The Official Alden Thread for 2016 - Share reviews, sizing, advice, and photos.

[zippyh]



Black calf NST

Spoiler: Warning: Spoiler!

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Those pents are awesome.

 

[AMD500]

In the midst of moving; giving me a chance to WFH today.

My new [to me] Alden x Unionmade Ravello Kirkwood Boots

I was eyeing these on Grailed...glad to see someone on the forum ended up with them. Great looking boot!

 

[chipshot]

These are my new favorites.. LHS's of course..

 

[AlanRS]

A bit of disappointment today. My first pair of shell which I ordered as part of a group preorder in February was finally completed. Unfortunately my pair was deemed defective and Alden apparently doesn't remake special orders. Looks like I will be shell-less for a few months more.

 

[sazon]



A bit of disappointment today. My first pair of shell which I ordered as part of a group preorder in February was finally completed. Unfortunately my pair was deemed defective and Alden apparently doesn't remake special orders. Looks like I will be shell-less for a few months more.

I feel your pain. Same thing happened to me. But hey, at least you didn't a defective pair and be even more pissed.

 

[wdahab]

Yeah, when Alden gets boots right, they're great. But I know several retailers (one who got out of the Alden game altogether earlier this year because of this) who are fed up with it. Alden has sent them the wrong sizes for pre-orders, and not cared that customers were left high and dry (happened to me). Has sent seconds-quality boots to them, and said "tough, sell it or we'll consider you too whiney to do orders with." Has sent half of a sold-out pre-order to one store and told them they wouldn't be getting the other half of the order anytime soon because they hadn't started on it yet, sorry, tell half your customers they won't be getting anything. And of course there is the "one pair is seconds quality, no we won't remake it and no we won't let you sell it to your customer for seconds price" issue as well.

 

[smoothie1]

^TIA. This Is Alden.

The quality control is not very good. Some will make excuses. I will not.

 

[stevefok]

A bit of disappointment today. My first pair of shell which I ordered as part of a group preorder in February was finally completed. Unfortunately my pair was deemed defective and Alden apparently doesn't remake special orders. Looks like I will be shell-less for a few months more.

I feel your pain....Same thing happened to me with my Aberdeen Ravello Tankers, my heart still bleeds every time I think of it.....

 

[Burzan]



I was fortunate enough to receive one of the latest shipments of Cigar captoes from Alden DC!  This is my first pair of shell so I'm not really familiar with it.  They make a ton of noise when I walk from various parts rubbing against one another - I'm assuming that will go away with time?  Is there a way to make it go away faster?  

Congrats on the new boots. Got any pics in the sunlight? How's the shade on this recent run. I got an email on them (after an over 2 year wait) and I might actually be passing on them. If they somewhat lighter than they have been or possibly had some olive tones I might have to reconsider.

 

[metranger8694]

........

 

[MT1982]

Congrats on the new boots. Got any pics in the sunlight? How's the shade on this recent run. I got an email on them (after an over 2 year wait) and I might actually be passing on them. If they somewhat lighter than they have been or possibly had some olive tones I might have to reconsider.

Thanks! I was on the list for about 2 years as well. Figured it'd be a few more before they ever got to me, but I was wrong! I'll try to get some pics of them in the sunlight tomorrow, but there's some olive showing through indoors under certain lighting. I'm thinking more will show up outdoors.

My only complaint about them is that the vamp/shaft on the outside of the left boot is noticeably thinner compared to all the other parts. Hope it holds up all the same.

 

[FaRKle]

^TIA. This Is Alden.

The quality control is not very good. Some will make excuses. I will not.

Yup. It amazes me how much of a pass Alden gets for stuff AE wouldn't. Some of it is truly horrid. Alden blinders in full effect!

 

[mdubs]



In the midst of moving; giving me a chance to WFH today. My new [to me] Alden x Unionmade Ravello Kirkwood Boots

Spoiler

Congrats, those are amazingly beautiful. Enjoy your new boots!

Black calf NST

Spoiler

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Looks good Don, those slacks steal the show.

Color 4 NST 379 Last

Spoiler

Those look amazing Z! Nice showing of the 4!

Spoiler

These are my new favorites.. LHS's of course..

Ha, looking good chippy! I have a pair from that run as well...

A bit of disappointment today. My first pair of shell which I ordered as part of a group preorder in February was finally completed. Unfortunately my pair was deemed defective and Alden apparently doesn't remake special orders. Looks like I will be shell-less for a few months more.

I regret to hear that! It's a bummer, but sadly it happens. Contact Ed at ShoeMart and see if you can catch it from there if they get sold as Factory Defects. -Mike

 

[M635Guy]

Color 8 and Cigar Captoe boots enjoying some sunshine.

Thinking I might have too many pairs of captoe boots, and would be better served by having a wingtip color 8 boot, but really don't want to part with either of them.

Stop talking crazy

 

[M635Guy]

Hi,
Can someone who owns both the Barrie last shoes and the AE 65 last shoes mention their sizes? I am a 10 D in the Allen Edmond 65 last which is a very good fit. On Alden Barrie wingtip shoe, I chose 9.5 C after trying both 9.5 D and 10 C (both 9.5 D and 10 C had heel space). 9.5 C fits very good on my small foot but presses the pinky toe of my large foot. I have been wearing 9.5 C for three months now but the shoe hasn't stretched. I was in New York in June and went to Alden Madison. The sales rep said that 9.5 C was my best size and slightly stretched the tight fitting shoe. He was of the opinion that this will stretch naturally after few months and 9.5 D will become lose after the same period. So, I should stick with 9.5 C in the Barrie last. However, I been wearing the shoe for 3 months now but the fit hasn't approved.

I feel that I should try 9.5 D and wear thick socks. For reference, I recently tried Aberdeen NST in sizes 9.5 D (tight in the toe box with toes cramped) and 10 D (heel space with slightly more than usual toe box room). I have now ordered 10 C to try from an online store which I should get in few days.

Thank you

My brannock is between an 11.5 and a 12 - leans 12. I'm a solid 12 in all TTS boots/shoes I've tried. I have a high-ish arch/instep, but not crazy. I'm the wide side of D.



The 65-last has some real variability to it IMHO - due to the pattern and leather choices, I find the McAllister to be an 11.5E (which is what I chose for the Neumoks I just got since it shares the same last/pattern). Strands don't seem to fit me no matter what - too tight, too much heel gap or strange foot position (or two of those). I've got three pairs of 65-last McTavishes that fit awesome in 11.5D.

Barrie 11.5D fits me perfectly. In Hampton I'm 11.5 E. Hope that helps!