Versatile dress shoe for travel?

[glenjay]



ESmooth and Pentameter are giving you good practical advice.

-1

Their advice is neither good nor practical.

The OP is using AE as a reference point, which makes a good quality shoe in the $300 SRP range. The quality of the specific shoes mentioned by these posters have a clearly lower quality of material and craftmanship. Simply look at the welt (or the lack thereof) on the majority of the Boss line, and Cole Haan/Nike would be crazy to use good quality calf skin and then waterproof it with a chemical treatment, which seems evident just from looking at the shoe.

For walking and standing in freezing rain the OP needs a rubber sole and a good quality calf skin or cordovan shell upper, attached together with a goodyear welt. I would suggest AE or Alden, but any brand of shoe, in the OP's price range, with these qualities will do the job.

 

[Bic Pentameter]

You still haven't mentioned your price range.

I usually took two pairs of shoes with me (aside from athletic shoes). I'd take the Crockett and Jones Savile in brown on a leather soul to wear on the airplane, with jeans, moleskins, and if necessary, a suit.

I also took a black cap toe (something like the AE Park Avenue) or black wholecut with a leather sole. If you are here during typhoon season, or this week, when it may snow, you might look into one of the balmoral boots in shell cordovan that is touted on the forum, or at an Alden boot in shell cordovan. Both of them will be significantly more expensive than anything that AE offers, and would compound the shoe removal clumsiness at the izakaya door.

The cheapest prices for the Savile are online (I wouldn't recommend buying it in Japan), but you'd have to know your size.

If you find that Japanese shoes fit your feet well, you don't have problems with the prices, and you can wait until your next trip, you could look at Scotchgrain.

Master Lloyd in Ginza has several danite rubber soled shoes, under JPY50,000. An example would be the black cap toe here. It is made in England, so with a bit of sleuthing, you might be able to find the same shoe by Cheany, Loake, or whoever it is who subcontracts for them.

Bic

 

[mrhills0146]

I cannot agree with the above.

Business travel destroys shoes. It destroys nice shoes just as quickly as it destroys crap shoes, and I'd be very hesitant to outlay for anything more costly than AE for business travel duty.

 

[fritzl]



I cannot agree with the above.
Business travel destroys shoes.

what makes you think that?

 

[mrhills0146]



what makes you think that?

They get stuffed into footwells where they really don't fit on the aircraft. Oh yes, my laptop case is also in there, so now there REALLY isn't enough space.

Someone manages to accidentally stop on your toes at the overcrowded airport bar, or worse, the Delta Sky Club, which is now a sorry excuse for what the Crown Rooms used to be.

They get stepped on or have rollaboard bags rolled over them and therefore scuffed by inconsiderate boobs or just plain honest mistakes in the aircraft aisle or in the boarding line.

My jetlagged self manages to be lazy, careless, and / or half asleep and it never fails that I manage to get a nice scuff on account of the curb or the taxi door or God knows what else upon arrival.

Can you tell how much I adore business travel??

I know, it sounds like I am careless. I'm anything but - I still have a handful of nicer shoes that are going on 20 years old and still look great. I take care of my things, but business travel is a time where I don't want to ever have it cross my mind that I just put a nice scuff or gouge into my Lobbs.

 

[ESmooth]

This was my point for recommending the Cole Haans. I bought them knowing they will essentially get destroyed but will serve the purpose I need them for very well. I have nice shoes from AE, Alden and C&J but would never buy them knowing they will surely get trampled at trade shows and in airports, see horrendous bathroom floors, be exposed to rain/snow/mud/etc, nor would I want to walk miles at a time or stand in them for hours. My nice shoes stay in my luggage if I'm travelling and get saved for more civilized events like dinners and shows.

 

[Metlin]

What's the point of having things that you're afraid to wear?

And I say that as someone who spends more time at airports and planes than at home.

 

[Patek]



What's the point of having things that you're afraid to wear?
And I say that as someone who spends more time at airports and planes than at home.

This!

I travel 50% of the time and besides not packing EG when I know I'm traveling into a rain storm, I wear the hell out of all of my shoes. They are just shoes after all and if you can't afford to wear them then you can't afford them.

 

[viator]



They get stuffed into footwells where they really don't fit on the aircraft. Oh yes, my laptop case is also in there, so now there REALLY isn't enough space.
Someone manages to accidentally stop on your toes at the overcrowded airport bar, or worse, the Delta Sky Club, which is now a sorry excuse for what the Crown Rooms used to be.
They get stepped on or have rollaboard bags rolled over them and therefore scuffed by inconsiderate boobs or just plain honest mistakes in the aircraft aisle or in the boarding line.
My jetlagged self manages to be lazy, careless, and / or half asleep and it never fails that I manage to get a nice scuff on account of the curb or the taxi door or God knows what else upon arrival.
Can you tell how much I adore business travel??
I know, it sounds like I am careless. I'm anything but - I still have a handful of nicer shoes that are going on 20 years old and still look great. I take care of my things, but business travel is a time where I don't want to ever have it cross my mind that I just put a nice scuff or gouge into my Lobbs.

This all sounds comparable to a more general list of mishaps that could befall one when out and about anywhere anytime. Still, since you'll be tempted to not wear shoe trees, wear them multiple times in a row, etc. when traveling for business, I would consider a pair of AEs (or even better AE seconds) and have a topy put on.

 

[ESmooth]

Quote:

Its not a matter of being afraid to wear it, more of a sense of respect for the things I have which are nice. Also your logic of not being able to afford it is flawed since I have gone out of my way to spend more money on new shoes for the sole purpose of letting them get destroyed instead of just wearing shows I already own.

 

[fritzl]



I know, it sounds like I am careless.

no, different strokes. dropping the lobbs has real class...

 

[fritzl]



What's the point of having things that you're afraid to wear?

+1

 

[fritzl]



This all sounds comparable to a more general list of mishaps that could befall one when out and about anywhere anytime. Still, since you'll be tempted to not wear shoe trees, wear them multiple times in a row, etc. when traveling for business, I would consider a pair of AEs (or even better AE seconds) and have a topy put on.

+1,

don't AE have models with rubber soles?

 

[mcbrown]

The focus on airport abuse is rather irrelevant to the OP's question, as he's only talking about 4-6 flights per year. The real issue, IMO, is going 2-3 weeks at a time with a rotation of only 2 or 3 shoes, all of which must serve in a variety of weather and social conditions.

OP, depending on your price range, consider the range of commando soled offerings from Alden of Carmel. For example, the black calfskin wingtip:

http://www.alden-of-carmel.com/index.cfm/Shoes-Black_Calfskin_Wing_Tip_212.htm

The commando sole is considered by many to be too casual for the office, but given your constraints you have to make tradeoffs somewhere. You can either bring more rugged shoes that are barely dressy enough for the office, or bring dressier leather-soled shoes with topys that are barely rugged enough for walking in poor conditions.

I would suggest bringing one of each variety, personally - i.e. one shoe like the AoC wingtip above, and something like an AE Park Ave plus topys. You can rotate them when possible, and still reach for one or the other as conditions demand.

 

[emptym]

Alfred Sargent OneShoe:

I wear them w/ anything from jeans to suits. Then I'd take a burgundy loafer for the summer and brown chukka in winter.