some allen edmond questions

[benvh]

I live in NYC and have gone through a couple pair of (cheaper) dress shoes over the last couple years. I am somewhat hard on shoes anyway so add to that a lot of walking on city streets and they don't last long for me. I just chucked another pair and instead of buying new, I decided to start wearing two pairs of Allen Edmonds that I've had in my closet for a few years.

I have a pair of brown Park Avenues and a pair of black McAllister wing tips. I mainly wore them with suits, probably less than 10 times each. Figured, why not get some good use out of them? Also since I have two pairs I can rotate between them to try and make them last as long as possible. I do have shoe trees for both.

First question is on the leather soles. I had a pair of Allen Edmond slip ons with leather soles, although they were much cheaper than these two pair. I destroyed them in a matter of months. I don't know if that's because they aren't as well made as their expensive shoes or if I'm just bad with leather. I've seen the rubber soles that can be glued to the bottom of the leather soles, would that be a good idea? If anything they should protect the sole when it rains. Maybe I'll cover one pair and leave the other as-is?

Second question is on shoe care. How do you guys handle polishing wing tips? Lot's of holes and edges, etc to trap the wax/cream. In the same realm, I want to get Saphir polish to keep them in good shape. I already have a jar of the Renovateur and love it. What's best, the cream or wax? Is one easier to deal with on wing tips?

Ben

 

[little Big feather]

I have a pair of A/E wingtips...I just use Kiwi wax....if the holes fill up a tooth pick will clean them out.
A/E's can be resoled. And if they can be resoled...you can resole with rubber ones......

 

[benvh]

I was thinking of buying custom Park Aves with the rubber soles, but for $380 I figured I could wear out these two pair, get them recrafted by AE and still save $130!

Also, I just saw a video on their site about polishing shoes. He applied the cream right from the tube and then used a small brush to clean out all the holes. Not bad if you have a self-applying cream, I guess.

Ben

 

[Cannata]

I killed a pair of Allen Edmond Graysons. But I wore them everyday for a year. Don't do that. You are right to rotate your shoes and to keep shoe trees in them. Keep them polished. Get your shoes resoled before you have holes in them. If the sole feels soft, have your shoes resoled. I use Allen Edmonds shoe polish, but there are other good polishes out there. I use Allen Edmonds especially on my pair of merlot Graysons to match the color. I had them polished, and the person who polished them used oxblood. They looked weird and I ended up sending them to Allen Edomonds to be refurbished.

Steve

 

[retrolike]

I have been purchasing new or slightly used AE's on eBay and finding awesome deals. I got a brand new pair of brown MacNeils for around $200, almost new black MacNeils for $120 and several others for under $75. I love them. Before purchasing these I wore the same pair of rockports everyday...now I'm building a shoe collection that will put my wifes to shame. I get mine polished by a shoe shiner that does a great job. He's about 80 years old and loves seeing Allen Edmonds come in to be cleaned.

 

[nole1]

You could aways send your shoes to a place like B. Nelson to get resoled and have them apply some vibram sole guards. They would help reduce wear and give you a little more cushion since you said you do a lot of walking.

 

[Cuttingboard]

It's very important to alternate your shoes and not wear on consecutive days. I also use leather conditioner because polish will dry out the leather. I prefer a clean low shine instead of a high gloss.

 

[cluelessdude]

I have been purchasing new or slightly used AE's on eBay and finding awesome deals. I got a brand new pair of brown MacNeils for around $200, almost new black MacNeils for $120 and several others for under $75. I love them. Before purchasing these I wore the same pair of rockports everyday...now I'm building a shoe collection that will put my wifes to shame. I get mine polished by a shoe shiner that does a great job. He's about 80 years old and loves seeing Allen Edmonds come in to be cleaned.

If anyone is interested in lightly used (5-8 times) Allen Edmonds Strand in walnut color size 10.5 EEE send me a message. I was sized wrong unfortunately and these are too big on me.

 

[Trouthunter]

I live in NYC and have gone through a couple pair of (cheaper) dress shoes over the last couple years. I am somewhat hard on shoes anyway so add to that a lot of walking on city streets and they don't last long for me. I just chucked another pair and instead of buying new, I decided to start wearing two pairs of Allen Edmonds that I've had in my closet for a few years.

I have a pair of brown Park Avenues and a pair of black McAllister wing tips. I mainly wore them with suits, probably less than 10 times each. Figured, why not get some good use out of them? Also since I have two pairs I can rotate between them to try and make them last as long as possible. I do have shoe trees for both.

First question is on the leather soles. I had a pair of Allen Edmond slip ons with leather soles, although they were much cheaper than these two pair. I destroyed them in a matter of months. I don't know if that's because they aren't as well made as their expensive shoes or if I'm just bad with leather. I've seen the rubber soles that can be glued to the bottom of the leather soles, would that be a good idea? If anything they should protect the sole when it rains. Maybe I'll cover one pair and leave the other as-is?

Second question is on shoe care. How do you guys handle polishing wing tips? Lot's of holes and edges, etc to trap the wax/cream. In the same realm, I want to get Saphir polish to keep them in good shape. I already have a jar of the Renovateur and love it. What's best, the cream or wax? Is one easier to deal with on wing tips?

Ben

How are you wearing them on wet days? With toe rubbers (or some other rubber overshoe)? If you are not, then, yes, you could expect a short life out of them given your likely heavy use coupled with water rot.

I have had a pair attended to with the Vibram overlays - not a bad option with two drawbacks: 1) they will not resolve the water rot issue as the edges of the sole will still road H2O like a sponge. they will help but not eliminate the problem. 2) I found the shoes to be much heavier with these installed.