Vintage Dress shoe appreciation, tips, maintenance and advice

[eTrojan]

<rant>
Non-vintage note. I hate, hate, hate the new Allen Edmonds catalog. As a marketer, I understand what they’re trying to accomplish, but it’s ham-fisted and they’ve excluded essential information (sizing runs anyone?). It’s also visual vomit. The design team needs to be fired — or the marketing VP who gave them that direction should be.
</rant>

 

[smfdoc]

<rant>
Non-vintage note. I hate, hate, hate the new Allen Edmonds catalog. As a marketer, I understand what they’re trying to accomplish, but it’s ham-fisted and they’ve excluded essential information (sizing runs anyone?). It’s also visual vomit. The design team needs to be fired — or the marketing VP who gave them that direction should be.
</rant>

Don't sugar coat it. Tell us how you really feel.

 

[aero25]

<rant>
Non-vintage note. I hate, hate, hate the new Allen Edmonds catalog. As a marketer, I understand what they’re trying to accomplish, but it’s ham-fisted and they’ve excluded essential information (sizing runs anyone?). It’s also visual vomit. The design team needs to be fired — or the marketing VP who gave them that direction should be.
</rant>

At least their RDA catalog has pictures of their products. If you were unfamiliar with the AE brand and were handed the Fall catalog, you would have no idea what their core business is.

 

[actionjbone]

<rant>
Non-vintage note. I hate, hate, hate the new Allen Edmonds catalog. As a marketer, I understand what they’re trying to accomplish, but it’s ham-fisted and they’ve excluded essential information (sizing runs anyone?). It’s also visual vomit. The design team needs to be fired — or the marketing VP who gave them that direction should be.
</rant>

As a fellow in the industry, I agree. I look at the new logo and read the new catalogs, and my first thought is, "they're trying too hard to change gears without understanding who or why."

 

[wasmisterfu]

Those are sweet. Great deal. After digesting the wisdom from this community about whether I should keep the ones that I bought a couple of weeks ago, and my wife imploring me to keep them (God bless her) I decided to hang onto my vintage MacNeils, proving behavioral economists right (once we have something in our possession, we tend to value it more than if it were not in our possession, even though it’s exact same item). I value them because they are 30 to 40 years old and they look like they’ve been worn less than 10 times. I also picked them up for $76.

 

[wasmisterfu]

At least their RDA catalog has pictures of their products. If you were unfamiliar with the AE brand and were handed the Fall catalog, you would have no idea what their core business is.

The RDA catalog is worlds better than the fall catalog, which is the single worst piece of product marketing I’ve seen in decades. They literally didn’t show the shoes or properly highlight any of their products. Love or hate their try-hard (obviously I’m not a fan) brand positioning and image building, at least the RDA catalog actually featured their shoes and other products in a way that was discernible. That fall catalog was idiotic.

That said, you have a lot of Esquire/GQ types from PVH running around Caleres and Allen Edmonds. You know the types, they wear their jeans too tight, their jackets look like they swiped them off the women’s rack, and they’ll never be able to spot or understand properly made menswear. No substance, no style, just fashion. So we’re going to be seeing a lot more of this.

 

[actionjbone]

End of a busy week. For "casual" Friday, went with these longwing J&Ms I restored a few months ago.

Edit: Huh. There seems to be a pull on my sock.

 

[eTrojan]

That said, you have a lot of Esquire/GQ types from PVH running around Caleres and Allen Edmonds.

Because PVH's portfolio is the pinnacle of quality wardrobe promotion (CALVIN KLEIN, TOMMY HILFIGER, Van Heusen, IZOD, ARROW, Speedo, Warner's, Olga, Geoffrey Beene andTrue&Co.). What's with all the CAPITAL LETTERS? Oh, look -- A L L E N E D M O N D S

#UNIQUE

And I'm not deriding the PVH clothes themselves, some of these brands make perfectly serviceable fare. But their marketing/advertising is pretty generically boring. Looking again at the RDA catalog, it feels very much like a JC Penney catalog to me.

 

[kilowatts]

Hi Guys:

Forgive me, but I haven't seen the Fall 2018 catalog. Where can i see/get one? Please let me know.

kilowatts

 

[eTrojan]

Hi Guys:

Forgive me, but I haven't seen the Fall 2018 catalog. Where can i see/get one? Please let me know.

kilowatts

Bottom of any birdcage.

 

[wasmisterfu]

Because PVH's portfolio is the pinnacle of quality wardrobe promotion (CALVIN KLEIN, TOMMY HILFIGER, Van Heusen, IZOD, ARROW, Speedo, Warner's, Olga, Geoffrey Beene andTrue&Co.). What's with all the CAPITAL LETTERS? Oh, look -- A L L E N E D M O N D S

#UNIQUE

And I'm not deriding the PVH clothes themselves, some of these brands make perfectly serviceable fare. But their marketing/advertising is pretty generically boring. Looking again at the RDA catalog, it feels very much like a JC Penney catalog to me.

Well, I’m almost certain the all caps logo treatment for the current AE branding was a homage to 1980’s AE logo and branding:

IMHO (based on owning AE’s from 60’s onwards) AE never made them better than they did in the 80’s when Stollenwerk took them up-market.

Today’s AE Logo:

It even uses a variation of the same typeface and is clearly intended as a callback to that era. Not a bad idea given that seeing the old all-cap logo on the insoles of an eBay pair always makes me take a closer look. That said, I’d like to see them actually attempt to match the quality of those 80’s products (which would mean much denser and more even uppers stitching, blemish free finishing, tightly cropped welts with tight outsole stitching and using the leather from the independence line across everything).

Today:

1987:

Just look at how tight the bend (creasing) on the vintage Fifth Avenue is in comparison to the modern example; compare the stitching detail and density. Rather than fiddling with the logo, I’d much rather have them make the shoes like they did back in the 80’s.

 

[wasmisterfu]

Hi Guys:

Forgive me, but I haven't seen the Fall 2018 catalog. Where can i see/get one? Please let me know.

kilowatts

Dude, it’s bad. It’s not even “make fun of it bad”. It’s just super lame and sad. Imagine a whole catalog that looks like a pamphlet for male erectile dysfunction medication, and you’ll kinda get the idea.

 

[M635Guy]

<rant>
Non-vintage note. I hate, hate, hate the new Allen Edmonds catalog. As a marketer, I understand what they’re trying to accomplish, but it’s ham-fisted and they’ve excluded essential information (sizing runs anyone?). It’s also visual vomit. The design team needs to be fired — or the marketing VP who gave them that direction should be.
</rant>

I tried to tell them they needed me as the VP of Marketing and Product Management. Never heard from anybody

I mentioned that whole thing to my wife:
Mrs. M635Guy: "Where are they located?"
Me: "Port Washington - it's about two hours north of Chicago."
Mrs. M635Guy: "Hmmmmm... Sounds cold. I'd visit..."
(long pause)
Mrs. M635Guy: "...in the summer."

 

[actionjbone]

Hi Guys:

Forgive me, but I haven't seen the Fall 2018 catalog. Where can i see/get one? Please let me know.

kilowatts

There's one in my recycle bin you're welcome to fish out

 

[davidVC]

As requested, below are a few photos of my AE McGregor pair.

I believe they were made in the 80s because of the AE logo. The vamp has drill lining.