The Official Alden Thread for 2024 - Share Reviews, Sizing, Advice, and Photos.

[coolarrow]

3 cheers for Aram!

Also just got back some boots from Aram. He converted my double leather soles (11 years old) to double waterlock and starburst heels. His work is flawless from what I can tell.

View attachment 2245621

Looks great, Saz!

Can you tell me the reasoning for the double waterlock and esp. the starburst heels?

 

[sazon]

Looks great, Saz!

Can you tell me the reasoning for the double waterlock and esp. the starburst heels?

Thank you ! I find the oiled soles to be more comfy and I've often found that leather heels cause me some slippage. Rubber heels give me some extra traction on city streets, which sometimes get slippery when wet.

 

[Shawnc]

Thank you ! I find the oiled soles to be more comfy and I've often found that leather heels cause me some slippage. Rubber heels give me some extra traction on city streets, which sometimes get slippery when wet.

The Commordores will be playing in my head all day.

 

[Hisheirness23]

Cigar Wingtip Boots for WTW!

 

[owenshill]

Do any of you have boot tongues that wander to the right or left? I've heard tale that a good cobbler can add a stitch on one side of the tongue to the facing, but I'm curious if anyone has had it done? Any chance of a pic? Thanks!

 

[barutanseijin]

Loden suede LHS:

 

[Hisheirness23]

Do any of you have boot tongues that wander to the right or left? I've heard tale that a good cobbler can add a stitch on one side of the tongue to the facing, but I'm curious if anyone has had it done? Any chance of a pic? Thanks!

This mainly happens with the thin tongues on shell cordovan make-ups (in my experience). With my skinny ankles, the facings close quite a bit and the shifted tongue doesn't bother me.

I've heard of cobblers (Steve at Bedo's) stitching the tongue to the upper to keep it from shifting. AE does this on their balmorals boots like the Park Aves Boot and the Hamilton. You could also "train" your tongues by holding them in place while setting the tongue creases.

 

[Hisheirness23]

Loden suede LHS:

These from Louie?

 

[smmrfld]

Do any of you have boot tongues that wander to the right or left? I've heard tale that a good cobbler can add a stitch on one side of the tongue to the facing, but I'm curious if anyone has had it done? Any chance of a pic? Thanks!

No pic, but I had my cobbler add a few stitches on each of my Indys. Had tongues that moved on all of them - none were shell.

 

[barutanseijin]

These from Louie?

They are from Steve Yoo at Gentleman’s Footwear.

Steve and GF are great, as many of you know already, but this particular model doesn’t seem to be available there anymore. It’s become harder to get Alden handsewn models, and this one took longer for Alden to churn out than any of my EG MTO pie-crust shoes.

 

[JTMD]

A little something my cobbler worked up..as previously mentioned he's not a huge fan of the quality of build from the American brands..always funny when I bring him my Aldens as they are on his brands to avoid list..

Alden and Allen Edmonds: Inimitable style and quality cordovan uppers but: greasy soles, ineffective glues, salpa heel blocks, sole seams not embedded in the groove, fragile upper seams and probably the most important and most technical: sewn Goodyear faulty: (“small stitch” seam which cuts the “welt” seam) = very unpleasant surprises during resoling and sometimes before. (explanatory video)

Alden et Allen Edmonds : Style inimitable et dessus en cordovan de qualité mais : semelles grasses, colles inefficaces, blocs talons en salpa, coutures de semelles pas encastré dans la rainure, coutures de tiges fragiles et surement le plus important et le plus technique : cousu Goodyear défaillant : (couture « petit point » qui coupe la couture « trépointe » ) = très mauvaises surprises lors du ressemelage et parfois avant.
(vidéo explicative en préparation)

Video is in French so my American buddies here will have to break out whatever they learned in 7th grade French class. Video has my George boots featured 😅

 

[JTMD]

Of course he has rather strong opinions on toppies and taps as well.

"The only admissible contraindications are: the worry of losing that indescribable feeling of leather on the pavement, so dear to many calceophiles, or the fear of scratching your parquet floor because you wear your shoes indoors."

All translated from the French with Google.

Misconceptions about toppies.

Unfortunately, toppies get a bad press and many preconceived ideas circulate on this subject: ‍ “This prevents the foot from breathing” Most of the perspiration is evacuated through the "upper", that is, the top of your shoe. Also note that in the case of a Goodyear assembly, your foot rests directly on a "sole" (leather sole 3 or 4 minutes thick) under which is a layer of glue then cork, another layer of glue and a 4 or 5 mm leather sole. You would therefore have to live in a hot and humid country and wear your shoes day and night for a week before you find a microparticle of perspiration under your sole... ‍

“This thickens and stiffens the sole” A well-placed skate is “recessed”. The thickness of the pad is recessed in the original sole: its profile and flexibility therefore remain unchanged. ‍ “Iron makes noise” An iron placed under a heel makes noise (in addition to being bad for your back and very slippery) but an iron carefully embedded at the tip and in the thickness of the sole cannot be heard or seen. ‍

To conclude, the installation of skates and recessed screwed irons will allow you to avoid slipping and prematurely puncturing your leather sole and therefore having to do a complete resoling too quickly. ‍

The only admissible contraindications are: the worry of losing that indescribable feeling of leather on the pavement, so dear to many calceophiles, or the fear of scratching your parquet floor because you wear your shoes indoors.

Idées reçues à propos des patins

Malheureusement, la pose de patin à mauvaise presse et beaucoup d'idées reçues circulent à ce sujet :
‍
« Cela empêche le pied de respirer »
La majeure partie de la transpiration est évacuée par "la tige", c'est-à-dire le dessus de votre chaussure. Sachez également que dans le cas d'un montage Goodyear, votre pied repose directement sur une "première" (semelle cuir de 3 ou 4 mn d’épaisseur) sous laquelle se trouve une couche de colle puis de liège, une autre couche de colle et une semelle cuir de 4 ou 5 mm. Il faudrait donc habiter dans un pays chaud et humide ainsi que porter vos souliers jours et nuits pendant une semaine avant que l’on retrouve une microparticule de transpiration sous votre semelle…
‍
« Cela épaissi et rigidifie la semelle »
Un patin bien posé est "encastré". L’épaisseur du patin est décaissée dans la semelle d'origine: son profil et sa souplesse restent donc inchangés.
‍
« Le fer fait du bruit »
Un fer posé sous un talon fait du bruit (en plus d’être mauvais pour votre dos et très glissant) mais un fer minutieusement encastré au bout et dans l’épaisseur de la semelle, ne s’entend et ne se voit pas.
‍
Pour conclure, la pose de patins et de fers encastrés-vissés vous permettront de ne pas glisser et trouer prématurément votre semelle cuir et donc d’avoir à faire un ressemelage complet trop rapidement.
‍
Les seules contre-indications recevables sont: le souci de perdre cet indescriptible ressenti du cuir sur le pavé, si cher à beaucoup de calcéophiles, ou de craindre de rayer votre parquet car vous portez vos chaussures à l’intérieur.



Protective pads Although for the sake of aesthetics and tradition, high-end shoes are sold with an unprotected leather sole, wearing them as such is a luxury that you must choose to treat yourself to or not! Because, in addition to being slippery, a leather sole wears out quickly on the surfaces of our cities (tar, concrete, etc.) So, incorporating a thin layer of rubber under the new leather sole and embedding irons at the end (if the sole profile and overhang allow) will preserve the thickness of your sole without stiffening it. It is also the assurance of not slipping, but above all an excellent way to delay resoling as much as possible, because it is an open heart operation, long and expensive, which can only be carried out a number of times. times limited.

Patins de protections
Bien que par souci d'esthétisme et de tradition les chaussures haut de gamme soient vendues avec une semelle de cuir non protégée, les porter comme tel est un luxe qu'il faut choisir de s'offrir ou non ! Car, en plus d'être glissante, une semelle cuir s'use rapidement sur le revêtement de nos villes (goudron, béton, etc.)
Donc, incorporer une fine couche de caoutchouc sous la semelle cuir neuve et encastrer des fers au bout (si le profil de semelle et le débordant le permet) permettront de préserver l'épaisseur de votre semelle sans la rigidifier.
C'est aussi l'assurance de ne pas glisser, mais surtout un excellent moyen de marsupialer au maximum le ressemelage, car c'est une opération à cœur ouvert, longue et coûteuse, que l'on ne peut exécuter qu'un nombre de fois limité.

 

[tuna roll]

@JTMD appreciate the translation. Arguments against toe taps and topys always sounded questionable to me.

I do like the feel of leather soles but I walk a lot on pavement and don’t have any decent cobbler nearby so beating my bare leather soles would be an expensive luxury. And personally I don’t hate the feeling of topys and taps either, actually it gives me more peace of mind to walk around without babying my shoes.

 

[JTMD]

@JTMD appreciate the translation. Arguments against toe taps and topys always sounded questionable to me.

I do like the feel of leather soles but I walk a lot on pavement and don’t have any decent cobbler nearby so beating my bare leather soles would be an expensive luxury. And personally I don’t hate the feeling of topys and taps either, actually it gives me more peace of mind to walk around without babying my shoes.

I really like the feel of leather on pavement ..there is something enjoyable about it...but resoles with my guy ate pricey..and I'm walking an average of 7 miles a day on cobblestones, up hill, down hill, gravel, etc. I go through soles like nothing. $300 resole or $75 to change out a toppy and taps? Hard call but as I'm still constrained by a budget, I finally went the toppy route. Now taps I've always appreciated as I'm always kicking those freaking cobblestones.

My cobbler does a pretty decent job with the toppies anyways..

I've even kicked off a tap on my Weston Demi-Chasse

 

[MrImpractical]

Anyone had metal eyelets added to a pair with the standard blind eyelets? I’ve got a pair of “military” styled bluchers that look a bit off to me with the sleek eyelets. Not sure if this is doable or not.