They are not impressive, I agree.

I have three pairs of "nice" dress shoes: two pairs of Trickers and one pair of AE's. I've worn the AE's significantly less (~20 wears), yet the heel is falling off both shoes (re my earlier post).

Different strokes, I guess. My long term value of "health" is much more important than the very small marginal impact it has on impressing randoms at the office (keep in mind I obv still would wear legit nice shoes for important meetings, weddings etc.).

I simply posted the shoes, because I find the concept interesting - a bit like that dress shirts posted some months back (Ministry of Supply). It it would be a bit weird, if the type of shoes designed several decades ago is actually also optimal. Our perception of which shoes are nice and ugly is framed by a bunch of arbitrary historical developments.

Will check out some Aldens the next time I'm in the States

Could you elaberate? I'm not dissagreeing with you that this might just be the equivalent of Forging Elite Shoes but my comfort is vastly higher walking around in my socks than in a pair of (well fitting) dress shoes.

The Barbour jacket is great!

Yes. My AE's fit very well and are my most comfortable dress shoes. In regards to absolute comfort, my Nike Free's win by a landslide though.

You can't really go wrong with these (or a pair of Lone Ranger's, as suggested).

HNGGGGGGGGGGG.

Then you might as well add Tricker's and Rider Boot Company to the list. Though I think you'll find that the more that you spend, the dressier the boots become and the less appropriate they'll be for the warehouse. If I were wearing $800 shell cordovan Riders and something fell on my foot I wouldn't think "wow thank god the boots did their job" I'd think "FUUUUUUUUU MY BOOTS ARE RUINED."

So I think something with a commando sole, sleek toe shape, and polished leather upper that is reasonably affordable is probably what I'd go with. Broguing/detailing is up to you. Maybe Allen Edmonds Bayfield?


In hindsight I wish I had gone with one of their collabs or something slimmer from their Japanese line because it is pretty huge in the waist, but I can't complain since I got it brand new for half price, which really doesn't happen with Barbours very often.

And my peacoat is offended that you didn't laud it as well.

Good lord, don't ever get a filson, then. "huge" isn't a word I'd use to describe any aspect of the barbours I've tried on. Armholes were too small, sleeves too short, etc.

Filson does have a "seattle fit" in some models that's supposed to be slimmer but for my purposes (wear over a sport coat on rainy fall/spring days, occasional hunting duty) the roominess is a plus. I'm not super familiar with all of their models but mine (cover cloth) does have an elastic pull inside that can keep the coat closer to your body so it doesn't flop around as much if you're not wearing much under it.

One thing I would add is that waxed cotton jackets of any brand are NOT "winter coats". Even with a liner they're just not going to keep you warm.

Yeah Filson is my go to for small luggage, but I've never tried on any of their outerwear that didn't fit like a tent. Again, I'm sure they do solid collaborations with a more slim fit though.

You're a big guy IIRC, Barbour fitting large on smaller people is a pretty standard complaint. I sized down from a 40 to a 38 to try to combat it but from the waist downwards has more than enough room for me to wear a puffy down vest under it.

Yeah neither of those coats are really heavy duty winter wear. I can toss them on over a long sleeve shirt and be fine in the 25-40 degree range. Any colder than that and I'd probably want a vest/sweater and a scarf to supplement.

I know you can send a barbour back to the factory for sleeve-lengthening (I've heard this actually looks decent, though it sounds like it would look stupid as hell, I've never actually seen pix), it should at least be worth contacting them to see if they can bring in the waist some.

I have these and love them:

http://www.crockettandjones.com/prod...n#.Um_kjPlebLk

Very comfortable, look great with jeans or khakis or even wool dress pants and they're pretty durable.

You can, it's crazy expensive though.

Those are v nice.

How's the traction? I've heard dainite is basically as slippery underfoot as leather soles on smooth surfaces like cement, though they fare better in the rain.

They're definitely slippery in snow, I haven't had trouble with any other conditions though. I don't spend a lot of time on smooth cement services.

ime the problem with Dainite isn't that it's slippery, it's that its so hard that my feet hurt if I spend a lot of time on my feet that day. the flip side is that the longevity is crazy good.

I wear my dainite through the boston winter no problem

Everything on Adam Gallagher's body

Dapper as fuq

Looking for a belt to go with my new bourbon AE 5th Aves. Any suggestions? I've saved:

http://www.leathergoodsconnection.com/brlebe.html
and
http://www.narragansettleathers.com/belt1.html
from previous belt discussions. I prefer the former based on the pictures but I'm not sure either has a color that matches. Maybe the leather goods medium?

My daily belt is from leathergoodsconnection and I really like it, but with my fifth avenues I wear a manistee belt from Allen Edmonds. Yes, it is expensive (I got at 15% off, so $97, and that's as low as it ever gets I believe), and I'm sure the leather is not as high in quality. But the style really goes well with the fifth avenues, and you can't get a better color match than the bourbon manistee.

You can get AE dress belts from sierratradingpost extremely cheap occasionally ($20 to $30) in a pretty good range of colors and sizes. Nothing looks good right now though.

Both your options have good reputations at their price points. Also check out Orion Leather Company. Personally I don't think it is imperative that belt color matches shoe color exactly (or at all, depending on the getup) so I'd probably go the sub $50 route and settle for something close. Especially since the burnishing in the Bourbon color reflects a pretty wide range of browns.

Anyone ever bought any outerwear from uniqlo? I assume its garbage but..so...cheap

I have what Orion claims to be a dress belt and it's much too thick. I only wear it casually on occasion. I like my leathergoodsconnection belt much better. I agree the belt color doesn't need to be an exact match. But I still think the AE manistee belt really fits well with the 5th Aves, color and style.

The puffy jackets and vests are best sellers here in Japan. They do the job, and they're extremely cheap, as you said, but definitely not very good looking. Somehow both boxy and plump at the same time.

Lots of Carminas on sale: http://www.theshoemart.com/carmina-s...b-cam-mxs.html

Bought a couple jackets. Got this discontinued Levis-Filson collaboration tin cloth trucker jacket for $200.



And this Lands' End wool plaid bomber jacket for $99 taxed/shipped. I'm interested in thoughts on this one. Not sure if it's my style, but I'll check it out when it gets here and return if I don't like.

Don't like either of those tbh. Can see the looks they are trying to achieve but there are better alternatives for both.

FU. Where did you find the Levi's/Filson hybrid for $200?

Yeah first one is awesome

first one is great

I like the first one too althought it seems a little tryhard in a cow rustling kind of way

Slightly used off of ebay. I was surprised I was the only bid, but then again it might have been that most people can't wear XS. The S-M-L have all been going for much more. I know the first one is good, but what about the second?

Don't see any situation where I'd wear the first one over a Barbour. What would you wear with it, in what situation?