The Official Alden Thread for 2022 - Share Reviews, Sizing, Advice, and Photos.

[barutanseijin]

Happy Tuesday forum pals. #8 PTBs for a trip to McDonalds, the restaurant of choice for all grandchildren with sophisticated palates.

View attachment 1820779

Those look great! The PTB lets the shell do the talking. I should wear mine more.

 

[serious_ed]

Day two of chukka week. Tan suede on crepe. Not sure how I feel about crepe on chukkas...will probably resole to single or double leather.

 

[serious_ed]

The styleforum thread seems to be slowing down a bit. I've been on for about 4-5 years...generally don't post much. Covid era makes sense, but thought folks are now wearing shoes/boots again with lockdowns ending, etc..

Would love to take a peak at Alden's financials. Curious to know if they're seeing a material decrease in retail revenue (US vs. Int'l). Well aware they do batch/large jobs on the commercial side of the biz, which I assume has not degraded significantly.

Aug. '18: pg. 700s
Aug. '19: pg. 700s
Aug. '20: pg. 400s
Aug. '21: pg. 500s
Aug. '22: pg. 200s

 

[grooveK]

Getting ready to see rage against the machine w my indys. First time in about 20 years.

 

[meowmix1891]

Has anyone been on a "confirmed" waitlist for >3 years? I've been on the Fransboone waitlist for Plaza Ravello Indys since 2014 and MrSid waitlist for Cigar Indy's since 2018. Does this really take this long?

 

[Vincent George]

Has anyone been on a "confirmed" waitlist for >3 years? I've been on the Fransboone waitlist for Plaza Ravello Indys since 2014 and MrSid waitlist for Cigar Indy's since 2018. Does this really take this long?

Have you tried The Shoe Mart?

 

[classicalthunde]

Has anyone been on a "confirmed" waitlist for >3 years? I've been on the Fransboone waitlist for Plaza Ravello Indys since 2014 and MrSid waitlist for Cigar Indy's since 2018. Does this really take this long?

i think after that amount of time it’s fair to ask a) how many people are on the list, and b) and what is my place on that list

and then go from there…

 

[JayDotz]

Has anyone been on a "confirmed" waitlist for >3 years? I've been on the Fransboone waitlist for Plaza Ravello Indys since 2014 and MrSid waitlist for Cigar Indy's since 2018. Does this really take this long?

Well it could really take that long. You are on lists for very specific make ups and there’s no saying those particular shops will ever run those make ups again. Frans Boone could have been allotted ravello multiple times since 2014 and choose to run something different. I’m not familiar with Mr Sid so I’m assuming they are a smaller shop and would get less exotics allotted to them compared to say B&M or Alden Madison.

At this point given how long it’s been I wouldn’t expect to still be on the list unless you keep in contact and have continued to purchase from them. I don’t know, I just don’t see Frans Boone having a list with peoples name from 8 years ago in case they ever run a plaza ravello indy again.

I feel like people don’t want to hear it, but really, the easier and cheapest way is to pay the mark up on the secondary market. Cigar Indy’s in particular are pretty common and unless you have a very unusual size you could probably find one for a few hundred bucks over retail new or if lightly used then basically retail price.

 

[bluejazzmonkey]

Has anyone been on a "confirmed" waitlist for >3 years? I've been on the Fransboone waitlist for Plaza Ravello Indys since 2014 and MrSid waitlist for Cigar Indy's since 2018. Does this really take this long?

That type of waiting list is similar to taking a sh#t and then realizing that you do not have any butt paper...

It's no good.

 

[scurvyfreedman]

Day two of chukka week. Tan suede on crepe. Not sure how I feel about crepe on chukkas...will probably resole to single or double leather.

View attachment 1820874

I think crepe is the traditional sole for chukkas. They are the sole that is on Clark's desert boots, which are modeled after boots British officers used in Africa in the 30s and 40s, perhaps earlier. Those had crepe soles too.

 

[serious_ed]

I think crepe is the traditional sole for chukkas. They are the sole that is on Clark's desert boots.

Yea, I hear you. I like the look of the beige crepe sole. Not sure about the grey/black on mine. It's comfy and works for the time being. Maybe I'll go with the beige crepe instead of the leather sole.

 

[smmrfld]

The styleforum thread seems to be slowing down a bit. I've been on for about 4-5 years...generally don't post much. Covid era makes sense, but thought folks are now wearing shoes/boots again with lockdowns ending, etc..

Would love to take a peak at Alden's financials. Curious to know if they're seeing a material decrease in retail revenue (US vs. Int'l). Well aware they do batch/large jobs on the commercial side of the biz, which I assume has not degraded significantly.

Aug. '18: pg. 700s
Aug. '19: pg. 700s
Aug. '20: pg. 400s
Aug. '21: pg. 500s
Aug. '22: pg. 200s

According to a source who would know, they’ve taken a significant hit from the downfall of JCrew.

 

[Coolhand0302]

Hey, I think I replied on IG too, but I faded these with no conditioning. They were dry in the vamps, but the rest of the boot was pretty okay. I actually just finished conditioning them so I'll edit this post in a sec with some pics of them post conditioning. Most of this was rotating them every few days to try and keep the fading even (which sorta worked I think) and then they did get rest indoors because we've had fairly frequent rains. Whenever I brought them inside they were brushed and that was it.

View attachment 1820226

I conditioned these with tanners blend from Ashland Leather which I've been using on basically all of my horween stuff lately and then buffed them with a touch of saphir cordovan creme. The leather was dry and typically the tanners blend darkens leathers for a couple days before it lightens back up.

Nice write-up on your process, @Crizzlelovesyou !! Did you remove the acrylic layer prior to fading, or just let the sun break it down naturally? Love the Venice boot!

 

[H. E. Pennypacker]

The glory of reverse chamois.

 

[sazon]

Has anyone been on a "confirmed" waitlist for >3 years? I've been on the Fransboone waitlist for Plaza Ravello Indys since 2014 and MrSid waitlist for Cigar Indy's since 2018. Does this really take this long?

Let's not forget about the Epaulet Ravello Wingtip Boot waiting list from 2010...