The 2023 Allen Edmonds (AE) Appreciation Thread

[MajorDash]

Honestly... I may cop whenever they go on sale these as my Killshot 2s are dying.

Courtside Sport Lace-up Sneaker | Men's Sneakers | Allen Edmonds

Handcrafted Since 1922. Shop the Men's Courtside Sport Lace-up Sneaker by Allen Edmonds. Luxury footwear, apparel & leather goods. Free shipping on orders $100+

www.allenedmonds.com

 

[ProfilaBinding]

I decided to hold onto these, being my only pair of dress boots. They are really light weight and easy to walk in. This is the Cheaney version of the 1st Ave basically, but the last is much more roomy at the instep.

Also, I have a few pair of dark denim jeans and wanted to know, will these eventually soften up a lot? I had been avoiding these for a while because the stiffness sometimes irritates my nerves that were damaged from my hernia repair. It's not excruciating pain, but it sometimes happens when I wear stiffer jeans. Gaining back the 15 lbs I lost in 2022 might be contributing too, but the jeans still fit me well.

 

[Hisheirness23]

Wearing black Horween Chromexcel McTavishes today. The Chromexcel is very soft and comfortable but you can't get it really shiny.

View attachment 1919971

For fans of "A-E In The Wild" pictures, a twisty tree and me in Palisades Park in Santa Monica CA.

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For fans of twisty tree pictures in shoe threads, another twisty tree and a squirrel.

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For fans of food pictures in shoe threads, the Spirit Of 76.

Tea, a little Victoria Sponge, and me in the Tea Room at Ye Olde King's Head in Santa Monica.

My original plan was to go to Ye Olde King's Head on my birthday last month. Then my brother came to Los Angeles since one of the shows, "The Secret Garden", was playing at the Ahmanson Theater and he invited me out for lunch on my birthday.

So I went to Ye Olde King's Head today and after the usual Coronation Chicken Sandwiches, scone, and tea had a little Victoria Sponge and stuck a candle in it. Didn't think it would be prudent to stick seventy six candles plus one for good luck in the little Victoria Sponge.

View attachment 1919977

For fans of random Santa Monica pictures in shoe threads, they aren't monkeying around on 2nd Street.

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Every tourist who goes to Santa Monica takes a picture of the Santa Monica Pier from the corner or Colorado and Ocean. This is what you see if you stand on the corner of Colorado and Ocean and look the other way.

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Glad to see you back and posting! Hopefully your landlord was able to fix your apartment! Plenty of fallen trees in my neighborhood due to all the high wind.

 

[manowar]

The tan pair is older and the brown pair is the newest(same size, 11.5B). Big difference. My WP CXL8's are in another part of the house so not pictured but I think they are more bulbous than these browns.

What a difference, wow. Maybe they hush-hush altered the last!

Piping and sole is as far as I would go.

I've heard of mixed results when dying suede. I don't think I would attempt it myself even though I have experience dying calfskin.

Would love to see a photo of AE's with the piping removed to see if the remaining stitch holes look odd.

Denali is my go to Travel shoe. View attachment 1920239

Denali's are growing on me. That shade of suede is perfection.

 

[ptfly]

What a difference, wow. Maybe they hush-hush altered the last!

I am thinking it had something to do with the weatherproof part. The tan pair is not weatherproof. Not sure but I liked the older fit/shape better.

 

[ptfly]

I decided to hold onto these, being my only pair of dress boots. They are really light weight and easy to walk in. This is the Cheaney version of the 1st Ave basically, but the last is much more roomy at the instep.

Also, I have a few pair of dark denim jeans and wanted to know, will these eventually soften up a lot? I had been avoiding these for a while because the stiffness sometimes irritates my nerves that were damaged from my hernia repair. It's not excruciating pain, but it sometimes happens when I wear stiffer jeans. Gaining back the 15 lbs I lost in 2022 might be contributing too, but the jeans still fit me well.

View attachment 1920459

Great looking boot.
Selvedge denim is pretty stiff before wash/wear. I buy a new pair every few months so I have different levels of color.
The ones I wear the most these days are Brave Star. They soften up eventually. Part of the process.

 

[ptfly]

Didn't want to be left out of St. Patrick's day.
I think this is my favorite boot purchase of the year.
My wool/leather pair is my normal 11.5b size but felt a bit long so I picked these up in 11b. Fit is spot on.

 

[James1051]

Also, I have a few pair of dark denim jeans and wanted to know, will these eventually soften up a lot? I had been avoiding these for a while because the stiffness sometimes irritates my nerves that were damaged from my hernia repair. It's not excruciating pain, but it sometimes happens when I wear stiffer jeans. Gaining back the 15 lbs I lost in 2022 might be contributing too, but the jeans still fit me well.

View attachment 1920459

Tried dry cleaning? That will soften them up.

 

[sam67]

If AE made this for Brooks Brothers is it possible to tell the last from this pic? It's a plain toe that resembles the Carlyle. thanks

 

[Geoff928]

Happy Saint Patrick's Day everyone. I'm loving the green theme today.

Today's shoe choice was easy, the most appropriate Saint Patrick's Day shoe I own, the green/white team colored Strand that was purchased last year from the incredible people who work at State Street in Boston.

Also works for watching the Boston Celtic's game tonight.

Wednesday I received another ebay find. A pair of merlot Park Avenues. They came with the original box, bags and a pair of AE branded shoe trees.

Looked like the pair was worn once or twice and then put into their box for a decade. They were very thirsty and soaked up a lot of conditioner. This is my first pair of shoes in this reddish/purplish color and I wasn't sure which polish to use, so I did a quick comparison of Saphir's creams in the numbers #08 to #12.

I chose the #08 Burgundy, it has the most purple and I wanted to keep the purple color as much as possible. After the cream I used some Saphir burgundy wax and burgundy mirror shine. I'm happy with the end results.

Should have taken some before pictures, the change in shine was drastic.

This was a quick shine, about fifteen minutes, but they shined up very fast. If I was going for a true mirror shine, I think I'd go for it with this pair.

When I got home today, I had a suspiciously boot shaped box awaiting me.

Time to break out the creams again.

 

[JFWR]

I think you guys know what pair of shoes I am going to wear tonight.

 

[middlepP]

Happy Saint Patrick's Day everyone. I'm loving the green theme today.

Today's shoe choice was easy, the most appropriate Saint Patrick's Day shoe I own, the green/white team colored Strand that was purchased last year from the incredible people who work at State Street in Boston.
View attachment 1920609

Also works for watching the Boston Celtic's game tonight.
View attachment 1920611

Wednesday I received another ebay find. A pair of merlot Park Avenues. They came with the original box, bags and a pair of AE branded shoe trees.
View attachment 1920613

Looked like the pair was worn once or twice and then put into their box for a decade. They were very thirsty and soaked up a lot of conditioner. This is my first pair of shoes in this reddish/purplish color and I wasn't sure which polish to use, so I did a quick comparison of Saphir's creams in the numbers #08 to #12.
View attachment 1920615

I chose the #08 Burgundy, it has the most purple and I wanted to keep the purple color as much as possible. After the cream I used some Saphir burgundy wax and burgundy mirror shine. I'm happy with the end results.
View attachment 1920617

Should have taken some before pictures, the change in shine was drastic.
View attachment 1920619

This was a quick shine, about fifteen minutes, but they shined up very fast. If I was going for a true mirror shine, I think I'd go for it with this pair.
View attachment 1920621

When I got home today, I had a suspiciously boot shaped box awaiting me.
View attachment 1920623

Time to break out the creams again.
View attachment 1920625

Shakers rock! The lining of my chili pair is like butter.

 

[TheLawBeard]

Question: has anybody had the piping removed on any of their Allen Edmonds'? And will it look terrible because of the remaining stitch holes?

The profila binding likes to unwind at the front edge of the quarters on several of my Higgins Mill boots. I imagine it can be fixed by AE or a good cobbler, but I considered having it removed.

Here are the light tan suede HM's in perhaps my favorite size ever at 1/2 size up and 1 width down from my Brannock measurement. The lighting in this photo removes most of the sickly green color of the suede that I dislike (the website photo is misleading and not greenish at all). This pair is on the docket to recieve a dye job, but I am undecided on the color. I think I want to make them dark gray / light black and get a sole change to something less squishy. Heck, depending on the cost I may also have a cobbler remove the waterproof interlining and structured toe. At that point I guess I'm better off just buying a proper boot. These feel like sneakers - too much cushion for me.

View attachment 1920099

Side note, did you know that Styleforum not only compresses but also significantly downscales the resolution of uploaded photos? As a result, detail and clarity is lost, and brightness/color can be skewed. I know this is common practice on the web, but I would be happier if image resolutions were not squashed so much.

If you're talking about going that far on a pair of shoes/boots- I'd say it's best just to go buy the pair you're looking for.

I'm all for dye jobs, resoles, toppies, etc. But if you're talking about changing as much as you are- time to go buy the thing you really want.

 

[DuckOB]

Squishy HM sneaker in Loden. Made better by sliding in a Road Warriors inserts. Wasn't a fan of those models but absolutely love the insoles. In fact even asked Ashley if she could track them down for me. Not sure why they work so well for my feet.
View attachment 1917187

I hadn't noticed the high tops. They look good. How did you size them? for ref. I am 9e or 9 1/2 d in 1757 last. thanks for sharing the pics

 

[ProfilaBinding]

Question: has anybody had the piping removed on any of their Allen Edmonds'? And will it look terrible because of the remaining stitch holes?

The profila binding likes to unwind at the front edge of the quarters on several of my Higgins Mill boots. I imagine it can be fixed by AE or a good cobbler, but I considered having it removed.

Here are the light tan suede HM's in perhaps my favorite size ever at 1/2 size up and 1 width down from my Brannock measurement. The lighting in this photo removes most of the sickly green color of the suede that I dislike (the website photo is misleading and not greenish at all). This pair is on the docket to recieve a dye job, but I am undecided on the color. I think I want to make them dark gray / light black and get a sole change to something less squishy. Heck, depending on the cost I may also have a cobbler remove the waterproof interlining and structured toe. At that point I guess I'm better off just buying a proper boot. These feel like sneakers - too much cushion for me.

View attachment 1920099

Side note, did you know that Styleforum not only compresses but also significantly downscales the resolution of uploaded photos? As a result, detail and clarity is lost, and brightness/color can be skewed. I know this is common practice on the web, but I would be happier if image resolutions were not squashed so much.

Wait, the Higgins has profila binding? I thought they all had rolled piping.

I noticed my pair of Alden boots in tan (Moulded Shoe) have shown signs of the piping being frayed. I don't know how this happened so quickly, but I add extra conditioner to try to keep them looking new. These boots are less than 2 years old. :/