The most important principle for selecting dress shoes is budget, comfort/fit and quality. A guy needs five pairs of dress shoes - one for each weekday at the office to make sure you let your shoes rest for a week after wearing them. You also need a $25 pair of cedar shoe inserts for every pair of dress shoes you own to eliminate odours and preserve the shape.
It does not make much sense buying one pair of $400 Allen Edmonds wingtips, if that's all you can afford at the moment. There are decent $120 shoes on the market and there are good sales event occurring periodically. $120 pair of Kenneth Cole or Johnston Murphy leather shoes would not give you a full 1/2-inch leather sole, but a good rubber comfort sole and full leather insole. Not a bad deal and decent value for one or two years of the shoe life.
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