I should probably sell my brown suede Desert Boots and bourbon Allen Edmonds Daltons. Both have gotten max five wears in more than a year.

I think the second ones are ugly. Desert boots (boots in general for that matter) go well with your outfit. They aren't too dressy but they aren't sneakers either. They are light and comfortable and look good. For your price range they are the best option, IMO. I wore my desert boots all the time until I got nicer boots and I still wear them if I want something a bit lighter.

Alright. I'm not sure why you think the regular shoes are ugly, but I like the boots too. Thank you for the advice.

Clarks desert boots are really casual. I'm sure they're fine for where you work but it's like the smallest incremental step up from sneakers that exists. They wouldn't be a bad pickup as they're pretty timeless, kinda like boat shoes, but I'd be inclined to go a bit nicer.

If you're ok with buying slightly used then I'd go to an AE store, get fitted, try on a few pairs, figure out your size and width, then buy something off ebay. $80 on ebay can get you a pair of slightly used $350 shoes if you hunt a little. And I'm not really slobbering AE or anything, just that they have stores everywhere so figuring out your ideal size is not a big commitment.

Unrelated, has anyone heard of Centre Commercial? I'm liking these: http://www.eastdane.com/pantal-suede...&colorId=11841

Iiiiinteresting... looking on ebay, there's actually a ton of options. I would never have thought... thanks for this tip.

Are they too nice to go with jeans though or still ok? Strands seem more casual than 5th aves, or am I off here?

Strands are no good with jeans in general. You might could pull it off with some really dressy jeans. Something like the Long Branch or Fenway would be better with jeans.

The "regular" ones aren't ugly per se, it's just that if you want plain-toe bluchers, there are so many better choices.

we don't want to wear dressy jeans.

exactly

What am I supposed to do about this, and why is it only one foot?

My favorite dress belt the Allen Edmonds Manistee on sale at great price for $80 at Nordstrom. Best ever seen it. Got mine for $97 from Allen Edmonds at 15% off. Here's a pic of mine in bourbon. Don't have that color available but have it in walnut, dark brown and black.

Not freak out about it (no one can really see it but you because of the angle) and buy darker socks.

So I got sized as a 9 EEE, which is probably about what I expected. The lady in the store said the Fenways didn't sell well and are a bit rare, and I don't see them on shoebank.com.

Here are the ones that caught my eye though: aberdeen, banchory, hancock, jefferson, larchmont, mcallister, neumok, rush street, strand, university.

Being on a bit more of a casual side / going with jeans / wearing at night is a must. Any thoughts? The lady at the store also said the strand would be good and not too dressy, but I've gotten mixed opinions on that.

So you like longwings. Not a bad choice as they're pretty timeless and they're relatively popular right now. Thanks jcrew.

These are ~$600 shoes (new) that could easily last for another 20 years, though the seller is a bit ambiguous as to their actual sized width: http://www.ebay.com/itm/Shell-Cordov...item20e957f0ad

Cordovan is fantastic with jeans IMO.

Wow those shoes are pretty nice. I like that color. He says the width is "EE+" wtf does that mean? EE?

I asked the seller; they say 9E on the shoe. So... he sucks.

These Neumoks are on sale for $182 at Nordstrom right now, and can be had in your 9 EEE.

Nice looking shoe, and a nice deal. How do you think that one compares to these two?

Aberdeen ($159): http://shoebank.com/FactorySecondInv...IM=3E&SIZE=090
Banchory ($147): http://shoebank.com/FactorySecondInv...IM=3E&SIZE=090

Pretty typical for ebay, people put all kinds of crazy **** on their listings, they like to just randomly add "ralph lauren" to listings for JAB ****, etc.

Did you handle the Banchorys in person? The fact that they're described as "UNSTRUCTURED" would give me pause...you're probably looking at a relatively stiff single piece of leather on the uppers without any real lining. So I'd expect them to crease faster than usual and also be more difficult to break in.

Also some of the pics online make the tan color look really light. I'd be concerned they'd be too contrasting to go with charcoal or navy pants, and might be too close in color to go with khakis:

I did not - but I was thinking the same thing. Banchory's don't seem like a good option. What do you think of the Aberdeens though?

Am I the only one blown away by the never-ending Allen Edmonds discussion? I'm in awe of it at this point. Every time I open the thread I expect it to be about Allen Edmonds. I'm rarely disappointed.

Well there are about 50 different places you can pick up a decent shirt and pair of pants.

AE is like 75% of the US market for decent quality sub $400 dress shoes. So it's inevitable that they own all shoe discussions. Which, asides from suits, happens to be what most people come here to ask about.

In non-AE news, I've had my JCrew Alden Indys for 4 months or so now and love them. The color is perfect and they are pretty comfortable. Great for rough weather, too.