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

[mcarthur]



Love the monks with the argyles Uncle.

nephew,
thank you

 

[zippyh]

Those Ralph Lauren Saunders are nice. Perhaps I need to revisit Ralph Lauren. I know that EG makes the Purple Label line and that Crockett & Jones makes the UK-made Blue Label line. Who makes RL's Blue Label line made in the US? How is their quality?

Made by Allen Edmonds I believe. Quality should be pretty good.

Yes, AE.
I proxied a pair of them for a buddy recently. They seem nicer than standard AE.

Most of the Ralph US made non GY welted loafers and boat shoes are from Rancourt.

 

[Alcibiades]

1) J Gilbert has some solid restocks arriving within the next month or so, including the plaza color 8 captoe boots, plaza snuff suede wingtip blucher and the tan wingtip barrie boot.

2) Alden needs to stop shafting these smaller retailers with shipments of defective shoes. I feel like sometimes they may be taking advantage of these retailers.

 

[Nakedsnake]

Yes, AE.
I proxied a pair of them for a buddy recently. They seem nicer than standard AE.

Most of the Ralph US made non GY welted loafers and boat shoes are from Rancourt.

I have some regular AE, as well as some of the line that's made for RL. In my opinion, the RL is better made than standard AE, probably more akin to their independence line.

 

[fitchottie]



Jcrew natural chukka... Sized to 11 amazed they fit. Is the wrinkling normal on the vamp?

 

[anrobit]

I'm not seeing any wrinkling. Those look great!

 

[justuhgeek]



1) J Gilbert has some solid restocks arriving within the next month or so, including the plaza color 8 captoe boots, plaza snuff suede wingtip blucher and the tan wingtip barrie boot.

2) Alden needs to stop shafting these smaller retailers with shipments of defective shoes. I feel like sometimes they may be taking advantage of these retailers.

Agreed, it's all a vicious cycle. Demand created by us, retailers must place orders to serve this demand. And Alden, who is barely able to fill even half these orders, must put out more product with less attention to detail leading to pretty bad quality control.

In the end, I guess it's all about the money. Those are my thoughts on the situation here. Correct me if I'm wrong.

 

[misterjuiceman]

Agreed, it's all a vicious cycle. Demand created by us, retailers must place orders to serve this demand. And Alden, who is barely able to fill even half these orders, must put out more product with less attention to detail leading to pretty bad quality control.

In the end, I guess it's all about the money. Those are my thoughts on the situation here. Correct me if I'm wrong.

Honestly, I wouldn't even mind a $50 price hike this go around (on top of the usual Alden tax) if it meant solid QC. Alden at its best can be fantastic (with exception to their calf, judging from the two I've owned, and the many more I've handled, it's a bad buy with C&J right around the corner price-wise), but after seeing so much bad QC, I'm hesitant to recommend the brand anymore, despite my very positive experience with my shells and CXL from them.

 

[PeterL]

My DIY antique sole LWB. Not perfect but i like it a lot. Happy Lunar New Year

 

[Shouldaville]

Gotta love seeing DC pop up on the phone late in the day...medallion cap toe is mine.

 

[kwhitelaw]

maiden voyage of some natty cxl tankers. got then for a song, so I risked a side down width, but am presently surprised.. may need to rethink future cxl boot width when ordering.

excuse the sloppy cuff. first wear, need to tailor up 1.5 or so to make me feel comfortable (not a fan of big/double cuffs)

 

[FENWAY]

Finally a couple hours above freezing means the LHS make an appearance

 

[BeSpiffington]



My DIY antique sole LWB. Not perfect but i like it a lot. Happy Lunar New Year

Spoiler

Gorgeous #8 LWB's! Please tell us how you did it.

 

[Alcibiades]

Leffot color 8 / alpine grain saddles

 

[Burzan]

My DIY antique sole LWB. Not perfect but i like it a lot. Happy Lunar New Year

Looks great, I love the look of the lighter edge with No 8. All the Leffot make ups are on my future want list, starting with that new Dover that they have for preorder right now.

Care to share what the process was like to do it?