***The official Alden thread *** Share enthusiasm, reviews, sizing, advice, and photos.

[closerlook]

Thanks for the responses.  Tighter in what aspect?  Toe? Heel? Vamp?

Tighter, though slightly, across all those dimensions.  In the loafer, I tend to feel it most in the vamp, but the length/width is also a tad smaller.  I wear the same size in both Barrie and Van, but Van isn't quite so different as to warrant a different size.

What size Alden shoe trees should I get for the following:

7.5D Barrie

8D Aberdeen

Medium

D is for duh, medium.

That's a pretty lame answer. Someone who wears a size 13D would certainly not buy medium size shoe trees. 

i was jokingly making fun of the post right above mine

 

[closerlook]

or i should say "joshingly" poking fun - all in good fun.

 

[trig]

shouldn't a 7.5d barrie 8d aberdeen actually be a size small shoetree?

 

[Beatlegeuse]



What portion of the shipping did you have to pay for in the end? From their website, it sounds like they ship for free, but if you need to return, you might have to pay initial and return shipping.

I only had to pay to ship my shoes back to them for the exchange. They didn't make me pay them back for my initial shipping, and they also aren't charging me for shipping the new pair to me. But, this may be due to the fact they messed up when shipping the new pair to me, since they shipped them to the wrong person. I'm still waiting for the new pair to get here, hopefully they will be here by the end of the week.

 

[HorseHide]

For all of you that are search impaired, the following is from the ShoeMart website:

Shoe Tree Size Chart

XS - 4.5 (Wide) to 6 (Medium)
S - 6 (Wide) to 8 (Medium)
M - 8 (Wide) to 10 (Medium)
L - 10 (Wide) to 12 (Medium)
XL - 12 (Wide) to 14 (Medium)
XXL - 13 (Wide) to 15 (Medium)

 

[sevenfoldtieguy]



For all of you that are search impaired, the following is from the ShoeMart website:
Shoe Tree Size Chart
XS - 4.5 (Wide) to 6 (Medium)
S - 6 (Wide) to 8 (Medium)
M - 8 (Wide) to 10 (Medium)
L - 10 (Wide) to 12 (Medium)
XL - 12 (Wide) to 14 (Medium)
XXL - 13 (Wide) to 15 (Medium)

I generally follow this chart; however, in some models I go up a size - e.g., a 9.5D barrie lasted LWB easily accommodates a Large.

 

[electronicsjunkie]

Replacing rubber piece in Alden heel?

On my Aldens the rubber piece of the heel wears out by far the fastest of any part of the shoe, to the point where the back of it is worn away to the next layer of the heel construction, while the rest of the sole and heel is in fine shape. Is there a way to have the rubber piece replaced, without resoling or redoing the entire heel? It looks tough to do, since the rubber piece appears to extend beneath the front part (leather?) of the heel.

 

[sevenfoldtieguy]

Got an email from NRO today in response to my 25% off online order from yesterday. My color 8 chukkas are back-ordered for an estimated 10 weeks. They had not charged my credit card and were going to sit tight until I gave them further direction.

 

[sevenfoldtieguy]



The perf captoe bal on hampton is a gorgeous dress shoe. wear mine with a suit all the time.

Good choice - me too (mine is on the snap last (Alden for BB)). Another that works for me: shortwing balmoral (Alden for BB) . And still others that work (unless you are in the "Bal only" camp when it comes to suits): straight tip captoe blucher; PTB (Alden for BB).

 

[Papa Doble]

I'm ready to pull the trigger on some cordovan Aldens through the NRO sale. I'd eventually like to own a LHS, NST, and LWB (this one in #8, I think I've decided), and perhaps a PTB -- though I think I like NSTs more than PTBs, and I'm not convinced that I need both shoes. My current dress shoe collection is black AE PA, walnut AE Strand, and snuff suede AE Neumok. I plan to add a dark brown suede chukka boot, but haven't found the right one yet. I'm leaning towards a NST in #8 and/or a LHS in #8 or cigar. I think if the soles on the cigar LHS were dark brown instead of natural I would choose them, but I'm not sure about the natural soles, and the pictures I find online of cigar LHS uppers seem to vary considerably from medium to very dark brown. However, since I think for the NST and LWB I prefer #8, it might be nice to have one shoe in cigar. What would you do?

 

[imatlas]



Replacing rubber piece in Alden heel?

On my Aldens the rubber piece of the heel wears out by far the fastest of any part of the shoe, to the point where the back of it is worn away to the next layer of the heel construction, while the rest of the sole and heel is in fine shape. Is there a way to have the rubber piece replaced, without resoling or redoing the entire heel? It looks tough to do, since the rubber piece appears to extend beneath the front part (leather?) of the heel.

Yes, this is a simple job. They replace both the rubber and the leather bit. You need to ask your cobbler to replace the top lift on your heel, which strangely enough is the bottom-most piece (ie the piece that actually strikes the ground). Specify a combination heel to get the rubber and leather combo. If you've worn down past the rubber you may have to pay a bit more, as they will be replacing the entire heel.

 

[imatlas]



I'm ready to pull the trigger on some cordovan Aldens through the NRO sale. I'd eventually like to own a LHS, NST, and LWB (this one in #8, I think I've decided), and perhaps a PTB -- though I think I like NSTs more than PTBs, and I'm not convinced that I need both shoes. My current dress shoe collection is black AE PA, walnut AE Strand, and snuff suede AE Neumok. I plan to add a dark brown suede chukka boot, but haven't found the right one yet. I'm leaning towards a NST in #8 and/or a LHS in #8 or cigar. I think if the soles on the cigar LHS were dark brown instead of natural I would choose them, but I'm not sure about the natural soles, and the pictures I find online of cigar LHS uppers seem to vary considerably from medium to very dark brown. However, since I think for the NST and LWB I prefer #8, it might be nice to have one shoe in cigar. What would you do?

If you don't like the natural edge, edge trim is fairly easy to darken. I'd go for the cigar, personally.

 

[mr chorizo]



Enjoy Wearing:

NICE! curious how they will fit in with my style but couldn't resist. picks def to come when they arrive on friday or monday.

 

[Papa Doble]



If you don't like the natural edge, edge trim is fairly easy to darken. I'd go for the cigar, personally.

I guess I'm not sure if I like it. Would you just use brown edge dressing to darken it?

 

[zazaza]



I'm ready to pull the trigger on some cordovan Aldens through the NRO sale. I'd eventually like to own a LHS, NST, and LWB (this one in #8, I think I've decided), and perhaps a PTB -- though I think I like NSTs more than PTBs, and I'm not convinced that I need both shoes. My current dress shoe collection is black AE PA, walnut AE Strand, and snuff suede AE Neumok. I plan to add a dark brown suede chukka boot, but haven't found the right one yet. I'm leaning towards a NST in #8 and/or a LHS in #8 or cigar. I think if the soles on the cigar LHS were dark brown instead of natural I would choose them, but I'm not sure about the natural soles, and the pictures I find online of cigar LHS uppers seem to vary considerably from medium to very dark brown. However, since I think for the NST and LWB I prefer #8, it might be nice to have one shoe in cigar. What would you do?

considering that Alden's are rarely avail at a discount and that NRO has the LHS in Cigar I would absolutely grab it if you were interested.