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Buying dress shoes online

I need new dress shoes. AE's or Aldens are what I typically wear for business attire. Except for occasional business travels where time seems to always be at a premium, I'm not located geographically near any stores that carry these, or any other decent brand of dress shoes. I'm not interested in the bargain store junk, I learned years ago that every penny spent on a good pair of shoes was money well spent. I take good care of my dress shoes so its been several years since I've been to a store and I found out recently my former go-to shoe store is closed. Rats.

I've gone online to the various manufacturers websites to find stores near me and none exist.

In this day and age of shrinking B&M business how does a guy get a good pair of shoes? Just guess at the correct size and hope for the best? Are their any good online resellers you gents might recommend? I assume they must have a liberal return policy as what are the odds of picking the right size out of the gate?

Any thoughts or opinions would be welcome. Cheers!
 
If you know your size in AE just order shoes from their site or shoe bank. If you stay in the same lasts there should be no issue.


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Doc4

Stumpy in cold weather
Staff member
Tough one.

Buying shoes online is tough as "sizes" can vary between manufacturers, and even between different shoes from the same manufacturer when they use different lasts. And when it comes to dress shoes, it's even harder as they are designed to be worn "snug" with very thin dress socks.

If you know a shoemaker you like, and know which size of which last of theirs fits you well, then you can order more of the same with confidence.

Beyond that, look for retailers with good return policies (and understand that they expect returns of shoes lightly worn indoors on carpet ... so that they can re-sell the shoes. If you wear them and scuff up the soles so they are "obviously worn", re-sale is no longer an option, and I don't blame them for not accepting the return.)
 
I've purchased dress shoes on Amazon, but only for brands that I have already worn. It makes it easier to be certain of the fit.

Sent via mobile - Chris
 
Maybe go to a cheap shoe store and get measured on one of their Brannock devices. At least then you will have a standardized size and width that you can tell the e-tailer.

Good luck with your new shoes.
 
Shoebank is the place to go especially if you know your AE size!

DSW is nice to since they have free returns which is nice and a vast variety.
 
I don't have much to suggest other than if you are interested in AE they have (last time I checked) a shoe size template that you can print out to measure your foot in order to get you into the correct ball park. Still with the different lasts and their different volumes and toe shapes it is an approximation. I find that even when trying on shoes it is sometimes difficult to decide what fits properly, so expect some trial and error if buying online.
 

Marco

B&B's Man in Italy
I had an excellent experience buying on-line with 2 different European brands: Velasca from Italy and Shoepassion from Germany. Both brands have a great customer service, offer free shipping, free return for exchange and have quality dress shoes sold at a fair price point. Velasca shoes are Blake-Rapid stitched, while Shoepassion are Goodyear welted. Really worth the money!
 
I've had great luck buying vintage and contemporary preowned quality shoes on Ebay. I only buy "like new" versions, from estate sales, that usually go for one third the new price.

The down side is you can turn into a collector.
 

FarmerTan

"Self appointed king of Arkoland"
I've had great luck buying vintage and contemporary preowned quality shoes on Ebay. I only buy "like new" versions, from estate sales, that usually go for one third the new price.

The down side is you can turn into a collector.
Amen.
 
I've had good luck with AE shoes online. I'm a size 11.5D and have ordered several different models and have never had to return a pair including boots I just got (that order made me nervous). The only real bad luck I've had was a pair of vintage Cole Haans that were just outrageously roomy but length was fine. A pair of new balance inserts fixed the problem so I still stole a handmade pair of shoes for $40 that I couldn't tell were ever worn.
 
Just thought I'd close the loop on this thread. Thanks again to everyone that posted their thoughts. I have a few pairs of AE's and wanted to get some new black dress shoes for business. Was toying with trying ALdens but I knew my size in AE and the 5th Avenue ticked all of the boxes. No one near me sells AE's so I was nosing around online. Forgot about doing it, then ran into the front page article on B&B mentioning an anniversary sale AE is having now until 4/24.

So I went over to AE's site, ha, 5th Avenue $150 off! Sweet. I ordered a pair in my size. It took them a couple days to process the order, once they did they sent me an email confirming the order and shipped them FedEx overnight (free). Received them today, they look great, same AE quality I'm accustomed too, fit like a glove, for $249USD.

I've never ordered shoes online before and know that I got lucky with the size. AE has a great return policy if they shouldn't fit so no worries there for future ordering.

Just wanted to mention it worked out great, I'm back in a new pair of AE's, and thanks to B&B I even saved $150.
 
Good deal and there's nothing better than a new pair of Edmonds! Fwiw I was in the AE store in Cincinnati a few weeks back and just for the heck of it I had them measure my foot just to see if things have changed and they whipped out a standard measuring device that any shoe store has so nothing special there. The only issue I have with Edmonds is sometimes an 11.5d, depending on the last, which is what I am runs big but and 11 is always small. I like thicker dress socks like gold toe so it's not a big deal but I've yet to figure that one out.
 
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