My new brogues

**longhuntr74** · 25th March 11, 12:50 PM

Originally Posted by Rollo

Very beautiful shoes !

Very beautiful indeed...the UPS man delivered them today. Unfortunately, they are going right back to Zappos.com. Upon close inspection, I was happy with neither the quality of construction nor the quality of the materials used..

The first shoe I looked at was fairly good at first glance. I noted some relatively thin leather...and then I noticed what I expected to be a stacked leather heel is just a facade...the inside of it actually appears to be a block of plastic, just like my other, cheaper Florsheims. The sole is, in fact, stitched to the upper...or at least from the heel forward it is...but the groove and holes (on the bottom of the sole) seemed awfully large, which I would assume would cause weakness in the sole and excessive dirt or water to seep into the bottom of the shoe.

Upon inspecting the second shoe, there was no question left in my mind that the shoes are being returned. The upper half of the threads used to stitch the soles on (think sewing machine with lower and upper threads) left large loops hanging out in 3 places...meaning the stitching is not doing its job and is holding nothing. Very poor quality in construction and apparently little to no quality control.

I'll be getting my $140 back and putting it into a fund for those Allen Edmonds.

**Jack Daw** · 25th March 11, 01:35 PM

For the money, Johnston & Murphy make a very good wingtip/brogue. I prefer the brand to Bostonians, and a shoe repairman I know also endorses J&M.

**longhuntr74** · 25th March 11, 02:01 PM

Originally Posted by Jack Daw

For the money, Johnston & Murphy make a very good wingtip/brogue. I prefer the brand to Bostonians, and a shoe repairman I know also endorses J&M.

J&M only makes wingtips in black...I already own two pair of black ones (although I'm not happy with either of them!).

**rsvpiper** · 25th March 11, 02:28 PM

Would you consider Sanders & Sanders in the UK £140 for a brown brogue

**longhuntr74** · 25th March 11, 04:25 PM

Originally Posted by rsvpiper

Would you consider Sanders & Sanders in the UK £140 for a brown brogue

RSV...thanks for reminding me. Living in the US, Sanders doesn't come up in my google searches unless I specifically put in UK and brogue. Depending on shipping costs, that may be a cheaper option. I'll look into it.

**Calico** · 25th March 11, 05:18 PM

Longhuntr74, your thread here made me get started on my quest for brown shoes. My wife is insisting on Ghillies, and I don't mind. But I want brown this pair. First I looked up the shoe you are returning and decided at that price point it was not quite what I wanted. Available for $140 at Nordstrom.

We have a "premium outlets" center 1/2 hour away, so we drove there for some shopping last night.

Rockport - very light, acceptable wingtip - in black or burgundy only. $60 (casual use only)
Bostonian - really disappointed. Feels cheap and hard.
Johnston & Murphy - again disappointed. And no brown.

Most of the browns that I did find were not the right brown. Very light tan or very burgundy/brown. And sizes were all over the board! I wear a 9 1/2 (US) and had to go as high as 10 1/2 EEE to get some of these on!

I really did not want to buy from the Internet, but I gave in and and ordered brown ghillies from Mackenzie Frain. Their buckle brogues look good, too. 95 GBP. About $200 US shipped.

I'll give my impressions when they arrive (which being overseas probably won't be soon). Oh, and they are out of US 9 1/2, so I had to go up one size. Most shoes are too narrow for me, so that would probably be necessary anyway. We'll see.

Good luck in your quest.

edit to add: Most of these shoes up to about $150 glue the leather to the sole instead of Goodyear welt. Very disgusting trend.

**tripleblessed** · 25th March 11, 01:37 PM

Disheartening, I'm sure. Sending a bundle of commiserations your way.
Arriving Fedex soonest, I'm sure.

Allen Edmonds site had various sizes in a couple of different styles as of
my post, or maybe you only wanted specific style. As I wear a 12, I would have noticed only a 6. Oh. well. maybe another day. I know you'll enjoy wearing their shoes.

**longhuntr74** · 25th March 11, 01:52 PM

Originally Posted by tripleblessed

Disheartening, I'm sure. Sending a bundle of commiserations your way.
Arriving Fedex soonest, I'm sure.

Allen Edmonds site had various sizes in a couple of different styles as of
my post, or maybe you only wanted specific style. As I wear a 12, I would have noticed only a 6. Oh. well. maybe another day. I know you'll enjoy wearing their shoes.

Yes...while AE has several shoes that I would love to own, at $300+ a pair (or even $250 on clearance), I can only buy one pair of them anytime in the near future. The pair that I have my eye on is the walnut brown McAllister wingtip. They have a Cambridge model in clearance (that was the size 6 of which I spoke)...not sure the difference? Is Cambridge the Cordovan leather one?

I'm in the market for a brown wingtip with a brown heel/sole edge. I've searched so many. Most makers only make their wingtips in Burgundy or black...very few carry brown. Of those that do, most have black edged soles and heels which I think looks horrible with the brown upper, or they have bulky rubber lug-type soles. I'm looking for a dress shoe. I was hoping the Florsheim would be an acceptable substitute of a brown wingtip, but I was wholly disappointed.

**creagdhubh** · 26th March 11, 12:46 PM

They look quite smart, but be sure to check out Loake as well. All of my high-polished black, brown, tan, dark brown, and mahogany brogue style shoes (full and half brogues, UK size 10, F fitting) come from Loake. They also make a "Ghillie Brogue", complete with the long laces and open tongue. They are very nice, as they do not have the disgusting chunky sole and heel that most commerical Ghillie Brogues have today. Loake's ghillies, like in all of their shoes, are hand-made and the quality is just superb. Most of their brogue styles are around $255-300 a pair, not including Loake cedar shoe-trees, which are mandatory in my opinion. A fair price for the attention to detail and wonderul English craftsmanship you receive. I have owned Loake shoes for 5 years now and am quite the satisfied customer!

www.loake.co.uk

My Loake 758's in action whilst performing the Highland Fling! I typically take my leather-soled brogues off whilst dancing, or wear soft-soled dance ghillies, but this was a last minute Fling with no time for either of the preceding!

Cheers!

**Calico** · 26th March 11, 01:16 PM

Indeed, the Loakes are desirable, too. The only argument (for me) between Loake and Allen Edmonds is which side of the pond one is on. Both offer free shipping for their respective markets.

And the Loake Royal is extremely similar to the Allen Edmonds MacNeil I just purchased. $6.00 difference in price. But I expect I'll have an easier time dealing "locally".

Royal:

MacNeil: