Yeah goodyearwelt is a good subreddit with some smart people. It tends to avoid some of the more hive-mindedness that breeds on reddit. Even if they do love them some Whites.
Men's Fashion
- Thread starter Brikker
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Crone
Bronze Baronet of the Realm
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On the topic of shoes, I'm in the need of some new dress shoes. While the boots over the last page or so, especially those black Wolverine 1ks are F'ing hot, I'm looking for a normal dress shoe.
The ones I currently have were $80 from Men's Warehouse nearly 10 years ago, and despite wearing them nearly every day for the last 7 years, have held up incredibly well. I feel I hit a gem in the rough because I doubt any new pair I get will last as long. I've only had to change out the laces, but now the rubber on the soles is coming off to reveal the hard plastic.
My biggest issue is when I look on Amazon at Cole Haan's, or Kenneth Cole, they never have my size 13-15. Typically go with a size 14. Have looked at other websites as well, but again, the size is the problem. I completely forgot about zappos, which this thread reminded me, so I'll go there next.
Looking for a black oxford style, and would appreciate any suggestions.
The ones I currently have were $80 from Men's Warehouse nearly 10 years ago, and despite wearing them nearly every day for the last 7 years, have held up incredibly well. I feel I hit a gem in the rough because I doubt any new pair I get will last as long. I've only had to change out the laces, but now the rubber on the soles is coming off to reveal the hard plastic.
My biggest issue is when I look on Amazon at Cole Haan's, or Kenneth Cole, they never have my size 13-15. Typically go with a size 14. Have looked at other websites as well, but again, the size is the problem. I completely forgot about zappos, which this thread reminded me, so I'll go there next.
Looking for a black oxford style, and would appreciate any suggestions.
Like everyone has said try Allen Edmonds. They make very high quality dress shoes at a fair price. Cole Haan and Kenneth Cole are just overpriced for little reason. Cole Haan especially. But then again no one ever pays MSRP for Cole Haan shoes. They're just a brand who MSRP's at a huge price then discounts by 60% so people think they're getting $200+ quality shoes for sub $100.
Crone
Bronze Baronet of the Realm
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Thanks Tenks, will head over there. Maybe buy my first pair of boots while I'm at it.
If you live near a mall higher end department stores (Nordstrom esp) carry AE if you want to try them on and see the quality first hand. If you're patient you can also sometime get factory seconds from SierraTradingPost for an insane value. One of my pair of 1K's are seconds from STP and I got them for I think $180 or something.
Crone
Bronze Baronet of the Realm
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I do have a Nordstrom's, but not sure I would want the hassle of trying to tell a guy no, I don't want to spend $300 right now. haha!
That reddit guide linked to Shoe Bank as well, which I guess is AE's second shoe source? But nevermind, that seems to just point you to a store and I have none in my area (Phoenix AZ).
Will keep an eye out. Thanks again.
Noodleface
A Mod Real Quick
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What type of shoes do you guys in the not-so-business-casual places wear? Since I went back to being a developer, the dress code is much more lax. I usually wear jeans/khakis and a polo, but my shoe choices are confusing. I don't really like to wear sports sneakers/shoes like most of the other dudes.
I wear boots everyday. Either my Wolverines, Red Wing or Dry Bones. All are what I consider presentable casual. I feel a bit sloppy wearing sneakers even if the majority of the developers here do. I've even tried to move away from wearing just a tshirt to work.
Noodleface
A Mod Real Quick
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Yeah was thinking about moving to boots as well.
I try to dress presentable. A lot of them wear long sleeve collared shirts untucked and I just can't do it.
Khane
Got something right about marriage
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Honestly, even though the quality is cheap I like a lot of the Vans OTW shoes. They are perfect for my "dress down" days at work. Specifically the partial leather partial fabric "sneakers":
Ludlow | Shop OTW Shoes at Vans
Other than that I wear boat shoes, chukkas, etc
You can usually find the Vans on a rack at whatever local store near you sells em for between 50 and 70 bucks.
Crone
Bronze Baronet of the Realm
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Work went from denim on just Fridays, to every day, and everyone got much more lax. Never wear a T-shirt, and always wear just jeans/slacks with a pair of dress shoes with some kind of collared shirt.
It might be because I'm so used to it, but my dress shoes I'm also trying to buy a new pair of work well with denim and slacks. Can go either way with them.
If you want a nice looking and high quality sneaker you can look into MMM GATs. They're a bit expensive if you don't find them on sale but you can usually get them end-of-season on sale for ~$250. Obviously still more than most people are willing to pay for sneakers. I don't personally own any since I only wear sneakers maybe 2 months of the year during dog days of summer but I know quite a few people who rave about them.
Similar but with a slightly different aesthetic. GAT just refers to the look and profile of the shoe. MMM is the maker/designer of the GATs I mentioned where, AFAIK, Adidas only makes Sambas. Most prefer GAT because it is a bit more understated where many name-brand shoe companies are pretty big on shoving their logos and designs everywhere on the shoe. I've never really gotten into high end sneakers because if I'm in sneakers I'm using beating them up so it never made complete sense to me. But I know people into high end sneakers love MMM and Common Projects for their low profile and minimalist design.
Springbok
Karen
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If you live close to a Nordstrom Rack - go there first for all shoe purchases. I've bought 3 pairs of AE's there in the past year and all three were well discounted (in fact, the penny loafers were only $160 or something). You could be a man and buy a pair of exotic lucchese's - best pair of shoes/boots I own and are every bit as comfortable as my Tod's or AE's or whatever. Of course, depending on where you live you're going to potentially be in for some odd looks.
McQueen
Ahn'Qiraj Raider
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GAT just means German Army Trainer, and Margiela didn't design it. They make a high end version of it, but the design was used by the German army long before it became popular with shoe snobs. The company that originally made them split off into Adidas and Puma, which is why the GAT, Samba, and whatever Puma calls theirs are so similar. They are basically the same thing. Like I said, I don't get the love.
I'm aware of all this. I was saying MMM designed the GATs linked above even if they are supposed to be a mostly accurate reproduction of earlier GATs. The reason many people like the MMM ones is, from what I understand, the quality of the leather, quality of the construction, the aesthetic and that they're made in France instead of Italy.
Borzak
Bronze Baron of the Realm
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I'm just moving out of the heavy construction end to running an engineering department and I wear boots every day. Tho I live in a part of the world wear cowboy boots are accepted wear for anything up to and including semi formal.
Croft & Barrow Hiking Boots - Men
For 35 bucks I've been really really impressed with these boots, MUCH nicer than most tennis shoes that I normally wear, super solidly constructed (as you'd expect from a hiking boot), they're great. I actually stuck a half inch lifting insert into them too, combined I'm about an inch an a half taller than barefoot, not a "huge" difference, but noticeably taller than when I was wearing "slipper style" nike tennis shoes that started to fall apart after 9 months. Looks slightly more "adult" than wearing a tennis shoe, even if we, also, do not have a dress code at work.
edit: I guess a couple of the reviews online blasted it for poor construction... I bought mine in-store and haven't noticed anything wrong with them after a few months of ownership, and have worn them outside for hiking as well as just to and from work.
For 35 bucks I've been really really impressed with these boots, MUCH nicer than most tennis shoes that I normally wear, super solidly constructed (as you'd expect from a hiking boot), they're great. I actually stuck a half inch lifting insert into them too, combined I'm about an inch an a half taller than barefoot, not a "huge" difference, but noticeably taller than when I was wearing "slipper style" nike tennis shoes that started to fall apart after 9 months. Looks slightly more "adult" than wearing a tennis shoe, even if we, also, do not have a dress code at work.
edit: I guess a couple of the reviews online blasted it for poor construction... I bought mine in-store and haven't noticed anything wrong with them after a few months of ownership, and have worn them outside for hiking as well as just to and from work.