THE 2024 ALLEN EDMONDS (AE) APPRECIATION THREAD

[Hisheirness23]

I think myself and @polojock615 were the only ones that went.

As for the news/announcements... There really wasn't anything of note to share. We got to see some of the Randolph 2.0 (Randolph on 2016 last) in both colors of museum calf. We also got to see the two exclusive shell colors and a new boot model for the cordovan trunk show that is expected to come sooner than the Fall this year. I don't know the date though.

AE put together a golf event and a shoe shining expo, but as I neither golf nor actually shine my shoes, I did not attend either of those activities.

There was the Horween tannery tour on Friday that was really neat. We got to see pretty much the whole factory, but there was little activity going on at that time of the day. They demonstrated the shell cordovan tanning and finishing process for us, which was pretty cool. They demonstrated their embossing process for all of the grain and stamped leathers as well.

The AE factory tour on Monday was just a walkthrough of the factory, during regular hours. We got to start at the beginning of the process where they cut the leather all the way to finishing. Unlike when I went back in 2022, they didn't have any hands on demonstrations or anything, and they didn't let us 'wander' around the factory floor. Obviously this is because we went on a weekend non-production day in 2022. We had lunch at the factory and had a gentleman from CF Stead come and give us a history of CF Stead as well as some info on their different leather offerings.

Also on Monday was the Woodlore factory tour which is like 2 minutes down the road from AE. It was a pretty short tour because the shoe tree making process is pretty concise. A lot of saws and sanders. Surprisingly, most of the sawing is done by hand (with jigs and other light automation), but all of the sanding/shaping is fully automated. All of the assembly of the toes, springs, and heels is all done by hand too. They make about 1200 pairs of shoe trees daily.





I hate to say it "wasn't eventful", but it was definitely less of an event than when I went in 2022. It was definitely more low-key, but there were fewer attendants and this was a lot of people's 2nd or 3rd time going. That being said, it was still a wonderful time, and I brought along an old internet friend with me for the weekend. It was his first time really interacting with any of the AE product, and we managed to get him a handful of really cheap shell cordovan finds to take home with him for his first AE purchase (being mostly a Carmina guy).


If you have any specific questions, I'd be happy to answer, but this was my quick weekend overview.

As @SpallaPerfetta asked, wondering what the two new colors of shell are? Any details you can share about the new boot model? If you're not at liberty to make it public, please feel free to message me via PM.

Appreciate you sharing your experience and it encourages me to one day attend a PATP event while they still offer this! I don't imagine this will be something they offer each year (or maybe going forward), so taking the opportunity to visit the AE factory and participate in their other events will be something I will consider.

 

[MajorDash]

I won’t entirely spill the beans, but if you like hatch grain or marbled shell, you may want to start budgeting for at least two pairs.



In other news. Here is the pair of bourbon Delrays I purchased at the Shoebank. I really like this color.

 

[wasmisterfu]

I won’t entirely spill the beans, but if you like hatch grain or marbled shell, you may want to start budgeting for at least two pairs.



In other news. Here is the pair of bourbon Delrays I purchased at the Shoebank. I really like this color.

View attachment 2189117 View attachment 2189119 View attachment 2189121

Those are very nice. Whenever someone says they bought something from the shoebank, I start going all OCD looking for the issue. Those look like firsts… what got them sent to the shoebank?

 

[MajorDash]

Those are very nice. Whenever someone says they bought something from the shoebank, I start going all OCD looking for the issue. Those look like firsts… what got them sent to the shoebank?

No idea lol. There were a few scuffs and creases on them, but they have been sitting there for a few years at this point.

 

[wasmisterfu]

No idea lol. There were a few scuffs and creases on them, but they have been sitting there for a few years at this point.

Yeah, sometimes it’s a mystery. I never figured out what crime got this pair of MacNeil’s marked as seconds:

 

[SpallaPerfetta]

My last shoe bank purchase was a pair of strands… took me a while to figure out what the defect was until I noticed one of the small brogue holes was a little sloppy. Hard to describe and I’m not near the shoes right now to take a photo but it was a blemish that no one would ever notice unless they had the shoes in their hand and were trying to find a flaw.

 

[ProfilaBinding]

Ugh oh, Watermelon shell returning?

 

[wasmisterfu]

Ugh oh, Watermelon shell returning?

Watermelon wut?

 

[Vincent George]

Yeah, sometimes it’s a mystery. I never figured out what crime got this pair of MacNeil’s marked as seconds:

View attachment 2189427
View attachment 2189449
View attachment 2189457

You can’t see it? It’s totally obvious /s

 

[Vincent George]

Ugh oh, Watermelon shell returning?

@ProfilaBinding hit us with your glorious watermelon Strands, please.

 

[Vincent George]

Brown Shell Randolphs. After hearing about the “2.0”— I hope they don’t get rid of the classic Randolph on 79.

Speaking of which: I ordered some black calf Randolph seconds from Susan at the Bank this week. Will post later. She adequately described the imperfections, and I think that they are worth the sale price of 243.75.

 

[wasmisterfu]

You can’t see it? It’s totally obvious /s

Without the “/s”, I would have been up all night reexamining them.

 

[TheLawBeard]

I won’t entirely spill the beans, but if you like hatch grain or marbled shell, you may want to start budgeting for at least two pairs.



In other news. Here is the pair of bourbon Delrays I purchased at the Shoebank. I really like this color.

View attachment 2189117 View attachment 2189119 View attachment 2189121

My hope there is that it's not hatchgrain burgundy. I know some people would get excited about it but lots of makers use hatch color 8.

 

[bluejazzmonkey]

Brown Shell Randolphs. After hearing about the “2.0”— I hope they don’t get rid of the classic Randolph on 79.

Speaking of which: I ordered some black calf Randolph seconds from Susan at the Bank this week. Will post later. She adequately described the imperfections, and I think that they are worth the sale price of 243.75.


View attachment 2189485

These pictures suck butt, because these pictures don’t show how absolutely gorgeous these loafers really are!!

 

[Vincent George]

These pictures suck butt, because these pictures don’t show how absolutely gorgeous these loafers really are!!

Hahaha parking garage lighting.