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

[Roguls]



Long time lurker checking in.
Yesterday I was in the Alden DC store and picked up a new shoe care product to try, called Alden Leather Defender. It's made for shell cordovan and calfskin. One of the supposed benefits is that it can help reduce or prevent the dreaded water spotting on shell.

Have you ever used Saphir Renovateur? Once you use that, you will need nothing else.

 

[El Argentino]



If I had a dime for every time someone complained about a pair of Aldens they bought from J Crew I could buy a wardrobe of shells from Leffot, Epaulet, LS, and the Alden stores.

I thank this thread for steering me clear of the collabs and just going straight for the good stuff.

 

[Alcibiades]

J Crew more or less offers no questions asked returns; therefore they have lots of tried on merchandise, old merchandise, etc. They likely send this stuff to people ordering online. The best way to deal with J Crew is to go to the store and inspect the merchandise yourself.

 

[Alcibiades]

If I had a dime for every time someone complained about a pair of Aldens they bought from J Crew I could buy a wardrobe of shells from Leffot, Epaulet, LS, and the Alden stores.

I thank this thread for steering me clear of the collabs and just going straight for the good stuff.

Rules from buying "brand" shoes from J Crew

1) inspect the shoes before buying
2) focus on exclusive models

I have J Crew suede PTBs from Alden that I like; also, their chromexel longwings are also good. But try them out first

Edit - I will say I love the J Crew Quoddy models I have, all are superbly built

 

[1wb]



I don't get this, you sound shocked if not disappointed that J crew sent you a brand new pair instead of one that was a return. Also I am pretty sure that the color is not J crew's fault so much as it is Alden's. Of course if you only want to buy new deadstock BB shell you are entitled to do that. But from the sounds of it, it was a "flawless" pair and likely to get a rich color with sun exposure like most pairs of #8. Good luck with your search for the perfect pair of Aldens.

Thank you for that helpful insight. Like many here, my Alden collection numbers in the double digits, so I am fairly familiar with what I am buying. The point of my post, which was not clear, was that I expected to receive a beat-up pair of previously returned boots. Instead, I got new boots, albeit a pair that was nonetheless defective because it was dyed incorrectly. I have never seen a new pair of #8 in such a light red color - and that includes visits to Alden SF, NY & DC, Sherman Bros., J. Gilbert, and retailers in the Boston area.

 

[zippyh]

I don't get this, you sound shocked if not disappointed that J crew sent you a brand new pair instead of one that was a return. Also I am pretty sure that the color is not J crew's fault so much as it is Alden's. Of course if you only want to buy new deadstock BB shell you are entitled to do that. But from the sounds of it, it was a "flawless" pair and likely to get a rich color with sun exposure like most pairs of #8. Good luck with your search for the perfect pair of Aldens.

Thank you for that helpful insight. Like many here, my Alden collection numbers in the double digits, so I am fairly familiar with what I am buying. The point of my post, which was not clear, was that I expected to receive a beat-up pair of previously returned boots. Instead, I got new boots, albeit a pair that was nonetheless defective because it was dyed incorrectly. I have never seen a new pair of #8 in such a light red color - and that includes visits to Alden SF, NY & DC, Sherman Bros., J. Gilbert, and retailers in the Boston area.

It's your perogative to return them and since it's J Crew it shouldn't be any problem at all, but I don't think they're defective.
I got a pair of those J Crew boots too. Mine are defintiely lighter and redder than other #8s I have. But I think the color difference is well
within the range of normal variance. I prefer the shade on my J Crew ones too. It seems as long as the pair match in shade, I wouldn't call them defective. Alden gets a lot of deserved crap about their quality control, but I don't think this is a case here.

 

[zazaza]



It's your perogative to return them and since it's J Crew it shouldn't be any problem at all, but I don't think they're defective.
I got a pair of those J Crew boots too. Mine are defintiely lighter and redder than other #8s I have. But I think the color difference is well
within the range of normal variance. I prefer the shade on my J Crew ones too. It seems as long as the pair match in shade, I wouldn't call them defective. Alden gets a lot of deserved crap about their quality control, but I don't think this is a case here.

I feel like its been widely discussed how there's variance in all colors of shell that alden releases. (e.g. older cigar having a green cast to the more recent dark brown, darker whiskey that looks like a light ravello, lighter ravello that looks like whiskey...)

chalk it up to the nuances of a natural material and a man made process.

If you want uniformity get a black calf shoe made from corrected grain and call it a day.

 

[Joenobody0]



Thank you for that helpful insight. Like many here, my Alden collection numbers in the double digits, so I am fairly familiar with what I am buying. The point of my post, which was not clear, was that I expected to receive a beat-up pair of previously returned boots. Instead, I got new boots, albeit a pair that was nonetheless defective because it was dyed incorrectly. I have never seen a new pair of #8 in such a light red color - and that includes visits to Alden SF, NY & DC, Sherman Bros., J. Gilbert, and retailers in the Boston area.

I've seen a few pair of very light bright purple #8's at the Alden shop in SF that look similar to your picture. They happily pulled out all their shoes in my size and let me pick the pair with my preferred color.

I probably wouldn't wear shoes whose color looks like your picture appears on my monitor.

 

[vivalet]



^ Make sure you follow the break-in method. If I'm not mistaken, wear the shoes for an hour three different times, and wear them only on a carpet during this time. Mac can chime in if I messed that up at all, but I did this for my last pair of #8 boots and it worked great.

Besides making sure your new shoes fit, what does this mac method do better than just wearing them?

Is the mac method to be applied even with a pair of shoes you know fit correctly and you will want to keep and wear? Or is this mac method purely to decide if you want to keep the shoes?

 

[vivalet]

you have and eyelet above a speed hook? Never seen that before.

^ Those look awesome! Would love to see how they look after a year of wear

 

[beatific]

Hi Everyone

I just purchased my 2nd pair of Alden shells.

Its rather tight at the 'tongue' area. (i am not sure if its the right name)

Its quite painful.

Is it a good idea to use shoe stretching spray to loosen it?

[/IMG]

 

[beatific]

A new purchase.

Anyone knows if its a good idea to use 'Shoe Stretching spray' to loosen Shell cordorvan?

 

[AAF-8AF]



Have you ever used Saphir Renovateur? Once you use that, you will need nothing else.

No, I haven't. I was just getting to the point of finding some of that or Venetian when I ran across the Alden product. I'm happy with the results so far, so I'll probably stick with it. Here are the whiskey chukkas I used it on.

 

[bucksfan]

Besides making sure your new shoes fit, what does this mac method do better than just wearing them?
Is the mac method to be applied even with a pair of shoes you know fit correctly and you will want to keep and wear? Or is this mac method purely to decide if you want to keep the shoes?

I don't usually make a habit of speaking for Mac - but I think it accomplishes a few goals:
1) make sure the shoes fit you
2) make sure the shoes don't have defects that you overlooked inadvertently at first
3) break in the outsoles slightly, so that the toe of the shoe does not suffer heavy wear the first time they are worn out of doors. (I've witnessed this one firsthand).

 

[seer]

Here's a couple of shots of the #8 vintage Hanovers I was talking about:

Great all around look...