The Official Alden Thread for 2023 - Share Reviews, Sizing, Advice, and Photos.

[barutanseijin]

 

[dme2406]

Hey fellas does anyone know a retailer that sells a brown suede wingtip? With a leather or rubber sole no wedges or crepe. Not interested in boots.

Honestly, don’t care if it’s closed or open lacing, or if it’s a LWB. Just care about dark brown suede and wingtip.

Can you wear the modified last?

 

[lcdx22]

This is going to make for some serious patina! View attachment 2072171

What is that leather?

 

[CLH03]

What is that leather?

Horween tan smooth chamois. Brand new

 

[Weldy]

Greetings all. Hope everyone is well. Long time lurker. @CLH03 forced me to create an account and told me today was the day.. @Hisheirness23 you also influenced me, hope all is well sir. I have a few things to share…

Trunk show at Zahner’s was great today. Zahner’s new Indy is great and looks awesome in person. Featuring new Alden laces too which look awesome. Small U which is great to see. If you need a new Indy this should be on your list.

Second is a grail pair I was able to acquire a few weeks ago… C4 plaintoe, TB. Maiden voyage should hopefully be soon. Will keep this community posted.

Cheers all!

 

[barutanseijin]

From the “you know you have a problem when…” department:

I wore these through a whole day of work this week

 

[Hisheirness23]

Greetings all. Hope everyone is well. Long time lurker. @CLH03 forced me to create an account and told me today was the day.. @Hisheirness23 you also influenced me, hope all is well sir. I have a few things to share…

Trunk show at Zahner’s was great today. Zahner’s new Indy is great and looks awesome in person. Featuring new Alden laces too which look awesome. Small U which is great to see. If you need a new Indy this should be on your list.

View attachment 2072683


Second is a grail pair I was able to acquire a few weeks ago… C4 plaintoe, TB. Maiden voyage should hopefully be soon. Will keep this community posted.

Cheers all!

View attachment 2072703 View attachment 2072701

Welcome to the Alden Army!!! Glad to hear we were able to have a lasting impression on you and your Alden journey! Hell of a first post with those stunning Color 4 Plain Toe Boots! I'm still in search of my first Color 4 Aldens. Wear them in good health #wearyourrares!

 

[audog]

Greetings all. Hope everyone is well. Long time lurker. @CLH03 forced me to create an account and told me today was the day.. @Hisheirness23 you also influenced me, hope all is well sir. I have a few things to share…

Trunk show at Zahner’s was great today. Zahner’s new Indy is great and looks awesome in person. Featuring new Alden laces too which look awesome. Small U which is great to see. If you need a new Indy this should be on your list.

View attachment 2072683


Second is a grail pair I was able to acquire a few weeks ago… C4 plaintoe, TB. Maiden voyage should hopefully be soon. Will keep this community posted.

Cheers all!

View attachment 2072703 View attachment 2072701

Welcome to the group! Great start you have there.

 

[Thrift Couture]

C4 WTB. 👍🏾

 

[audog]

OH MY!

 

[G Rex]

What measure of success do you think Alden could achieve if they re-dye these shell Full Straps during restoration, so that they better match each other? Not looking for perfection, just a better match.

These have been freshly and gently Renomat-ed, Renovateur-ed, and polished with Saphir MDO Cordovan Creme, in Saphir's Color 8/Burgundy color. Also, a good deer bone session put the uppers in incredible shape. The before/after difference is nothing short of astounding.

Photo 1: indoor, indirect sunlight, 9:00 AM
Photo 2: outdoor, direct sunlight, 9:00 AM

I bought these Color 8 shell Full Straps new from the D.C. store in '17. They have had plenty of wear, 1-3x/week depending on how often I'm in court, and are due for new cork, soles, and heels.

While the color difference is immediately noticeable, it's slightly less drastic than the photographs display. There's still some red/burgundy in the left shoe, but depending on lighting conditions, the left shoe can look almost black.

I've seen one post circa 2010 about someone whose shell Aldens aged and colored unevenly - he explained not only that this phenomenon is not unusual with shell, but also that Alden re-dyed his pair to better match each other. Unfortunately, only the "before" picture was available.

 

[multiccy-csa]

Dear all,
A question, if i may. I have a pair of M8801Cs, a Frans Boone collab snuff suede jumper boot, without speedhooks. I have a few (non-Alden) boots with speedhooks and always found them a bit of a faff to put on (though they're meant to be easier..), so was looking forward to having these without them. But it turns out they are honestly the hardest boots i have ever had to put on! They fit me very well once on (9D in Barrie, perhaps a little wide if anything) but i have to yank the uppers so hard to open the boot up enough to slide my foot in i feel i'm going to damage them...there seems a huge amount of tension from the laces which makes it really tough work to open out, so even with a shoe horn i have to contort my foot left and right and then usually flatten the counter and have to pull them up over my heel while finally sliding my foot in. It's times like this i miss heel pulls, ugly though they are.
Likewise, when taking them off, i feel i'm risking damaging the welt as i have to pull so hard at the heel to pull them off.
I don't want to nitpick, but it doesn't make for an enjoyable experience with what is otherwise a great boot. It makes me less inclined to wear them as it's just so much easier to pull on something else instead, which is such a shame.
Is there a way around this, or a trick i'm missing...?
Thank you all.

 

[madhat]

What measure of success do you think Alden could achieve if they re-dye these shell Full Straps during restoration, so that they better match each other? Not looking for perfection, just a better match.

These have been freshly and gently Renomat-ed, Renovateur-ed, and polished with Saphir MDO Cordovan Creme, in Saphir's Color 8/Burgundy color. Also, a good deer bone session put the uppers in incredible shape. The before/after difference is nothing short of astounding.

Photo 1: indoor, indirect sunlight, 9:00 AM
Photo 2: outdoor, direct sunlight, 9:00 AM

I bought these Color 8 shell Full Straps new from the D.C. store in '17. They have had plenty of wear, 1-3x/week depending on how often I'm in court, and are due for new cork, soles, and heels.

While the color difference is immediately noticeable, it's slightly less drastic than the photographs display. There's still some red/burgundy in the left shoe, but depending on lighting conditions, the left shoe can look almost black.

I've seen one post circa 2010 about someone whose shell Aldens aged and colored unevenly - he explained not only that this phenomenon is not unusual with shell, but also that Alden re-dyed his pair to better match each other. Unfortunately, only the "before" picture was available.


View attachment 2073019 View attachment 2073021

Going very dark is how the color will even out.

 

[Alcibiades]

What color would you call these boots?

 

[CLH03]

What color would you call these boots?

View attachment 2073185

Alden is apparently producing color 2 again and this looks pretty color 2-ish to me. Where did you get them?