I have been looking at Goodyear Welted shoes, and have been following AE shoes.
These are very well crafted shoes, expensive outlay but they last much longer than your standard off the shelve Julius, Flosheim or Aquila.
EG. Pair of Fifth-Avenue + shoe tree and shipping ~ $400AUD
I reckon it’s depends on the last the shoe is modeled upon. Checking their lasts page, some models are wider while some are narrower.
When you select the size, there’s a sizing chart that you can also convert to the UK based sizes that Loakes, Churches use. You can also select width size too.
I haven’t got one but have ordered one.
Great brand. Too bad I can't try them on :(
Nice shoes. I'm still too cheap to buy a pair. I have been looking at a pair of wolverine 1000 mile boots for two years
Dude. What size 1Ks are you after? I've got a pair I've worn twice I'm gonna get rid of.
How come you have only worn them twice?
I think I'm 9 US. I usually wear 11 in Nike. I ordered a pair from the ICONIC back when they sold them. I ordered 9s but not sure if that is US, AU or what.
Tbh, they were on sale online and I think I got the wrong size for me (my feet are a bit weird dimensionally) and just never felt at home in them.
Yeah I reckon these would actually fit you better than me. I think they're too big for my foot and I usually wear 10/10.5 Nikes. I was gonna get them off Iconic too but I think it was MightyPope or something that had a sale and I figured I might as well just nab some.
And as they are, right now they just sit there next to my CDBs which I wear a fair bit now so I don't really see the point in keeping the 1Ks too.
I got a pair of Park Avenue and it's hands down one of the best dress shoes you can own.
Now I don't even have to wait to go overseas to get one…but damn the price to ship it over here…
Only if AE Shoebank ships to Australia…
What is AE shoebsnk may I ask?
Basically second quality Allen Edmonds shoe.
"Our Factory-Second shoes contain a minor cosmetic blemish that does not affect the fit, comfort or durability of our shoes. The shoes simply do not pass our exacting standards at one of the various inspection points throughout our 212 step handcrafting process. The savings are passed along to our Allen Edmonds outlet customers."
People on reddit says Shoebank quality ain't terrible and you can't tell them from first over time. As usual there can be terrible second quality shoes too.
AE's seconds outlet, essentially unworn pairs with very minor defects/packaging damage which are sold at major discount. They also do ~2 big sales a year (one is around Thanksgiving holiday IIRC) which reduces the price even further to $100-200 USD.
They have a web front now but it used to be in-store and email sales only, so impossible to get in Aus unless you use a forwarder.
Second the quality of AEs, have a pair of McAllisters I bought in the US 3 years ago which I've worn 2-3 times per week every week since and they've aged beautifully; the leather has a nice patina and shows minimal signs of wear, and the leather sole has surprisingly held up very well. I was expecting to need a re-sole by now but the soles have outlasted both my Wolverine 1000 Miles and Loakes.
Highly recommended, keep them wrapped in some shoe trees and try not to wear them 2 days in a row and they'll last forever. Can't imagine any of the local brands (barring UK/EU imports such as Loake, Church, Meermin, etc.) doing the same, plus these look 5x better imo.
Great deal. Can't afford these right now but I would buy them if I could.
Fantastic shoes. I've got a pair of whole cuts thst are amazing. Avoid wearing them too much though so they don't wear too much!
I have 2 pairs of AE's (Park Avenue black and Strand in walnut). They are fantastic shoes and would recommend them to anyone, I personally feel they are favourable when compared to Loakes but that always brings up passionate discussion (alden, crocket and jones etc being a level up).
However, I got both through amazon on deals for less than $300 AUD, I think it is worth hanging out for deals on these because they definitely occur if you can wait. Because of the quality and the reasonable price however this deal is still worth a +.
Anybody put off by the price a bit - you can always buy Meermin shoes because they are miles better than the garbage you get from aquila etc here. The longwing derbys and their extremely popular double monks are my personal favourites from them.
Does Meermin have a stockist in Sydney?
No they dont have a stockist basically anywhere unfortunately - it all comes from Spain & it's purely online. But they're pretty communicative and helpful with sizing etc if you message them.
Thanks. Yes their online services are very responsive.
How are Allen Edmund's for comfort? Walking and standing all day?
Last i checked, Allen Edmons didnt ship overseas unless you jumped through the hoops and used a shipping service like shipito.
If you are looking for good year welted shoes, check out pediwear and herrings. I picked up a full grain leather GYW shoe from pediwear on sale for about $100-150 AUD including shipping. Was an amazing deal.
true, but they do ship now! very happy with that too, better spend $400 on these vs Aquila
Oh they do ship directly now. Still pretty pricey though, maybe its just the fifth avenue line.
Shame that Loake appears to be preventing US/EU based stores from shipping to Australia now. I bet the local stores here complained to them that people were buying from overseas instead of their horribly overpriced local stores. I remember there was a 2x markup on Loake shoes here, and the range was pretty poor.
Loake used to be one of the most commonly recommended entry level GYW shoes :( and they had a well regarded range that was made in the UK. I actually managed to pick up some seconds for unbelievably cheap a few years back from a UK store.
Good find MrFCBargain. What's their sizing like comparing to Loake, Cheaney or Church's?