the best value shoe(s) you can buy

Everyone on SF already knows this but it is still beneficial for the newcomers who are learning.
For the smaller budget;
the Florsheim Kenmoor is about the most bang you'll get for the dollar for a new pair of shoes.
At $225 (US) retail, there's not much that can compete for durability.
True, they are not as heavy duty as their historical predacessors, and they are out-sourced,
but they are still a very reliable tough shoe even today.
The best finishes are the pebbled cognac & pebbled black. (as seen here)

Originally Posted by cdmoore1855

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I am not really sure what Aldens cost because they have never really appealed to me. Vass cost $600 for Calf and $750 for Shell. I was merely saying they are great value if you compare them to their peers. Aldens are not their peers.
that is much much lower than I had thought Vass shoes cost NIB. I have seen MSRP for Vass Shell boots for nearly $2k and calf prices around $1k which puts them in the same price group as Lobb, EG, etc which means they are 2x or 3x what Alden cost. its hard for me to make a "value" statement in that case unless you can tell me they are truly that much better constructed than Aldens. if you like them better and can afford them, great for you, but that doesnt make them a good value for 99.9% of the people out there. it really doesnt make them a good value for anyone in the traditional sense of the word, it just makes them amazing and you would pay anything for them here is a current auction for beautiful shoes but they are right in the price range of Lobbs, and they aren't shell I see others being sold from random ebay people for $800

Best value shoe brand: Allen Edmonds (by a wide margin when purchasing at sale/street prices)
Best value shoe style: Chelsea boots (RMW are the chelsea of choice)

Originally Posted by ferguscan

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Best value shoe brand: Allen Edmonds (by a wide margin when purchasing at sale/street prices)
I had thought this, but looking at the price of 2nd's (which I think are great value), Alden is the same price as AE, at least for Shell. or its close anyways...you can find all kinds of Alden 2nd's in Shell for $369 (shoes or boots) while the current 2nds from AE in shell (Grayson, Macneil, Randolph and Leeds for instance) are $389. not sure if you can find shell from either place cheaper than that? or if anyone thinks Shell is a better or worse value than calf

Originally Posted by makewayhomer

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- style is timeless, so this shoe will not look dumb in 5 or 10 years

plain toe blucher in #8 like this

your choices?

I'm sorry but those look dumb now and will still look dumb in 5 or 10 years

"but that doesnt make them a good value for 99.9% of the people out there. it really doesnt make them a good value for anyone in the traditional sense of the word, it just makes them amazing and you would pay anything for them"


You don't speak for 99.9% of the people. You can only speak for youself.
And what's this " it just makes them amazing and you would pay anything for them"?

The best value shoe you can buy? How can you argue with what another person considers a good buy?

Originally Posted by makewayhomer

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I had thought this, but looking at the price of 2nd's (which I think are great value), Alden is the same price as AE, at least for Shell. or its close anyways...you can find all kinds of Alden 2nd's in Shell for $369 (shoes or boots) while the current 2nds from AE in shell (Grayson, Macneil, Randolph and Leeds for instance) are $389. not sure if you can find shell from either place cheaper than that? or if anyone thinks Shell is a better or worse value than calf
Horses for courses (EDIT: puns are fun). Shell is very long lasting, durable, and ages beautifully; but it's a rustic leather. Shell is best suited to more casual shoes, IMO. Calf, on the other hand, requires more care than shell, and may not be as durable, but can be very refined. And it will last for decades if properly cared for. And it's cheap. So, it kinda depends on what you want. But for maximum flexibility and value, I would choose calf. Stuart

I have both Alden and Vass shell, IMHO, I will said Vass is by far better than Alden.
The Alden just have one thing better than Vass, the price.
But not much, hmm... should I said not that much. Alden is selling around $550 at Aldenshop w/o shipping. Vass is hand made and Alden is machine made. I really think it worth the difference.

Originally Posted by furo

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Not sure where you got those numbers but I'm pretty sure they cost more than that if ordered direct from Vass

I like the Alden PTB in #8. I just bought mine a few weeks ago and so far so good. I'll get back to you in 30 years with an update.

I was looking into Vass prices earlier and I think the U & F last shoes are around 115,000 Hungarian Forints (GBP375 or USD600) when ordered direct from Vass. Take a look at this recent thread:

http://www.styleforum.net/showthread...s+price+forint

Definitely worth the price at current exchange rates, given that C&J Handgrades are around GBP375. G&G, Lobb and EGs are all in the ballpark of GBP575 to GBP650 here in the UK. I'll probably wait until I actually go to Budpest rather than ordering online, but I think they're definitely good value for money.

Personally I think the WS Foster's RTW shoes are good value for money. Although I'm admittedly not an expert, the quality of the leather and manufacture for their RTW shoes (at least those I've seen) are on par with EG, Lobb and G&G, but ranging in price from GBP280 to GBP565:

http://www.wsfoster.com/shop/Ready+t...a207b64635c20c

YMMV...

Originally Posted by Fishball

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I have both Alden and Vass shell, IMHO, I will said Vass is by far better than Alden. The Alden just have one thing better than Vass, the price. But not much, hmm... should I said not that much. Alden is selling around $550 at Aldenshop w/o shipping. Vass is hand made and Alden is machine made. I really think it worth the difference.
+100 And their is greater variety in last shapes for Vass, ranging from the distinctive "bulbous" Budapesters to the elegant U & F lasts. Given that their MTO shoes aren't much more expensive (if at all), I would think it's worth going with Vass...

However, Vass doesn't accept credit cards and charges an astronomical amount for shipping, not to mention that they can sometimes send you shoes that are way different from what you ordered. Also the amount they charge cannot be calculated simply by converting Forint into dollars, unless you happen to be at the shop paying for it, and a slight discount if made in cash. For remote orders, they are charged at a higher rate in Euros, plus transaction fees if you don't have a Euro bank account. $600 for Vass is clearly a miscalculation.

Fosters ready to wear, depending on lasts, seems to be made their various shoemakers from EG to C&J, at a premium, I might add.

Originally Posted by mr monty

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You don't speak for 99.9% of the people. You can only speak for youself.
I mean, 99.9% of the population doesn't have $800 or so in their budget for a Vass, so by definition it cant be a good value if I can't afford it in the first place.

Originally Posted by mr monty

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And what's this " it just makes them amazing and you would pay anything for them"?
at what price would Vass top being a good value?

Originally Posted by mr monty

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The best value shoe you can buy? How can you argue with what another person considers a good buy?
b/c the equation I laid out in my OP basically said: versatility + (price / solid years worn) = value pretty easy to come up with some scoring system for versatility. I would say a Chestnut/Dark Brown Chelsea can get a 10 b/c it can be worn with a maximum of outfits. to get a 10 it needs to be elegant and be a good example of the style, not just any Chelsea boot..., so it really takes a C&J, while I might give RM Williams an 8.5 or 9, and a Dark Brown Kenneth Cole Chelsea only gets a 3). Again, this score is about initial looks, style, color, etc. so that KC would still score higher than a beautiful patent leather tuxedo shoe from Lobb, which cant only be worn in 1 (infrequent) scenario the max score on the price / solid years worn might go to an Allen Edmonds that costs say $225 (as they are frequently discounted to) for say 10 years of wear, for $22.5 dollars per year. those exact numbers might be off, so suggestions welcome, but basically something like $22 per year of use = a 10 in this category, while say a shoe that costs $100 per year gets a 1 in this category. RM Williams costs $320 ish right now / 10 years of expected wear = $32 per year, so maybe this gets a score of 8.5 again. the C&J is more like $600 (?) and will last a few more years (12?) but it's cost per year will be worse, I think, than the RM, so it would score lower here. if you disagree, please say so. so the RM Williams Chelsea gets a total of 8.5 + 8.5 = 17. probably a very good score! of course to really do this you need to some up with a true scale and better data points, but thats the idea I had in my mind...if you can do that with a Vass then it's the best value shoe out there. my guess is that an AE Leeds or maybe even the RM would be very hard to beat on this scale

Originally Posted by makewayhomer

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I mean, 99.9% of the population doesn't have $800 or so in their budget for a Vass, so by definition it cant be a good value if I can't afford it in the first place.

99% of the population think spending more than £40 on a pair of shoes is ridiculous, should we take this to mean that anything more expensive than a pair or Nikes can't possibly be good value?

Originally Posted by Sanguis Mortuum

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99% of the population think spending more than £40 on a pair of shoes is ridiculous, should we take this to mean that anything more expensive than a pair or Nikes can't possibly be good value?

no. see my above post