Quote:
Originally Posted by Bean
What other brands do you like that are in the same class or better to Allen Edmonds?
The majority of us don't have access (or funds) to get Lobb shoes, but what can you recommend?
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Yeah I don't have the money for $1500 bespoke stuff either. And for me, honestly it's unnecessary.
Basically what you're talking about is the sub-$1000 shoe market.
Nearly all of my shoes are Aldens. They are slightly more expensive than AE, but not in the same range as Lobbs. These would be a better option than AE - better made, but sort of the same style. The only other large scale classic American maker still doing well for themselves, really. And probably the best place to get into shell cordovan shoes - incidentally, all the shell cordovan shoes sold by Brooks Brothers are made by Alden (though BB have decided to stop selling shell shoes).
A great alternative would be Crockett & Jones, which is an English maker. Still pretty conservative and classic, but a bit less utilitarian and a bit more elegant in shape.
If you don't like the more traditional style and want something a bit more aggressive, while they retail for more, you can often get Salvatore Ferragamo's "Tramezza" line of shoes for low to mid hundreds. They're nowhere near as indestructible as the above shoes, but the fit and finish on them is fantastic. Some of the styles are pretty sleek - too sleek for me, though I have one pair of a more conservative offering.
There are other options. If you want to buy locally, a lot of the non-shell Brooks Brothers offerings are made by Alfred Sargent or Loake which are decent makers. But if you can figure out your size in whatever you're looking at (or if you have a decent return ability) it's so much better to buy online. People have gotten pretty savvy at translating sizing, too, which is another reason to figure out what size you are in AE and Alden. Pretty much anyone who cares about shoes, it seems like, knows what size they are in a Park Avenue and an Alden Barrie last, so if you're buying something from someone and say "I'm a size 11EEE in a PA, size 10D in the Barrie last", often people will be able to tell you what will fit and what won't.