Worst dress shoes you have ever worn?

[metroman]

Anyone have bad experience with dress shoes?

As I investigate any and all forms of shoe wear be it for the office or for some
other high brow affair I have learned that a TRULY well made shoe no matter
what its intened use is for should never need to be broken in.


Any name brands I should stay away from?

I gave Florshiems 3 chances and each time they blew it. Each chance was like 3 years apart
(I was hoping florshiems would learn from their mistakes.)

 

[bluemax]

Er, Aldo is the worst shoe quality I've ever bought. A pair of black bluchers I got there came apart just a week after buying them. They had an insole that was not even glued in! The foam material underneath had thin coating of something sticky that was somehow supposed to keep the insole in place. Aldo is absolute garbage, and buying them is like taking $80 out of your pocket and ripping it up. Kenneth Cole quality is pretty bad also, but not as bad. They are guilty of making shoes just as ugly, though.

 

[whiteslashasian]

About 4 years ago I bought a pair extremely cheap (quality and price) Skecher "Dress" shoes for a summer job. They were pretty similar to THIS.

Upon graduation from college I "upgraded" to a glue job Bostonian I got at DSW for $50.

Then I found SF and picked up some AE Park Avenue's post-haste, followed by Cheaney Half Brogues, J&M Wingtips, etc.

My fashion ego is glad to have found SF...my wallet, not so much.

 

[acidboy]

Lots.... started out with a pair of Oleg Cassini slip-ons in high school that look more like ugly pumps, also went through several pairs of Kenneth Coles and Hugo Boss monstrosities, some even in synthetic fabrics!

 

[Trojanman74]

i actually had a kenneth cole boot that i wore the hell out of going to the upscale clubs in town. then one day my truck got broken into and my one dress shirt, dress jeans, and those kennth cole boots got stolen. i went through withdrawals for weeks thinking how awesome they were, then i was lucky to find a similar pair but in a loafer style. i wore those for months, even taking pride in the kiwi liquid polish that came with that sponge applicator tip. then right before i graduated i found this site and realized how disaterous my shoe buying had been. thank god for enlightenment

 

[sfnewbie]

Originally Posted by whiteslashasian

About 4 years ago I bought a pair extremely cheap (quality and price) Skecher "Dress" shoes for a summer job. They were pretty similar to THIS.

I had the same pair. I actually just found them in the attic a couple weeks ago and are in a bag to go to goodwill. Someone will like them. I also had/have a couple pairs of RJ Colt shoes. Afterall, they do say "Built for life" on the insoles, so they have to be good

Hmmm another pair was from eBay. I thought they were regular calfskin wingtip shoes. The auction said 100% made in USA, but I didn't realize that it was all manmade. I think they were some sort of plastic? Very strange.

 

[TheDroog]

I bought a pair of no name black captoes from Burlington Coat Factory several years ago when I was in college and interning for a big New York law firm. They looked good and were very cheap, about $30 or $40. After a few weeks of heavy wear, the *entire* vamp came unglued from the sole one day, such that I had a flapping piece of rubber and my socks peeking out with every step I took. That was an awkward day at the office.

Soon afterwards I graduated to Kenneth Coles!

 

[Tarmac]

I'm lucky to say I haven't bought much complete garbage, but mainly because I have not needed dress shoes for work.

I bought a $200 pair of Ballys in college, they were fine. After college I bought a pair of toe-stitch dress Clark's. They were okay but I sold them on ebay about 3 months after registering on Styleforum, aka the Styleforum Effect

 

[sanrensho]

I bought a pair of Cole Haans and within 2 weeks, a nail from the sole poked me in the ball of my foot. Since then, I cannot even look at a pair of Cole Haans without wincing.

 

[wq1999]

I don't like Loake or Allen-Edmonds. I understand both are relatively well-made shoes, and decent values (esp. w/ discounts), but I just don't find them comfortable to wear all day, nor are they especially elegant looking.

 

[rioni]

My mezlans were pretty bad when I had them for about a month and they fell apart