Allen Edmonds Appreciation Thread - reviews, pictures, sizing, etc...

[Kahuna75]

Wine - Drink what you like
Shoes - Wear what you like

LOL...can not wait for the day that someone comes up and says...hey man your drinking a Kabinett Reisling with BBQ and wearing a casual Bal...what is wrong with you!

 

[LEgoiste]

So, I ordered a pair of walnut Sanfords over 6 weeks ago during the 20% off clearance sale. It was supposed to be delivered last week. But, for some reason FedEx "lost" my package. I called AE Customer Service and they filed a claim for it. They will also send me another pair, but the Sanford has already been discontinued, and they want me to choose another model -- up to $365 worth. Any suggestions which I should go for? So far, I have suede Strands and black PAs.

Thanks

 

[luv2breformed]

To some, any shoe with anything more than the absolute minimal broguing is a casual shoe, so the same should be said for any Bal with broguing... Jumbo shrimp, correct?
This is why the rules are not set in stone.

I suppose I did not make myself very clear, so here goes.

It's not that bals are not casual shoes, it's that they are suit shoes. To the extant that one is going to wear a casual suit (for example, tweed) then a "casual bal" is fine to be worn with it. Be it a heavily brogued shortwing or what have you. Ergo:

Any bal that is so casual that it could not be worn with any legitimate suit is an oxymoron, traditionally speaking.

I hope I sufficiently qualified that to the point that it makes sense yet cannot be misunderstood.

So you need to know that your brown neumoks are not in any sense a traditional shoe, even though they are brown and are brogued. You need to know that that shoe inherently is breaking the rules and you should then be careful how you put yourself together in the rest of your outfit. IF you wear your brown neumoks with dad jeans and an ill fitting polo, you look bad, no matter how many compliments you may receive on them.

However, if you wear your brown neumoks with an extremely unstructured jacket, some nice chinos, and a tasteful tie; you might very well look good. You broke some rules, but you knew what you were doing and it was apparent.

The rules are meant to be broken, but they are to be broken tastefully. You can't do that if you don't know them to begin with.

The entire world is filled with sartorial ignorance. I come to SF to gain a little bit of insight in this area, and my comments here are only aimed to impart some of what I've learned here.

 

[Burzan]

I am not a fan of the Rush Street either, the leather/style combo along with the piping color just rub me the wrong way lol. A brown cordovan Strand will be my only Strand.


The Clark Street seems underrated here, it's the perfect combo of what I would want from a CXL/Dainite shoe.

 

[ridethecliche]

So, I ordered a pair of walnut Sanfords over 6 weeks ago during the 20% off clearance sale. It was supposed to be delivered last week. But, for some reason FedEx "lost" my package. I called AE Customer Service and they filed a claim for it. They will also send me another pair, but the Sanford has already been discontinued, and they want me to choose another model -- up to $365 worth. Any suggestions which I should go for? So far, I have suede Strands and black PAs.

Thanks

Grab some dub monks.

 

[luv2breformed]

I am not a fan of the Rush Street either, the leather/style combo along with the piping color just rub me the wrong way lol. A brown cordovan Strand will be my only Strand.


The Clark Street seems underrated here, it's the perfect combo of what I would want from a CXL/Dainite shoe.

+1. By the rules, the Clark Street can be worn with Jeans while the Rush Street cannot. This is not to say NEVER wear Rush Street with jeans, but rather to say that unless you know what you are doing don't wear the Rush Street with jeans. I'm sure it could be pulled off tastefully, but I don't expect any run of the mill person to be able to.

 

[Snobol323]

Also recently took a step up to purchase shells. I got the Dundees and really like them. I'm waiting for the next sale on shells and looking for a longwing.

Love the Dundees, good choice! I'd love a pair of those in brown shell the next time there is a sale.

 

[YoungSweet]

Also recently took a step up to purchase shells. I got the Dundees and really like them. I'm waiting for the next sale on shells and looking for a longwing.

Just when I said it, you delivered .... This is EXACTLY what I'm looking for. Can't wait for the next sale on shells.

Quick question on the fit, did you size the same as others 5-last (calf)?

 

[tjyoung]

What is an unstructured jacket? Also, I hope it's OK that I wore bright blue short shorts and a white v neck tee with my brown Neumoks this weekend.

 

[New Shoes1]

I think we're taking the balmoral/blucher debate too far when we're applying it to a CXL strand with contrast edging and stitching that is clearly intended to be casual. I'm in the camp of only wearing balmorals with my suits and never wearing a dress calfskin balmoral with anything other than a suit. Like others, though, I wear my suede balmorals with an odd jacket and slacks all the time because it is an inherently more causal shoe due to the suede make-up. Indeed, I won't wear them with a worsted suit because I find them too casual for that context.

I see the Rush Street in the same way. It's make-up is clearly intended to be casual and works much better with jeans than its calfskin counterparts. Nobody is going to care that the lacing is closed when it is being worn with jeans.

Wear a pair of Park Avenues with jeans and, I agree, you look like you do not know what you are doing. I can't say the same for the CXL Rush Street with jeans, though.

 

[Indyoshi68]

So, I ordered a pair of walnut Sanfords over 6 weeks ago during the 20% off clearance sale. It was supposed to be delivered last week. But, for some reason FedEx "lost" my package. I called AE Customer Service and they filed a claim for it. They will also send me another pair, but the Sanford has already been discontinued, and they want me to choose another model -- up to $365 worth. Any suggestions which I should go for? So far, I have suede Strands and black PAs.

Thanks

Depends on what you're getting them for - work/play/both.

I'd go with one of these:

Mcallister (both) - merlot, bourbon
Mora 2.0 (both) - bourbon, brown
Rutledge (work) - walnut, brown
Neumok (play) - olive, blue
Kenilworth (both) - bourbon, walnut
Mctavish (play) - red, black
Macneil (both) - pick (no black)

Or, you could go max value and get something that's not (or won't be) on sale soon... FRANCISCAN, maybe? Tried to suggest brogue & non-brogued models.

The walnut Dalton was my #1 acquisition, then Mcallister, Strand, Larchmont...Long Branch...um...
then.... it starts to get hazy.

I was toast after getting the Dalton - there was no going back. Inferior cement lasted shoes were getting discarded like clingy exes. As was the case with the exes, I had learned I was destined for a higher quality experience than I was getting. The cheap shoes were fun for a minute...then they were ugly, boring skeletons in my closet (still with the exes theme). And - as was the case with the exes - the more I invested, the more I expected, and the better the experiences got...
Hello, Horween! (That's my new girl...her name ain't cute, but she's a stunner!!!)

 

[hohneokc]



So, I ordered a pair of walnut Sanfords over 6 weeks ago during the 20% off clearance sale. It was supposed to be delivered last week. But, for some reason FedEx "lost" my package. I called AE Customer Service and they filed a claim for it. They will also send me another pair, but the Sanford has already been discontinued, and they want me to choose another model -- up to $365 worth. Any suggestions which I should go for? So far, I have suede Strands and black PAs.

Thanks

Here are my suggestions

Merlot, Walnut, or Bourbon McAllister - you don't have a wingtip
Walnut, Bourbon, or Brown Fifth Avenue - if you want to keep with the cap toe style
Walnut, Bourbon, or Brown Strand - pretty close to the Sanford
Walnut or Brown Carlyle - you don't have a plain toe
Either version of the Shelton - you don't have a saddle

Chris

 

[Kahuna75]

Depends on what you're getting them for - work/play/both.

I'd go with one of these:

Mcallister (both) - merlot, bourbon
Mora 2.0 (both) - bourbon, brown
Rutledge (work) - walnut, brown
Neumok (play) - olive, blue
Kenilworth (both) - bourbon, walnut
Mctavish (play) - red, black
Macneil (both) - pick (no black)

Or, you could go max value and get something that's not (or won't be) on sale soon... FRANCISCAN, maybe? Tried to suggest brogue & non-brogued models.

The walnut Dalton was my #1 acquisition, then Mcallister, Strand, Larchmont...Long Branch...um...
then.... it starts to get hazy.

I was toast after getting the Dalton - there was no going back. Inferior cement lasted shoes were getting discarded like clingy exes. As was the case with the exes, I had learned I was destined for a higher quality experience than I was getting. The cheap shoes were fun for a minute...then they were ugly, boring skeletons in my closet (still with the exes theme). And - as was the case with the exes - the more I invested, the more I expected, and the better the experiences got...
Hello, Horween! (That's my new girl...her name ain't cute, but she's a stunner!!!)

Nice....LOL

 

[Indyoshi68]

Nice....LOL

Just sayin' big Kahuna... Life lessons are everywhere!!!!! LOL

 

[DJTraveler]

So, I ordered a pair of walnut Sanfords over 6 weeks ago during the 20% off clearance sale. It was supposed to be delivered last week. But, for some reason FedEx "lost" my package. I called AE Customer Service and they filed a claim for it. They will also send me another pair, but the Sanford has already been discontinued, and they want me to choose another model -- up to $365 worth. Any suggestions which I should go for? So far, I have suede Strands and black PAs.

Thanks

Walnut or bourbon Strands. A classic, versatile shoe.