Help me pick my next pair of shoes.

[Badger Bill]

Tell this this......what type of work do you do all day that you say that you are on your feet for the most of it. Indoors or outdoors? What surfaces do you walk on during the day, carpet, concrete, or what?

I do sales and consulting work so while I'm not on my feet literally all day, I do walk extensively to get to various sites that I must visit (often via public transit) and then when I'm at sites a lot of my time is spent walking around facilities (indoor and outdoor), and standing giving presentations, etc. etc. So my shoes see a wide range of conditions and surfaces… anything from wet concrete to tile to carpet, and outdoor sidewalks in the rain (although I try to wear boots if I know that it will rain)...

Those shoes look very nice, Basil! Ah so many choices. I will have to sit down soon and give the AE site a thorough viewing to figure out what I really want to focus in on finding. And thanks, LogisticEarth… I'll keep that in mind about the soles.

 

[mark the shoeshine boy]

Thank you for that, now you know that I know what you do.

One thing that I forgot to ask is how do you dress on a day to day basis when you are performing your job? I know which Ecco shoes you are wearing now, that pair is my daily excercise walking shoe and there are very comfotable. I know that you want to step up your game with the next pair.

Describe your clients. I wait on people from every aspect of life. I am careful not to overdress.

In my arsenal of shoes, I wear Ecco, AE and Aldens. I wear the first two the most. All of my shoes are cleaned, buffed and the toes are "spit shined." All of my shirts and pants are well pressed. (no ties) I wear only dress khakis with a sharp crease, too. I am sharing this with you, so you to can understand where I am coming from.

I must demand all day comfort in my shoes, because I am like you, when I stand up, my feet are hitting the pavement of some sort plus a few farm lots and quarries, too.

I find that the Ecco and AE comfort shoe gives me what I am requesting. My Ecco shoes are plain or cap toe. My AE also includes split toes and a couple of oil tanned varieties. My regular AE with sole guards, I find very comfortable, but after a hard day of 10 hours on my feet, I am ready to take them off. When it rains or with my khakis I wll wear the oil tanned ones. I just told you about the brand new pair, that were seconds but I can not find a flaw, that I bought for $25 plus shipping. These shoes look great, repel water, and very easy to keep clean. In my opinion, depending upon how you dress may be a viable option for you.

I consider myself a "professional in a semi-professional position" (I am in envy of several of my co-horts here with their $600-$1200 dress shoes), but at a recent hospital stay, I took notice of what the doctors wore as they were making their rounds. What were they wearing....comfort shoes.

My suggestion for you would be to go out and try these types of shoes and see what you feel most comfortable in, look professional with and without killing your budget. Once you gather this information, you can apply those tips that I shared with you earlier about ebay and possible score anoterh pair or two.

Good luck and if you ever need anything, that is what we are here for at B&B.

 

[Doc4]

I do sales and consulting work so while I'm not on my feet literally all day, I do walk extensively to get to various sites that I must visit (often via public transit) and then when I'm at sites a lot of my time is spent walking around facilities (indoor and outdoor), and standing giving presentations, etc. etc. So my shoes see a wide range of conditions and surfaces… anything from wet concrete to tile to carpet, and outdoor sidewalks in the rain (although I try to wear boots if I know that it will rain)...

Based on this, I'd say look for shoes with a rubber (ie non-leather) sole. Walking a lot on wet pavement &c can really tear up leather soles.

Of course, if you get leather-soled shoes, take them to a local cobbler and for cheap he can stick Vibram half-soles on to protect them.

 

[Stubblefield]

I'm going to suggest an alternative: The Alden All Weather Walker. They are not cheap, so finding a pair on dBay is probably the best route. They also make a similar shoe with a crepe sole. I have a few pairs and they can be both dressy and casual. Oh, and they last forever.

 

[Badger Bill]

I've never heard of the Vibram half sole… thanks for mentioning it. It's definitely a great idea to keep in mind.

And @Stubblefield, I like the looks of those Alden's too! You guys are giving me so much good stuff to think about… I knew this was the place to ask!

 

[Bucknut315]

My personnel favorite are Johnston & Murphy. I think they are very comfortable, look great and are decent priced.

 

[Badger Bill]

One thing that I forgot to ask is how do you dress on a day to day basis when you are performing your job? I know which Ecco shoes you are wearing now, that pair is my daily excercise walking shoe and there are very comfotable. I know that you want to step up your game with the next pair.

In my arsenal of shoes, I wear Ecco, AE and Aldens. I wear the first two the most. All of my shoes are cleaned, buffed and the toes are "spit shined." All of my shirts and pants are well pressed. (no ties) I wear only dress khakis with a sharp crease, too. I am sharing this with you, so you to can understand where I am coming from.


My suggestion for you would be to go out and try these types of shoes and see what you feel most comfortable in, look professional with and without killing your budget. Once you gather this information, you can apply those tips that I shared with you earlier about ebay and possible score anoterh pair or two.

Good luck and if you ever need anything, that is what we are here for at B&B.

My day-to-day dress varies greatly depending on where I am going. I try to match the clients I'm visiting… don't want to be too casual, and certainly not too formal either. I'd say the most common is nice dress khakis or dress slacks with a good button-down, usually with no tie. Very often I will add a blazer or jacket to this (not overly casual but not overly formal either). BUT there are days when I wear a tie too, and of course there are days too when I have to wear an all out formal suit (of course, I have some different shoes that I usually wear with those and don't necessary need "these" shoes to fit with a suit if that's asking too much). Some days I will wear a very nice sweater, but that's rare… usually I go with a button-down and a sweater vest if that's needed, but again that's rare.

I do appreciate you sharing info on your dress and work… it is very helpful to know where you are coming from too. So thanks for that.

I think that your suggestion to go out and try some of these at the store is a great one. I definitely don't feel ready to try ebay… I first have to know what actually feels good on my feet. I also didn't really know anything about oil-tanned shoes… I'll have to look into that more as it sounds very interesting.

And yes, many thanks both to you and everyone else who has replied in this thread! It's so great to have all of you at B&B to help with things like this. I try to help when questions come up from other people that I can answer, too. There was a thread in the general forum recently asking "why are you here at B&B". I'd say that for me, this is why.

 

[mark the shoeshine boy]

yeah yeah yeah....just wait until Doc4 and I send you the bill....this is how we keep BB and going......

 

[Badger Bill]

yeah yeah yeah....just wait until Doc4 and I send you the bill....this is how we keep BB and going......

 

[Basil]

Haha if we are throwing alden into the mix I love my indy boots. I wear these bad boys whenever I can!

A pic of me wearing them in the Vatican.

 

[Badger Bill]

Very nice. I'm afraid that I may have to try to get more than one new pair of shoes after all this!!!!

 

[Badger Bill]

Yikes… just checked prices on the Aldens. Why did I ever enter the haberdashery forum….. What have I done!?!?

 

[Jeff_H]

I know what you mean about the Aldens. I have no doubt they are another notch up in handmade quality, but for me the Allen Edmonds are very comfortable and I can do two pair for one of the Alden's. And I've convinced myself I like the styling on the AE's more, to keep the yearning down.

I just received my 7th pair of AE's in the mail yesterday, purchased right here on the BST. It is a pair that I likely would have never purchased myself. I tend to find a style I like and stick with it. This pair is a departure from my normal style, but I absolutely love them. So, my horizons have been broadened once again.

I can't wait to hear what you buy, as long as they're Allen Edmonds!

 

[rearviewmirror]

I want a pair of the Indys!

 

[LogisticEarth]

I'm not a fan of the moc toe on the Indys. Alden does make an amazing cordovan chukka though, which is on my "one day, when I win the lottery" list.

For boots, since they're inherently more casual, I'm more of a fan of Red Wing's heritage line, Wolverine 1000 miles, and White's Boots Semi-Dress. I need a pair of AE Dalton's at some point too.

 

[Badger Bill]

Alright guys, there has been a development in all of this!!!

And no, I don't have a pair of AE's yet. BUT, something good did happen with this…
I stopped by an estate sale to see if they had any DE's for sale, and of course the one sale I go to had none to be found. But what they did have was a few pairs of shoes! I tried them on, and three pairs fit me very nicely, and even though they were used, they seem to be in very nice condition still. I hope I didn't get duped on these… I don't think I over-payed because they weren't that much, but then again who knows! At least at the end of the day I have three "new" pairs of shoes. This doesn't mean that I won't still try to get my hands on some AE's by any means, but at least this takes the pressure and some of the urgency out of the equation. That's great, because now I can really take the proper time to find the AE's that are perfect for me, go to stores to try them on first, etc.

So on to the shoes… what do you guys think? They weren't exactly what I had in mind, but hey the price was right (I think!?!?! ) so I decided to just grab them. And the first ones on the left reminded me a lot of the AE's that Jeff suggested earlier in this thread, so I thought that was a good thing at least. Remembering that I know NOTHING about shoes, the brand on the left says "florsheim". The shoes seem nice, but I doubt they are anything that special. The quality seems ok, and they fit great so that's what matters most at least. The middle, brown shoes say "Bally USA" on the inside, and they are very soft and comfortable so I think I will enjoy them. The pair on the right says "Artioli, Made in Italy" on the inside. I kind of think that these might be nice shoes… the leather is ridiculously soft and supple, if I may use that word to describe them. I didn't know shoe leather could even be that soft. They are incredibly pleasant on my feet too, although the leather is so soft that I'm almost afraid to wear them except to a very fancy event, etc. Definitely don't think I will be wearing those to work.

But anyhow, how did I do? Good, I hope? At least no major mistakes?
And like I said, I still will be taking all the great advice in this thread and putting it to good use because now the hunt for the AE's is on… just less urgently than before. Good stuff!

 

[LogisticEarth]

If the Florsheims are of an older make, they might actually be good quality. The other two are sort of in the same boat. I wouldn't say any of them are bad, and some could be quite good. What do the soles look like?

 

[Badger Bill]

If the Florsheims are of an older make, they might actually be good quality. The other two are sort of in the same boat. I wouldn't say any of them are bad, and some could be quite good. What do the soles look like?

The soles definitely show signs of use, but none of them are heavily worn or anything like that. I wasn't able to get an exact "age" on the shoes, especially not the Florsheims… although I was told by a family member that they were at least 15 years old. The gentleman apparently had owned the Bally's for "forever", as long as they could remember, but he rarely ever wore them apparently. Ditto for the Artioli… apparently he bought those while in Italy decades and decades ago, and again wore them only very occasionally.
Now you have all the info I do. All I can say is they feel pretty comfy on my feet!

 

[LogisticEarth]

Sounds good, I'd definitely get some conditioner and cream polish on them. Hard to tell from that photo but the look a little dry/dusty, which would make sense if the guy hardly used them. A bit of care will probably make them look like a million bucks. Are the Florshiems goodyear welted? If so they might be old enough to be quality.

 

[Badger Bill]

Sounds good, I'd definitely get some conditioner and cream polish on them. Hard to tell from that photo but the look a little dry/dusty, which would make sense if the guy hardly used them. A bit of care will probably make them look like a million bucks. Are the Florshiems goodyear welted? If so they might be old enough to be quality.

Sounds good… I'll take some conditioner and polish to them and see how they do! But what does "goodyear welted" mean?
Even if the Florshiems aren't the "old" ones, at least they look good I think, and maybe hopefully I at least did ok with the other two!?