The Ultimate Toronto Thread

[burgerkong]

?? $120 each? I spoke to Mike at the Mississauga location and he says they go for $500

I would love to benefit from the 3 shirts deal, but they recommend getting the fit of the first one down before going forward... let's say the first one does get done right would I still be able to get the deal?

How come the plain toes crease, but the cap-toes don't? My understanding is that all dress shoes regardless of style will crease if you don't size correctly in addition to regular creasing that happens anyways?

Plain toes will crease at your toe joints where as most cap toes have a double layer of leather and a cap on the inside which forces the crease at the seam. But yes, like you said depends on the fitting.

 

[NoNameNecessary]

?? $120 each? I spoke to Mike at the Mississauga location and he says they go for $500

I would love to benefit from the 3 shirts deal, but they recommend getting the fit of the first one down before going forward... let's say the first one does get done right would I still be able to get the deal?

How come the plain toes crease, but the cap-toes don't? My understanding is that all dress shoes regardless of style will crease if you don't size correctly in addition to regular creasing that happens anyways?

Maybe they used up all their discounted fabric. You can pay for 3 shirts at first to get the deal, but let them made the shirt one by one because their shirts do have some shrinkage problem.

 

[Captain Waffles]

Maybe they used up all their discounted fabric. You can pay for 3 shirts at first to get the deal, but let them made the shirt one by one because their shirts do have some shrinkage problem.

Thanks. I am told the shrinkage problem only applies to poplin shirts? Also, why would anyone wash expensive shirts to begin with...should they not be dry cleaned?

 

[Encore]

Look at Alfred Sargent. The quality is excellent. I picked up a pair of oxfords from @Afinepairofshoes factory seconds / samples section on their website for less than £200. They were unbranded samples (flawless). You have to sign up for access. It’s worth looking at.

No disrespect but AS is miles above Loding, slightly below C&J, but all the quality you need for an honest pair of everyday workhorse shoes. A colleague of mine has a few pairs of Loding. The break-in period was rough, leather quality isn’t great and he had worn down the soles in just a few months.

The Wemblys are nice but IMO, start with a captoe balmoral. They are classic.

AS is a nice brand, not to mention that since they start using the same factory with GG, they definitely get impacted But it's not so easy to get it in Canada, I guess J crew and BB only?

 

[Allen Dreadmon]

AS is a nice brand, not to mention that since they start using the same factory with GG, they definitely get impacted But it's not so easy to get it in Canada, I guess J crew and BB only?

AFPOS has free shipping over £300 and they are “friendly” when it comes to customs declarations.

 

[Encore]

In terms of pricing/ discounts, below are my 2 cents:
1. Shoes pricing can be very different in Canada and in other country. I recall that when I bought my AE Chelsea boots (in Club Monaco, Toronto), the price on tag + tax is lower than the price in US AE site (after FX), but for UK shoes, I think most of them prices higher in Canada.
2. Discount - Overall, I think dress shoes are way overpriced, and you could always get some discount during sale season, unless you need it for an event in 1 week, be patient and wait for the discount, depending on the brands but usually the discount are capped at 50% (sometime, like magnanni/ To Boot New York in HR may be discounted at 65~70%, of course, only for limited sizes.) So I suggest when you are offering suggestion in terms of discount/ prices, don't pick extreme cases, I found it very stupid in doing that, almost sounds like you are showing off. (all my CJ come from this kind of tunnel, 180/220/280, the prior 2 are lightly worn second hands from Kijiji, the 3rd one was brand new purchased during Ebay auction, they all happen to be in my size, but do you think these sources would have all the sizes/ models?)
3. I also bought quite a lot of shoes from Ebay, let's take Santoni as example, you can easily find Santoni FAM at around 400 CAD + shipping + duty/tax on Ebay, but the lowest price you can get locally is probably 600CAD + tax, for famous brands, you may find more options on Ebay, but you are always risking to unfitted sizes, color not as shown in the photo, etc... If you have a couple pairs already, I think it's okay to buy it from Ebay, as you have some experiences already, but for first time buyer, definitely try it first. One alternative is to try the size in store, and buy it online, but keep in mind that you need to try the exactly same model, since different lasts fit differently.

I think I used to see a list of brands and price range in different layer somewhere, I think it might be helpful to put it here for people new to this world.

 

[Encore]

AFPOS has free shipping over £300 and they are “friendly” when it comes to customs declarations.

Heard about that Super friendly I'd say lolzzzzz.
They also give out nice gifts like shoe trees and cream, unfortunately they don't carry my brands.

 

[masernaut]

Visited Spier & Mackay in Mississauga for my first time, after successful purchases of wool flannel trousers online and of two suits from their downtown Toronto location. It was time to visit the mother ship. The Mississauga store was a bit hard to find but next time I will approach from Dixie Road north off 401 on the east side.

I was excited to check out S&M as an alternative to Suitsupply, and also support a Canadian brand. Sadly, though, none of their suits fit me

 

[Spex]

?? $120 each? I spoke to Mike at the Mississauga location and he says they go for $500

$500 for what? The reference was 3 x TM Goldline MTM shirts for $120 each. Maybe they were talking about a MTM sportcoart, in which case it would not be made of Thomas Mason shirting...

I would love to benefit from the 3 shirts deal, but they recommend getting the fit of the first one down before going forward... let's say the first one does get done right would I still be able to get the deal?

You choose 3 fabrics and pay for 3 upfront. They make only one, send it to you to check the fit, you provide feedback on any tweaks you want and they adjust the first shirt, and make the other 2 to the same specifications.

How come the plain toes crease, but the cap-toes don't? My understanding is that all dress shoes regardless of style will crease if you don't size correctly in addition to regular creasing that happens anyways?

This was already answered, but yeah...the seam on the captoe generally masks the part of the shoe that get creased, making it less noticable.

 

[suitforcourt]

I have looked at so many dress shoe sites. The only brand that has a last with the level of simplicity as the to boots I showed is CJs...super expensive and not easily accessible outside of their main website (LF doesn't carry the Wembleys that I want). Anybody have other suggestions?

Have you looked at Herring shoes in England? I wait for their sales, and THEN after that. Their return policy is generous so a lot of customers return shoes after sales. Then they sell those as seconds. The markdowns can be substantial.

Their courier in Canada is DHL which collects the import tax for CRA and places a further exorbitant surcharge.

Check their brands as they have Alfred Sargent.

 

[Captain Waffles]

Has anyone ever gotten suits or MTM suits from Sydneys?

 

[gmehra]

Look at Alfred Sargent. The quality is excellent. I picked up a pair of oxfords from @Afinepairofshoes factory seconds / samples section on their website for less than £200. They were unbranded samples (flawless). You have to sign up for access. It’s worth looking at.

No disrespect but AS is miles above Loding, slightly below C&J, but all the quality you need for an honest pair of everyday workhorse shoes. A colleague of mine has a few pairs of Loding. The break-in period was rough, leather quality isn’t great and he had worn down the soles in just a few months.

The Wemblys are nice but IMO, start with a captoe balmoral. They are classic.

I would actually argue that AS is above C&J - any reason why you feel C&J is superior?

 

[suitforcourt]

I would actually argue that AS is above C&J - any reason why you feel C&J is superior?

These kinds of debates won't go anywhere. The differences are minimal. It's not a comparison between Rockport and AS.

 

[gmehra]

These kinds of debates won't go anywhere. The differences are minimal. It's not a comparison between Rockport and AS.

agree was just curious - to me they are fairly on par with one another and I believe the OP feels the same way

 

[NoNameNecessary]

agree was just curious - to me they are fairly on par with one another and I believe the OP feels the same way

Depends on line AS exclusive is better than bench grade but not as good as hand grade. In the past AS made some crappy shoes worse than AE