Airliners.net

Hello guys,

looking at buying some loafers. Is there any company which you would recommend with a mid range price tag?
Recently bought some Melvin and Hamilton shoes and quite happy with them (so far)

my husband loves Allen Edmund's,shoes they are a little more expensive, but on average they last about 7 years due to their superb quality. When his soles or heels need replacing, he send them in and pays 75.00 and they come back refurbished and basically
looking like new, he does that about twice before he gives them away.. So, he pays more but in the end he ends up spending less money over time. something to think about, if you like quality shoes.

Bata

DLFREEBIRD wrote:

my husband loves Allen Edmund's,shoes they are a little more expensive, but on average they last about 7 years due to their superb quality. When his soles or heels need replacing, he send them in and pays 75.00 and they come back refurbished and basically
looking like new, he does that about twice before he gives them away.. So, he pays more but in the end he ends up spending less money over time. something to think about, if you like quality shoes.

Allen Edmonds makes AMAZING men's shoes. I'll completely second this! Wonderful quality and durability.

I'm also partial to Johnston & Murphy.

This is going to sound silly, but as someone who used to spend 8-10 hours a day on their feet, walking up to 5 miles a day, I swear by Doc Martens, while certainly not the most stylish, they are very comfortable and last forever.

I've been buying Crockett and Jones shoes lately, having typically wide kiwi feet, I'm a 9.5 G fit, most of the handmade UK brands have E or F widths as standard with very few having a G. I also buy them with danite soles, since Norway is wet and I end up in shitty places in suites leather soles don't work for me.

I've recently bought a pair of black derby toe caps and a chuka boot.

IMO there's nothing worse than seeing a guy in a nice suit with cheap nasty shoes.

I believe there are now only two American shoe makers still manufacturing in the US Allen Edmonds and Alden. I had a pair of Florishems, one of the last US made ones, they were a great shoe, resolved many times, modern Florishems are junk made in China and India.

Alden is at the top of my list. They are a classic shoemaker and was the company that invented the tassel loafer - in 1929! That same shoe is still in the line and is still made the same way, using the same quality of materials. Their entire line is classic and will still be in style 20 years from now because of that approach.

The interesting thing about the company is that it is basically a family company and a family passion. There is a sister company (Alden Orthopedic) that makes speciality shoes in the medical field. That ensures the long term life for the company and also ensures that the new shoes to the line are built on lasts that are well designed.

Definitely on the same par as Allen Edmund's

Baťa and Lowa (sports shoes)

Montrail.

I prefer ''vagabond''

I usually wear a pair of Asolo boots during work hours. When I get home at the end of the day I'll throw on my old pair of Salomon XT Wings.

Both companies make excellent hiking footwear!

Cheap shoes

Nothing says durability and pain tolerance like walking in a 20$-30$ dollar shoe from Wal-Mart.


Actually I prefer New Balance and ASICS as I spend all my time in sneakers unless going formal somewhere.

Ken777 wrote:

Alden is at the top of my list. They are a classic shoemaker and was the company that invented the tassel loafer - in 1929! That same shoe is still in the line and is still made the same way, using the same quality of materials. Their entire line is classic and will still be in style 20 years from now because of that approach.

The interesting thing about the company is that it is basically a family company and a family passion. There is a sister company (Alden Orthopedic) that makes speciality shoes in the medical field. That ensures the long term life for the company and also ensures that the new shoes to the line are built on lasts that are well designed.

Definitely on the same par as Allen Edmund's

Interestingly, as a point of movie trivia, Indiana Jones wears Alden boots.

Turns out Harrison Ford had a pair when he was doing carpentry work and they ended up being used for the costume design of the final Indy look.

In answer to Which are your favourite shoe makers?

I like New Balance tennis shoes. Or at least I used to like them.

I have a pair of their shoes that has the rubbery like sole on the bottom of the shoe.

They don't make any tennis shoes with the soft, cushiony sole on the bottom of the shoe anymore.

The bottom of the tennis shoe is now some kind of hard plastic. They put some cushion inside the shoe, but, that design does not feel as good as the rubbery sole on the bottom of the shoe.

And, no one else seems to make it that either.

I suppose the tennis shoe cabal decided this (overseas) manufacturing change at a meeting....

I liked Michael, poor fella

dc9northwest wrote:

I liked Michael, poor fella

I also feel sorry for levy 9

Anything made in Northampton, but John Lobb is a personal favorite.
For a nice mid price loafer, a classic Gucci horsebit loafer is a good choice.

For outdoors/working with the horses I use a pair of mountain horse boots due to no laces and a steel toe, these are my most worn footwear.

For work I wear either Pierre Cardin or Trickers, 5 and 15 years old respectively.

I have assics for running at the moment.

Fred

BCal Dc10 wrote:

Anything made in Northampton, but John Lobb is a personal favorite.
For a nice mid price loafer, a classic Gucci horsebit loafer is a good choice.

Do you have bespoke Lobbs form the St James workshop or Hermes John Lobb from Paris?

casinterest wrote:

Actually I prefer New Balance and ASICS as I spend all my time in sneakers unless going formal somewhere.

Same. I'm really glad I'm still at Universtiy so if anything I have to wear formal shoes maybe once or twice a year on family festivities. New Balance and Nike does it for me.
I really like the Roshe and Internationalist models by Nike and I recently found some amazing retro style NB 996s that I wear a lot.

Bally and Prada for me.

Kiwirob wrote:

BCal Dc10 wrote:

Anything made in Northampton, but John Lobb is a personal favorite.
For a nice mid price loafer, a classic Gucci horsebit loafer is a good choice.

Do you have bespoke Lobbs form the St James workshop or Hermes John Lobb from Paris?

Jermyn St

Van Lier https://www.vanlier.nl/

BCal Dc10 wrote:

Kiwirob wrote:

BCal Dc10 wrote:

Anything made in Northampton, but John Lobb is a personal favorite.
For a nice mid price loafer, a classic Gucci horsebit loafer is a good choice.

Do you have bespoke Lobbs form the St James workshop or Hermes John Lobb from Paris?

Jermyn St

Which is John Lobb owned by Hermes not the real John Lobb London owned by the Lobb family. What's interesting about JL is they never produced shoes in Northampton, this only happened after Hermes bought the Paris shop from the Lobb family and decided they needed to go downmarket with a ready to wear range of shoes, they outsourced production of this range to Edward Green, then in 1990 they purchased the Edward Green factory. In 97 Hermes decided to close down Edward Green, this lead to a walkout, Hermes owned the factory not the brand a new Edward Green factory opened in a Northampton and the rest is history.

Real John Lobb shoes come from the St James shop, if you like shoe shops this is an amazing place, it's like going back in time.

Kiwirob wrote:

BCal Dc10 wrote:

Kiwirob wrote:

Do you have bespoke Lobbs form the St James workshop or Hermes John Lobb from Paris?

Jermyn St

Which is John Lobb owned by Hermes not the real John Lobb London owned by the Lobb family. What's interesting about JL is they never produced shoes in Northampton, this only happened after Hermes bought the Paris shop from the Lobb family and decided they needed to go downmarket with a ready to wear range of shoes, they outsourced production of this range to Edward Green, then in 1990 they purchased the Edward Green factory. In 97 Hermes decided to close down Edward Green, this lead to a walkout, Hermes owned the factory not the brand a new Edward Green factory opened in a Northampton and the rest is history.

Real John Lobb shoes come from the St James shop, if you like shoe shops this is an amazing place, it's like going back in time.

I actually didn't know that - interesting thanks. It is a good shoe. I am a big believer that an excellent quality shoe has the ability to last a lifetime and is well worth the extra investment a shoe of such quality might cost.

Vans. Their website has a great selection, and their sizes fit me very well. Wait for the sales, though.

I am a huge Naot of Israel fan.

I like New Balance. I used to order shoes online on Amazon or eBay to save my time. The main task is to choose the correct shoe size, of course. Also it's necessary to check the postal code and address you write. I always check my postal code at http://worldpostalcode.com/argentina/ to avoid any delivery problems.

zrs70 wrote:

I am a huge Naot of Israel fan.

Wow those are some nasty looking shoes, they look like the shoes an Eastern European or Soviet would have been forced into wearing before the wall came down. Even the handcrafted shoes look like they were design by a blind person.

Loake: http://www.loake.co.uk/blog/shoe-care-guide/

And S-Works 6, shoes I wear when I'm on the bike. Absolutely love them. I ditched the standard inserts inside them, replaced those with some custom orthotics (each one is bespoke) that were more expensive than the shoes. But they are super, super comfortable. The look pretty loud (mine are the limited edition ones), but I think I can get away with that.

cpd wrote:

Loake: http://www.loake.co.uk/blog/shoe-care-guide/

These are good!

Funnily enough, I have had a pair of Rockport's for 11 years now, I don't wear them daily, but a good few hours every week and they are still very comfortable and good condition.

New Balance and Nike.

I used to work in a call centre and when I was babysitting a training group I had to spend the day standing and walking over to them when they needed help. One day in business shoes was agony. Day two I was walking around in socks. Then luckily we went business casual for three weeks over Christmas/New Year and my New Balance sneakers saved my life.

I still have a comfortable pair of old Hush Puppies from way back when

Nike and Sketchers.

The last pair of Sketchers I bought had memory foam insoles and I haven't looked back since.

Bally and Prada, expensive i know, but very comfy

Kiwirob wrote:

zrs70 wrote:

I am a huge Naot of Israel fan.

Wow those are some nasty looking shoes, they look like the shoes an Eastern European or Soviet would have been forced into wearing before the wall came down. Even the handcrafted shoes look like they were design by a blind person.

Well - while most aren't fancy, they are simple and comfortable. My favorite pair, however, is both stylish and comfy! The red accent is what makes it:


http://www.lemasquefacialbar.com/index. ... e&pID=2324