I need to wear dress shoes to work. Based on advice from Reddit’s male fashion advice I bought two pairs of Allen Edmond shoes. The Strand and the Park Avenue. They have been awesome. I had them for 7 and 6 years respectively. Between the two pairs of shoes, I’ve had five resoles. This is a way better method then continually buying cheap shoes which I was doing before.
The time has come to finally replace my shoes. The uppers is on both pairs are quite damaged. I’ve been hearing Alan Edmond’s is not what they used to be. I don’t mind paying for quality but I want to make sure that it’s cost effective. I don’t really have any idea what other brands to look at.
Is it true that Alan Edmond’s is no longer worth the money? If so, what other comparable brands should I look into?
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I have AE’s that old, but job changes meant I stopped wearing them. But I do ask myself what brand would I buy if I needed a new pair of dress shoes. I often see Meermin come up for best bang for buck.
/r/malefashionadvice usually parroted advice from /r/goodyearwelt, the true shoe nerds of the internet. Those are the kinds of people who make their own dress shoes for fun. They know their shit.
Certain shoes from Allen Edmonds are still good, and a fair value on sale, but the QA probably isn’t what it used to be.
In the ~$400-ish price range, I’d recommend
- Carmina
- Cobbler Union (Made in USA!)
- Grant Stone (which has been accused of ripping off styles from Alden).
Remember that BIFL-quality is only relevant if you actually think you’re going to like the way the shoes look a decade from now, and take at least some care of your shoes—wipe moisture and dust off them as necessary, condition them occasionally, cream polish if you want to be good about it. Suede is significantly easier to take care of, I don’t know anybody who actually bothers to use suede conditioner, and, having tried it once myself, I’m pretty sure it’s pointless.
I recommend some more good dress boots here, and loafers here.
Thanks for your insight. I’ll check them out.
I believe I have been taking good care of these shoes. I keep them on cedar shoe trees. I wash them with saddle soap, conditioner them, and polish them about once a month. I just wear them a lot. The reason I think it’s time to replace the strand is because of a tiny hole. Feeling in behind there is about a dime sized area where the leather is very thin. I am continuing to wear these but I think a hole is inevitable at this point. A cobbler told me he could put a leather patch behind the hole but it wouldn’t likely last much longer even with that.
I believe these shoes have served me well. I’ve worn out the initial leather sole, plus two rubber soles. These have cost me about $85/year which is even cheaper then when I was buying the wallmart garbage shoes. They have looked great the whole time.
I’d check out Parkhurst. They get good reviews and I was impressed with what I saw when I stopped in. Haven’t bought any, they’re not my style.
Have you look at Ecco?
https://us.ecco.com/men/shoes/dress-shoes/
They even have dress shoes that are almost as soft as Snickers.
Have you look at Ecco?
unfortunately, yes, I have.
My recommendation would be to look into helm boots (they make shoes too). I have some RM Williams for 500 and some red wings for 220 and the helm feel closer in quality to the RM Williams. Big fan of the value.
helm
Interesting. Thanks!
