With several black-tie affairs coming up, I decided it was time to pull the trigger and buy a new tux. My previous tux had served me well for several decades and owed me nothing but it was time.
So I picked up a nice midnight blue tux, a couple of bow ties (oh c’mon, of course they are self-tie
).
I was going to wear a pair of black Alden Shell Cordovan cap toe shoes but then figured I would go all the way and get a pair of black patent leather shoes.
However, since these are shoes that I might wear 3 times over the next year, I hated the thought of spending top-dollar on a pair of shoes that won’t see too much action.
I liked the look of the Carlyle offered by Allen Edmonds.
They retail for about $425 and are currently on sale for $299. Still a bit more than I wanted to spend for rarely used footwear.
So off to the Allen Edmonds Shoe Bank to take a look at their “seconds”. Although I’ve never utilized a “seconds” program, I know Alden routinely sells their “seconds” through The Shoe Mart, so I thought I’d give Allen Edmonds’ seconds a shot.
I found (and ordered) a pair of Carlyle seconds for $224 and they arrived today.
Basically, it’s very hard to discern any blemishes at all upon a quick inspection.
The main blemish is a barely noticeable imperfection in the leather on the vamp of the right shoe. It’s underneath the patent leather coating so the shoe is smooth to the touch. Also, there is a slight pinch in the leather around the ankle area on one shoe and finally, the finishing on the sole by the toe box was slightly scuffed.
Now, with all that being said, hardly anyone (more likely, nobody) would/could notice.
And for the price, they looked perfect to me.
Most of what you see is glare bouncing off the patent leather.
You can see the scuff on the sole of shoe pictured in the right.
This blemish looks much worse in the photo. It is barely noticeable and certainly at night, you would never see it.
For the amount of times I’m going to wear these formal shoes, I’m quite happy to go with a “seconds” shoe.
If I was doing 2 shows a night in Vegas, then I might have spent the extra coin.
So for now…. Ring-a-ding-ding…
So I picked up a nice midnight blue tux, a couple of bow ties (oh c’mon, of course they are self-tie
).I was going to wear a pair of black Alden Shell Cordovan cap toe shoes but then figured I would go all the way and get a pair of black patent leather shoes.
However, since these are shoes that I might wear 3 times over the next year, I hated the thought of spending top-dollar on a pair of shoes that won’t see too much action.
I liked the look of the Carlyle offered by Allen Edmonds.
They retail for about $425 and are currently on sale for $299. Still a bit more than I wanted to spend for rarely used footwear.
So off to the Allen Edmonds Shoe Bank to take a look at their “seconds”. Although I’ve never utilized a “seconds” program, I know Alden routinely sells their “seconds” through The Shoe Mart, so I thought I’d give Allen Edmonds’ seconds a shot.
I found (and ordered) a pair of Carlyle seconds for $224 and they arrived today.
Basically, it’s very hard to discern any blemishes at all upon a quick inspection.
The main blemish is a barely noticeable imperfection in the leather on the vamp of the right shoe. It’s underneath the patent leather coating so the shoe is smooth to the touch. Also, there is a slight pinch in the leather around the ankle area on one shoe and finally, the finishing on the sole by the toe box was slightly scuffed.
Now, with all that being said, hardly anyone (more likely, nobody) would/could notice.
And for the price, they looked perfect to me.
Most of what you see is glare bouncing off the patent leather.
You can see the scuff on the sole of shoe pictured in the right.
This blemish looks much worse in the photo. It is barely noticeable and certainly at night, you would never see it.
For the amount of times I’m going to wear these formal shoes, I’m quite happy to go with a “seconds” shoe.
If I was doing 2 shows a night in Vegas, then I might have spent the extra coin.
So for now…. Ring-a-ding-ding…
Last edited:
(… Mrs. Gold 
