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

[ceoceo]



I don't think it is feasible for the retailers to inspect every shoe that comes into their store. My father was a shoe salesman, and I spent a lot of time in his back room running stock and taking in shipments as a kid. Thinking back, I just can't imagine checking every incoming shoe in detail, even at 3x the price and (for the sake of argument) 1/3 the volume. It is far more efficient for retailers to deal with defects by replacing the defective product when a customer finds one. I have no objection to them choosing to operate in this fashion, as long as they stand behind the product, which as far as I know they generally do.
As someone suggested above, it is unfair for us to make statistical inferences about defect rates based on complaints on this board. We would need to observe the complete set of defect-free shoes that everyone here purchases as well, and of course we don't.

Exactly. It's just that Alden is being anal about replacing

 

[edubs01]

Does anybody happen to have an email address for Alden DC?

 

[ecox]



I'm wearing black shell LWB (Grant) today and they are missing the perforation on the right side of both shoes in the same spot. It's likely to position the pieces of the shoe during construction, not a QA/QC mistake. Who knows, it may have some other meaning to it altogether. Alden might have some more info about it if you call them and ask about it.

Ok, you've got me curious. Where's the missing perforation?

-Erik

 

[seer]

6 year old indy boot on honey vibram.



the indy boot is such a classic style, I wear it with jeans and to work no problem.

They look great - my first pair of Indy boots will be here tomorrow. How did you get rid of/color the white stitching? I need to do that...

 

[mediahound]

Question; are whiskey cordovan boots really rare or do they just not look that good? I rarely see make ups of those.

 

[Alcibiades]



Question; are whiskey cordovan boots really rare or do they just not look that good? I rarely see make ups of those.

Whiskey seems to be the most limited in general. For example not even Mac has a pair of whiskey tassels, which I would love to get my hands on. The only "boots" i have seen with whiskey are tankers (leffot had them) and chukka boots.

EDIT - I forgot the plentiful number of whiskey indy boots out there.

 

[bellyhungry]

After gawking at the pics, I am looking to make the plunge for a pair of cordovan LWB #8 in size 10E. What is the best place to order them?

 

[zippyh]

Whiskey Indys. I'm pretty sure mac has a pair too.

 

[chantheman]



Question; are whiskey cordovan boots really rare or do they just not look that good? I rarely see make ups of those.

i think there is a special make up being custom made. there was a group order going around a while back. not sure if you can still get in on it.

 

[nstar2442]

Anyone know the name of the boots on the right or where I might be able to find them?

 

[mcarthur]



Whiskey seems to be the most limited in general. For example not even Mac has a pair of whiskey tassels, which I would love to get my hands on. The only "boots" i have seen with whiskey are tankers (leffot had them) and chukka boots.

also, i would like a whiskey tassel. there are whiskey indy

 

[wrinklefree]



After gawking at the pics, I am looking to make the plunge for a pair of cordovan LWB #8 in size 10E. What is the best place to order them?

SF Alden and Shoemart should have 10e's stocked for #8 LWB. Also the DC, NY Alden might have them. There should be several retail options. I guess depending on where you live you can get out of the sales tax.

 

[Michael_A]

^ Do you know if these have the antique edge trim? I really like that particular feature.

 

[wrinklefree]



The problem is that the stores know.
I was at the Alden SF store looking at Ravello chukkas once. They pulled one out for me to look at. The shoe had an undyed spot on the toe the size of a dime. I mentioned to the salesman that in my opinion the shoe should be a second. He said "yeah maybe, but someone will buy it..." Sadly, he's correct.

My belief is that this is also the policy of the Shoemart. They will ship everything out as "new" first. Maybe if they get 1-2 returns then they put it on their seconds list. Last year I received color 8 PTB from Shoemart with specks of gold paint on the right top of the toe box. Very visible even from standing. Did not have any issue returning them to Shoemart but it's annoying that it was knowingly shipped like that.

 

[sfactor23]

Seriously not for me, but maybe someone else here would be interested:
Indy boots, marble colored suede
$315, sizes 8 & 9.5 only
http://www.tresbienshop.com/brand/alden/indy-boot-suede-marble
fwiw, they also have shell toe cordovan black (size 9 only) & #8 (size 7 only) on sale, too: $417.50