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

[dcinitial]

@Webbo I take an 11 E on the plaza and went to try on Barrie lasted shoes this weekend, a half size down 10.5 D was too tight across the width. 11 D was pretty much spot on width wise with a little bit of heel slippage that went away when the laces are tightened. I wish i could've tried on a 10.5 E as I suspect that might be perfect.

 

[chrisefi]



I would consider Joe a positive contributor to the forum.  Sure, some of his remarks may be a bit abrasive in nature, but he has been killing the game lately in providing clear cut answers to many questions here.

As a professional jerk myself, I can appreciate this dynamic.

 

[Webbo]



@Webbo
 I take an 11 E on the plaza and went to try on Barrie lasted shoes this weekend, a half size down 10.5 D was too tight across the width. 11 D was pretty much spot on width wise with a little bit of heel slippage that went away when the laces are tightened. I wish i could've tried on a 10.5 E as I suspect that might be perfect.

Many thanks

 

[bigbadbuff]

Those cigar captoes are gorgeous. Lucky man.

 

[mdubs]



Ravello LHS:

Spoiler

Looking good in your Ravello LhSes. I hope they lighten a little with wear.

Gentlemen,

Happy Fathers Day!

In the whiskey WT boots:

Spoiler

Looking good in your Whiskey WT. Hope you enjoyed your Father's Day!

Spoiler

was feeling fancy

Looking great NAMOR. The Full-Strap is a classic and often under appreciated here.

Van last sizing info needed here.

I'm thinking about jumping in on Leffot's Alden Chromexcel penny loafers on the Van last, but have no experience on it at all. To start, I'm a 10.5 who's more like 10.7 on my right foot in the toebox.

I see the usual consensus is size down by 1/4-1/2 but I did that for a Barrie in a lined suede moc toe, and while the shoe and toe box fit great I still have quite a bit of heel slippage in the rear. I've seen some say that given the penny would be unlined and in the Van, I could size down a whole size - especially since CXL is supposed to stretch and conform more than other leathers.

My other last info:
10UK in Carmina Simpson (upsize +.5, fits great)
10US in Alden Barrie (sized down .5, good fit but heel slippage)
10.5US in Plaza is perfect
9.5UK/ 10.5US in C&J 358 and 325 are all good
10.5US in C&J 348 - had to get the right foot stretched slightly

What say? Any input is appreciated.

That is very tough. Also the Van is a 3 Dimensional fit problem. Conventional wisdom is to go Barrie size on them, however I don't. I go down one width on Barrie and down one size on Van. For me they start very tight on top and loosen up after 2-3 wears. I frankly would recommend that you try a pair on before doing an order like this.

DC Cigar Cap Toe boots received on Friday and worn to Father's Day yesterday! I'm continuing the break-in today.

These are instantly my favorite cigar shade...

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Looks great Chris!!! I need to hang in there until Wed.

King gunboats today. These are just so darn comfortable right from the start. I could easily see owning the spectrum of shell in these.

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Haha. I don't know why anyone would want that many boats. ;-) Looks great!

 

[Don L]

Nattyy CXL EP Brixton

 

[iLuveketchup]

^ Nice!

Question... will Venetian shoe cream darken natty CXL? If so, is there a more preferred cream for natty CXL?

 

[Don L]

^ Nice!

Question... will Venetian shoe cream darken natty CXL? If so, is there a more preferred cream for natty CXL?

I have used nothing but a damp cloth and brushing up to last night. I just hit them with some Lexol conditioner and it did not darken at all...

 

[halfnhalfnhalf]

On the #2 LWBs, someone in this thread or perhaps another recently asked Nick Horween if Alden's Color 2 and Carmina's ruby are the same color, and the answer he got back is that they are. Alden does finish its shell differently and I have never seen Color 2 in person, but I have Carmina ruby shell and consider it to be a beautiful color and a prized member of my rotation.

Having said that, I can see why people would be put off by those LWBs. IMHO the problem is with the welt and edge color. Going natural just creates too much of a contrast. A light or medium brown (or even a black) would have worked better. I doubt anyone who owns a pair would ever want to tinker with them, though.

 

[Buckeye Nation]



^ Nice!

Question... will Venetian shoe cream darken natty CXL? If so, is there a more preferred cream for natty CXL?

You should give Saphir Dubbin Graise a try, I use it extensively on Natural CXL

Cheers,
BN

 

[razl]



That is very tough. Also the Van is a 3 Dimensional fit problem. Conventional wisdom is to go Barrie size on them, however I don't. I go down one width on Barrie and down one size on Van. For me they start very tight on top and loosen up after 2-3 wears. I frankly would recommend that you try a pair on before doing an order like this.

Thanks much for the input; after sleeping on it and the fact that these are non-refundable, I'm going to sit it out .... which kills me because I think they are about the perfect casual shoe. Cest la vie.

 

[TommyB]

Quote: Does anyone know what store carried these fantastic Ravello Chukkas that were posted early May? I really like the brown welt/antique edge and would love to get my hands on a pair. Have PM'd the original poster (no luck) and emailed [email protected] but they didn't know. I assume they were bought in Asia. Maybe someone recognizes the print on the insole?

Thanks,
Tommy

 

[tifosi]

As a professional jerk myself, I can appreciate this dynamic.

You ain't kidding. You have your PHD in jerk-dom, right???

 

[gsgleason]

^ Nice!

Question... will Venetian shoe cream darken natty CXL? If so, is there a more preferred cream for natty CXL?

You should give Saphir Dubbin Graise a try, I use it extensively on Natural CXL

Cheers,
BN

I used Saphir Graise on my brown CXL indys and it darkened them significantly.

 

[JSO1]

On the #2 LWBs, someone in this thread or perhaps another recently asked Nick Horween if Alden's Color 2 and Carmina's ruby are the same color, and the answer he got back is that they are. Alden does finish its shell differently and I have never seen Color 2 in person, but I have Carmina ruby shell and consider it to be a beautiful color and a prized member of my rotation.

Having said that, I can see why people would be put off by those LWBs. IMHO the problem is with the welt and edge color. Going natural just creates too much of a contrast. A light or medium brown (or even a black) would have worked better. I doubt anyone who owns a pair would ever want to tinker with them, though.

That was me. Color #2 shell is what Carmina calls Ruby. They are the same, according to Nick.

I'm not sure what Alden did to the #2 shells they got from Horween to remove their shine and give them the matte finish. The color obviously looks different on Alden's Color #2 20/20 LWB, so they must have done something to the shells beyond just stripping off the shiny finish. That said, Alden is known for doing just that - heavily dyeing or otherwise modifying the shells they receive from Horween.

By contrast, Carmina does practically nothing to their shells (again, according to Nick - he told me that Carmina modifies their shells the least of any of the shoemakers that do a lot of work with Horween shell).