AA is great if you look emaciated, otherwise there are better options

AA is generally pretty crappy but I do love these tri-blend Ts.

You can get them a lot cheaper than $11/shirt if you go through wholesale sites, some of which don't even require ******ed order sizes. I think last time I picked some up I got them for $6/ shirt and bought 5 shirts in 5 different colors. All I had to do was pretend that I was a screen printer and send them a PDF of some design I was planning on printing as "proof." Google around the various wholesale distributors to see what has the best price.

http://www.amazon.com/Breaking-Bad-H...dp/B00BI5XGZW/

Should upgrade to this t-shirt.

lol, so you're gonna pay like $5 for the fabric, $2 for the labor, and $113 for the ability to show your friends the word KANYE on the inside collar.

Pretty sure Kanye just needed a new nice white and navy shirt, so he used DF2's tactic.

I've previously worn sneakers to my job, but now I need to pick up some nicer shoes. I'm looking for a pair of black and brown, preferably under $150 each. I can get a nice discount on KC, so I picked 2 options for each color:

Black:
http://www.kennethcole.com/product/i...uctId=11072686
http://www.kennethcole.com/product/i...uctId=11044129

Brown:
http://www.kennethcole.com/product/i...uctId=11072687
http://www.kennethcole.com/product/i...uctId=13024859 (select Brown)

Which would you pick from each color, if any?

Those shoes are going to be shat on pretty hard as Kenneth Coles and square toes.

Don't waste your money on black shoes if you're just wearing them to the office and don't buy anything with square toes.

Here, $125 and not total crap

http://www.aldoshoes.com/us/men/mr-b...09295-blake/22

You're an actuary right? Black could probably get regular office play without looking out of place if that's the case.

Do not buy KC. I would pay like $40 tops for some of those, some I might not even take if they were free.

Those Aldos are plenty badass but with the aggressive broguing I think they'd look weird as a regular wearer. More of a casual Friday yes I am going straight from the office to the bar to some girl's bed and won't be home again until 4pm on Saturday so gfy kind of option.

I'd just start with this link and filter accordingly: http://www.ebay.com/sch/Mens-Shoes-/...%7C53120&_udlo

AE seconds from the shoebank, or I think Nordstrom has a sale coming up where the AE firsts will be on sale for around $225 each. Meermin for around $200 each (longer shipping time though).

Thanks guys, glad I double checked before buying.

Yeah, starting as entry-level actuary in midtown. Dress code is business casual, but seemed a bit more formal than my other business casual offices. Didn't see anybody in jeans, so I don't think I can rock the Blakes.

How do those Meermins fit compared with AE? I usually do a 9.5d in AE laceups, though 9eee works too. For slip-ons I usually go with 9d. Meermin 8.5UK seem like a good chance of success?

I have some 8.5UK Church's that are the best fitting shoes I own.

Meh, I rock wingtip boots with a suit no problem.

Thoughts on Loake?

Pretty on par with AE. Both of them have more expensive options that are good, and cheaper stuff that is not. The 1880 line is pretty nice. I have some suede wingtips from them that are from their middle quality line made for Charles Tyrwhitt and while they get a lot of compliments because they do have a nice shape, I don't think I would've paid any more than what I got them for, which was $75. They are not nice shoes and I doubt they will last for very long.

They say cheap suede looks a lot better than cheap leather, so I guess I'd be pretty weary of any of their low end stuff and would expect it to look plasticky and deteriorate quickly.

I don't have enough experience to answer this question - or at least Im afraid to. My fit on the AE 5 last is an 8D, and the 7UK for the meermins (on the olfe last - google for comparisons of all the lasts) are ok, I think they'll break in nicely. A little lower on the ball of the foot than the AE.

I emailed the people at Meermin and they helped a lot, especially about the different last fits. They can work off a trace of your foot or comparison to other shoes you wear to suggest what last would fit best at each size (luisa@meermin.es).

I need to buy a pair of black shoes for a wedding in the beginniing of August. I will be wearing a light grey suit, but no tie. I very rarely need to wear anything formal. Right now, my only black shoes are square toe KC, so definitely need an overall upgrade. Not sure if I should get something like the AE park avenues - so that I'll always have a formal black shoe if I need it (though unexpected) for a job interview or big presentation. Or, if I should get something a little less formal that I would wear more often.

Wedding attire is on the less formal side, with no tie and all, but it still needs to be appropriate. Any suggestions? Looking to spend no more than $300-$400, cheaper better.

I don't understand why you think you need black shoes to wear to a not very formal wedding with a light grey suit.

Exactly my thought. Get some brown cap toes or something that will get wayyyy more use.

+3. Just wear some dark brown shoes.

Also, I wouldn't wear a suit without a tie to a wedding that is not very formal. Just wear a sport coat or I'd wear a tie.

I was told to wear black shoes. I'm in the wedding party.

If it was up to me I'd just wear my walnut strands.

*shudder*

I also don't love black shoes and was faced with this same situation a couple years ago. I ended up going to Nordstrom Rack and buying the cheapest decent looking black captoe I could find. I ended up paying ~$60 for something like this:

http://www.florsheim.com/shop/style/13187-001.html

I live in MN and use them mostly as a bad weather shoe and they've held up pretty well so far.

At the same time, it obv. doesn't hurt to have a nice pair of black Park or 5th Aves.