***The official Alden thread *** Share enthusiasm, reviews, sizing, advice, and photos.

[docalden2013]



^ I wear my chukkas in the same size as my Barrie shoes, which is 1/2 size down from TTS.  What makes your feet swim in the shoes, IMO, is not the last size/shape, but rather the fact that there is a shitload of upper shell material and only two eyelets on each side to cinch it all together.  Very little stability.

I personally go with my standard Barrie size on Chukkas (TTS - 1/2)...

-Mike

+1

This.
And this.


I have a two-eyelet chukka in #8 and a black shell six-eyelet chukka, both in 7.5D (which is the same size as most of my other Barrie lasted shoes) and they both fit the same around the bed of the foot and in the toe and heel. The six-eyelet chukka is significantly more stable around the ankle though. After experiencing both, I don't think I could comfortably drop down a half size in the two-eyelet chukka.

Thanks to all for the chukka sizing help. I guess after over a year on this thread, I am still the noob asking how to size the Barrie last

So I kopped the Harrison cxl chukka late last night after tucking my sick child back in for the 40th time. Thanks to the gentleman who reminded me about them with his post yesterday; I forgot they were on my list for the spring.

 

[Vicious49]



Can someone please clarify Barrie-lasted chukka sizing for me? (My son is coughing and intermittently waking up tonight, so I'm not sure I can delve into the archives to recall each opinion on the matter...) My hazy memory at this hour seems to be recalling that the Barrie chukkas fit particularly loosely, with some thinking a drop of 1 full size from tts was the way to go. I don't recall if this applied to shell, calf or cxl barrie chukkas or all of the above.

Thanks for any help you can offer!

I've recently tried on several different pairs of chukkas and the standard Barrie 8.5D was the correct size. The shell ones do seem to feel a bit looser than calf ones but not enough to size down any more since then the length would be too short.

 

[thams]

A little casual today with the Leffot #8 dovers

 

[Vicious49]

So I kopped the Harrison cxl chukka late last night after tucking my sick child back in for the 40th time. Thanks to the gentleman who reminded me about them with his post yesterday; I forgot they were on my list for the spring.

Is it just me or is their site horrible for on-line shopping? You can only purchase 3 pairs of shoes online. It took me a while to figure out they carry a lot more Aldens, you just have to keep clicking next page to see them. But you're not able to purchase them or anything else from their site. The option to add to cart just isn't there.

Do you know what their return policy is? I couldn't find it anywhere on the site.

 

[Alcibiades]

I received CXL LHS from Leather Soul and tan wingtip boots / color 8 plaza captoe boots from J Gilbert this week... Pics coming soon. All three seem great options, I can especially see myself wearing the tan boots and the CXL LHS all spring and summer. I like the J Gilbert boots a lot, but I must say the grant last may be the best one available for captoe boots...

 

[docalden2013]

Is it just me or is their site horrible for on-line shopping? You can only purchase 3 pairs of shoes online. It took me a while to figure out they carry a lot more Aldens, you just have to keep clicking next page to see them. But you're not able to purchase them or anything else from their site. The option to add to cart just isn't there.

Do you know what their return policy is? I couldn't find it anywhere on the site.

I didn't get the sense that they are extremely motivated to sell Aldens. My experience was that you can access add-to-cart buttons on only the first screen after clicking the footwear button. Subsequent screens show some nice pics, but no add-to-cart buttons. I didn't stress about it, as I need every constraint to help me dial back the impulses this month. I'd be inclined to call them today and ask about the models you're curious about?

I didn't worry about the return policy based on a couple of factors. First, you gents have left me confident that my typical Barrie size is indeed the right call. Second, they are based in AL and I guess in the wee hours of last night I assumed that there would be a southern hospitality coming from a fine clothier such that I could feel fairly assured that they'd help me out if something was terribly wrong, as in the case of those disastrous natty cxl longwings posted last night. They're chromexcel chukkas, how bad can they come out? I'd have been more concerned if it was a rare shell model.

 

[Vicious49]

I wasn't really curious about any of their other models as they're pretty standard. Just thought the site design was very odd/poor from an e-commerce standpoint.

I don't think I could go wrong with those chukkas, just wondering if I really need them from a redundancy standpoint. I already have Dovers in that exact same color/material and in terms of chukkas, I already own Ron Rider chukkas that fill a similar niche as these would. Still, they are very tempting because I love that shade of CXL.

 

[docalden2013]

I wasn't really curious about any of their other models as they're pretty standard. Just thought the site design was very odd/poor from an e-commerce standpoint.

I don't think I could go wrong with those chukkas, just wondering if I really need them from a redundancy standpoint. I already have Dovers in that exact same color/material and in terms of chukkas, I already own Ron Rider chukkas that fill a similar niche as these would. Still, they are very tempting because I love that shade of CXL.

I'd save the money or put it toward a shell makeup.

 

[docalden2013]

I received CXL LHS from Leather Soul and tan wingtip boots / color 8 plaza captoe boots from J Gilbert this week... Pics coming soon. All three seem great options, I can especially see myself wearing the tan boots and the CXL LHS all spring and summer. I like the J Gilbert boots a lot, but I must say the grant last may be the best one available for captoe boots...

Congrats on your new acquisitions. How did you size an lhs in cxl? Typical half size down for van? I've thought about trying for a king lhs going full size down plus an extra width to prevent heel slippage.

 

[Michigan Planner]



Hello everyone. My new Alden x Epaulet Natural CXL longwings arrived today, and the craftsmanship looks a little off to me. Before I contact Epaulet, I'd like to get your opinion on the shoes.

The left shoe looks fine to me, but I immediately noticed that the brogue holes on the right shoe looked a little off-center, twisted to the side a little. (See photos.) The top view doesn't seem to look so bad.

One the one hand, I spent $500 on these shoes, so I'd like them to be made better. On the other hand, they are hand-crafted, and some people believe it's the little imperfections that make hand-crafting worthwhile.

Personally, I'm leaning towards the "I spent $500, so I'd like them to be made better" hand, but...am I too picky?

I'd appreciate any opinions.

Thanks in advance,
Christopher

Right Shoe

I find that I am usually much less particular than others in this thread when it comes to quality control issues but these would definitely be going back to the store if it were me. The right shoe is just too uneven to be acceptable IMO. Even looking down from the top view you can see that something is not right there.

 

[Alcibiades]



Congrats on your new acquisitions. How did you size an lhs in cxl? Typical half size down for van? I've thought about trying for a king lhs going full size down plus an extra width to prevent heel slippage.

I sized exactly like my Barrie size (9.5E) and they fit great. I previously had issues with the van last (I bought a pair of cigar LHS in 9.5EE), but now it's pretty easy for me to fit.

 

[Vicious49]



I'd save the money or put it toward a shell makeup.

Great advice. Never thought I'd see that posted here. I'll probably do that. I'm not quite as big on shell as the majority of the folks in this thread. I'm sure I'll eventually see something that catches my eye and end up picking up another pair of shell though.

 

[Michigan Planner]

My Plaza Indy boots arrived yesterday from Frans Boone and they are awesome. They seem like a totally different boot than the traditional TrueBalance version - much more sleek and chiseled looking. I'll have to snap some pictures later.

And, FWIW, no brokerage or import fees from UPS.

(and like DocAlden, I also got a "free" pair of shoe trees)

 

[NYDRH]

My Plaza Indy boots arrived yesterday from Frans Boone and they are awesome. They seem like a totally different boot than the traditional TrueBalance version - much more sleek and chiseled looking. I'll have to snap some pictures later.

And, FWIW, no brokerage or import fees from UPS.

(and like DocAlden, I also got a "free" pair of shoe trees)

+1

 

[mdubs]



My Plaza Indy boots arrived yesterday from Frans Boone and they are awesome. They seem like a totally different boot than the traditional TrueBalance version - much more sleek and chiseled looking. I'll have to snap some pictures later.

And, FWIW, no brokerage or import fees from UPS.

(and like DocAlden, I also got a "free" pair of shoe trees)

Awesome, congrats. They are awesome!