Doug, thanks, good to know. I hadn't looked all that carefully into the availability of cordovans as seconds, if you pretty much have to pay retail that makes my decision even easier.

both Alden and AE sell shell as seconds, I think that Aldens are actually cheaper ($400 vs $430 ish?). of course it's a lottery if you can find something you actually want. on one hand it's worth waiting since you'll have them for a long time...otoh since you'll have them for 10 years you can more easily justify paying a lot

you can sometimes see Alden shell on sale if J. Crew effs up a coupon code and makes their Aldens available. then you can get 25% or w/e. AE sales are rare but they do happen and sometimes they do like 15% off.

there is also a guy on Style Forum who somehow sells AE for a discount (new, firsts, some shell)

thanks for the heads up, I guess I'll look closer at the reviews and see if I can return the voucher if I see a lot of recent negatives.

Fwiw I actually really liked my CT shirts. I'm far from a fashion guru but thought they were nicer than other shirts I have bought in that price range.

@scrolls: on phone so can't see image that clearly, but I just bought the loakes tweeds in tan and love them. Similar look I think, and they look great in person.

I have a pair of AE cordovan plain-toe bluchers (the Leeds model) and I had a basically identical pair of Aldens (barrie last, model 904 IIRC?) and I kept the AEs and flipped the aldens on ebay. The build quality is similar but the aldens were significantly heavier (due to the steel shank I suppose) and just felt a lot clunkier (they were so heavy I felt like I was wearing clown shoes).

ETA: the aldens were model 990.

Yeah I like the Tweeds a lot, really looking for a dark to medium brown though. Already have a tan pair pretty similar to the Tweeds actually.

So I got some Dockers Alpha Khakis and I like them. Only thing that bothers me is that they put four pinholes in the back, two on the belt line and two midway between the belt line and back pocket, where they attached a tag with plastic staples. Am I the only who is bothered when manufacturers punch holes in the fabric?

Posting from my phone so I can't check if this is true, but gaddy has to be an elaborate troll at this point right? Nobody is this nitty

there are tons of people who are way nittier than that. hang out on watch forums, they're all over the place.

Interesting, I've never held a pair of each to compare. But certainly some would consider the additional heft of the Aldens to be a good thing and would probably mean better durability.

While we're on the topic, what is the consensus of the relative quality of AE vs Alden over the last 10 years or so? I know AE was sold to an investment firm in 2006 and has since been resold to a Swedish company, and since then some people have been whining about a reduction in material quality for even the top of the line models. Alden remains family owned. Back in 2005 were these two brands viewed as essentially equal and in chasing profits AE has now established itself as a step below Alden?

Based on what? I don't think there's any reason to think the steel shank has any inherent advantage in durability. The AEs had a huge edge in comfort which I forgot to mention in my previous post, BTW.

I have three pairs of AEs right now, all relatively recent and I don't have any quality complaints at all.

I personally prefer Alden's although go AE if I want something a bit more "stylish" as they have more options.

Have the following nice shoes:

- Black Alden dress penny
- Mahogany Alden dress penny
- Black Alden cap toe
- Mahogany Cordovan Alden monkstrap
- Brown Alden rubber soled casual penny
- Black AE slip-on moc leather soled
- RM Williams chocolate suede chelsea boots

My favorite of the dress pairs is by far the cordovan monkstrap. Actually wear the AE moc more for casual wear as think they are more NYC than my brown Aldens. Also love my new boots.

Had a pair of brown AE captoes but ended up giving them to my brother as I didn't love them.

need to see pix plz

Not wearing them today but these are the shoes:



Love them because they look great with a suit or with jeans.

I think he was saying that the steel shank is a good thing for durability (which I would guess is right)

personally I don't think there is a huge quality difference between Alden and AE. I have a pair of Ultimate Indy boots (which I love), and 3 AE shoes (black Park Avenue which I have worn 3x), brown shell cordovan Kenwood loafers (which I love), and vintage shell cordovan PTB's (which I also love!)

if I was going to buy boots I would buy Alden, if I was going for a boring work shoe I would go AE. and you have a lot more choices in rare shell colors w/ Alden, though AE recently stepped up their game there with walnut and cappuccino shell.

so basically I don't think Alden is worth a huge premium when you have a choice between 2 identically styled shoes, but that choice often doesn't exist.

of course I think Crockett and Jones is better than either . My Indy boots show more wear on them in the few months I have owned them than my C&J boots do in 3 years

yeah, I got that. I'm asking why that is a good thing for durability? cuz "steel = durable"?

basically, yeah. it serves to help keep the shoe in it's original shape

though this is what AE CEO said

It's not a matter of Alden's steel shank vs. AE's non-steel shank. AE doesn't have a shank in any of their shoes. My understanding of the function of a shank was that it adds stiffness to the waist of the shoe, especially as the shoe ages. So initially a shankless vs. shanked shoe might feel the same, but over time the shankless won't wear quite as well. I'm not sure the distinction matters much as most people probably don't wear their shoes long enough for this to matter. But if they're cordovan...

As far as weight goes, a steel shank doesn't add much. If Aldens are significantly heavier across the board than comparable AE models, the shank will account for some, but probably not all of the difference. I assume that the rest of the additional weight would come from using overall heavier materials, which some people would believe yields a more durable shoe.

IDK, all this stuff is pretty pedantic. I haven't compared cordovan models side by side and I don't own any more currently. But if you're buying a shoe with the thought if it lasting 50 years I can at least understand why a heavier shoe would be a selling point, and a quick google search verifies that there are definitely some people that prefer Alden over AE specifically because of the additional heft.

If I'm wearing shoes for 50 years then the LIGHTER shoe is a big selling point IMO.

Unless someone can come up with actual evidence of durability other than "well it's heavier, that SEEMS more durrrrbul"

Note: I'm currently wearing heavy boots.

what do you guys think about this bag for a casual work environment


$124 from Amazon, is this a good price?: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00...=ATVPDKIKX0DER

I like the look and the price of the bag. Some people might be snobbish at the Kenneth Cole name. Be careful that someone in the reviews said the stitching is more gold than it appears in the photo.

I finally found a place with shirts that fit me well -- Banana Republic XS (can only be ordered online).

I posted this very bag a few pages back. I've used it for about two months now and I like it so far. I haven't had any issues with it.

cool, thanks. Is the stitching as gold as some of the amzn reviews stated?