add the OCBD and I'd probably want a loafer or a boot though.

Also, I'm always trying to force myself to wear my AE Walnut strands. Also, I hate myself for this. Also, I have too many pairs of Aldens and love them all. Maybe AE was a gateway drug for me (as I imagine it was for many of us).

 

[radicaldog]

I disagree. It's a helpful general principle. It's not a universal, necessary law, but DWW has never presented it that way. He's presented it as a traditional rule, one which may admit exceptions. I agree with that and think it'd be helpful for younger guys to know and follow -- again, not blindly, not always and everywhere, but as something to keep in mind

You know, now that I’ve seen some of the abominations on the AE Instagram, I might be coming round to this view. It may be a good defensive principle, meant to guard against new enthusiasts’ excesses—comparable to a lower speed limit for new drivers only, say.

 

[Waldo Jeffers]

Although they’re wearing Aldens, I wouldn’t consider them as Alden’s centric customers as I referred to in my initial comment. The images you posted are men who most likely appreciate fine clothing and shoes being the subset of their focus which imo isn’t an Alden customer. They probably have a healthy rotation of shoes with a few Aldens sprinkled in. If you look at the Alden thread, you’ll get a realistic perspective of how an actual Alden customer dresses.
All I’m saying is, Alden customers donot necessarily dress better than a Allen Edmonds customer.
Alden has a unique allure worldwide among CM enthusiasts that AE doesn’t. Which would probably only makeup a small percentage of Alden sales imo.

i think alden’s main customer in the US is a senior citizen who worked in Washington DC. Not that there’s anything wrong with that— it just seems that this was a default look of a guy of a certain age

I do think their penny loafers, tassels and suede chukkas can be more easily worn by younger guys

 

[Phileas Fogg]

i think alden’s main customer in the US is a senior citizen who worked in Washington DC. Not that there’s anything wrong with that— it just seems that this was a default look of a guy of a certain age

I do think their penny loafers, tassels and suede chukkas can be more easily worn by younger guys

It may have been that and I won’t argue based on their history, but there’s a younger generation who seems to have taken a liking to them.

 

[radicaldog]

I do think their penny loafers, tassels and suede chukkas can be more easily worn by younger guys

And PTBs and Indy boots.

 

[FlyingMonkey]

I believe I should alologise for my ill-chosen language earlier in terming some (unnamed) people on this thread, 'idiots.' I recognise now that this was inaccurate and, furthermore, did reflect not my real feelings.

The word I was looking for was 'wankers.'

Thank-you.

 

[Stylewords]

Tailoring with sneakers sure is serious business.

 

[Phileas Fogg]

And PTBs and Indy boots.

Their LWB are also a classic and worn by younger men.

Tailoring with sneakers sure is serious business.

Wait until we get to beach sandals.

 

[radicaldog]

Their LWB are also a classic and worn by younger men.

I think that might've been a short-lived fad (see Foo's "one shoe" phase).

 

[clee1982]

Alden LWB, PTB, Indy all work well with workwear. Alden has this nice under state thing (it’s not there to steal the show out of an outfit), but at least for what I wear as tailoring just doesn’t work (too chunky, need sleeker stuff). I would get some Alden full strap penny or tassel loafer had I been able to get good fit from loafer from RTW though.

 

[emptym]

So...you don't know what pleases women, but you know that nothing on this board is it.

That's just profound. Maybe write a blog post about it. You'd think it's a topic that would be of interest to many of your readers.

Twice in the post you quoted, he said "most" things posted here wouldn't please women, or anyone else. Why would you say he thinks "nothing" would?

that’s not always the equation. I spend enough time in Alden’s thread to know there are more than a handful of people who aren’t necessarily refined in how they dress themselves. Also, there’s quite a few people in AE’s thread that dress better than a good amount of men in the Alden thread. I’ve actually come to the realization that’s the opposite of what @dieworkwear said of Alden. Alden’s strongest and loyalist enthusiasts are shoe aficionados and that’s it. They don’t care about the topics we are discussing here, in fact, I haven’t seen any of the regulars of Alden’s thread ever comment on these threads. Also, I’m referring to the Alden aficionados that have a large rotation of Aldens than a large rotation diverse rotation of shoemakers.

That's an interesting observation. I don't view either thread very often, usually just when a post there is reported. I wonder if the lack of Alden thread regulars in threads like this (relative to AE ones) is due at least in part to the Alden thread being in SWD and the AE one in CM, along with these threads.

...All I’m saying is, Alden customers donot necessarily dress better than a Allen Edmonds customer...

Yeah, I wouldn't say that they necessarily do either. But I wonder if there's some probability of it. I like AE a lot and recommend their shoes all the time, partly because they're the easiest GYW shoe to find in the US and they're relatively inexpensive.