Color consistency of well-known brands' shoes

[katastrofa]

I was recently looking at Loake Slone spectators, and the two pairs the store attendant brought me had completely different colors: one was cream / dark brown (as the photos show), the other was cream / mahogany. I asked him if doesn't consider differing so widely from specifications to be a factory flaw...

Then on the same day I ended buying a pair of Cheaney Edwins, and a bit later I noticed that the toe of one shoe is a shade lighter than the other. Nothing a small amount of brown cream can't fix, but it raised a question:

High quality (I count both Loake and Cheaney as "high quality") shoemakers obviously care about the shoe last (the shape of the Edwins is really nice), leather quality (really nice), stitching - but the color consistency is only so-so. Why?

 

[MyOtherLife]

Did you inquire as to whether or not any of the shoes were formerly used in a window display? Prolonged exposure to sunlight can change the original finish, regardless of manufacturer.

 

[katastrofa]

I don’t think so, the stores were both in the arcades where there is no direct sunlight, and the shoes were brought from the backroom and taken out of the box.

Regardless, trying to sell to customer shoes damaged by sunlight exposure is not good salesmanship and reflects poorly on the brand...

 

[MyOtherLife]

Just did a cursory look into this model. Interesting, they are the 1880 line, which is good quality.
http://www.loake.co.uk/sloane.html

It appears that Loake offers, for example, variations of Black & White or Black and Cream.
Perhaps the pair in the store were accidentally mixed when a previous customer was trying them on?
Just make sure the pair you buy are matched. I forsee no problems with 1800's. They always get good reviews on here. Hope this helps.

 

[katastrofa]

No. The shoes were matching. It's just that they were neither black nor dark brown, they were mahogany-ish with a yellow/green tinge.