men's shoes, not sneakers: advise

http://www.drmartens.com/

Dockers are pretty good, esp. for the price

Clark's use too much suede for real rainy season use

I agree. They do have leather ones too, but I've never owned a pair.

I don't really like the way the leather ones age--too soft n shiny.
I end up wearing battered top siders all the time but I might as well be going barefoot for all their lack of support.

kenneth cole reaction

Man what is this sudden outburst of shoe fetishism that cannot be contained in less than three threads?

Bored today.

sept = new shoes

back to school?

Elastic-sided paddock-style boots are pretty good in my book, too -- since technically Chelsea boots have a Cuban heel, I think? Which is a little ridic if you aren't a fashion plate/teenager but still want something sharp.

Really though it's about details: a general style can be great or awful depending on the company's or designer's detailing.

Kenneth Cole is wack. Clark's, boy.

I will also rep for Kenneth Cole Reaction.

clark's = verging on played out, at least on these feet + rain/suede = bad fall shoe, as discussed above

a general style can be great or awful depending on the company's or designer's detailing.

yes! let's get specific

http://www.baggamenswear.co.uk/acatalog/Schmoove_shoes.html

i'm not sure how i feel about those, but i am intrigued by their perversity

they are a little too wacky for me, but I am similarly intrigued

Ooh, I think many of those are great! But really only if you have normal-to-narrow feet, I suspect. I know there are whole lines of women's shoes that I can't wear in any size because their fit standard is naaarow.

i'm wearing my deep brown slip-on wingtips by bostonian. they are awesome. for me, versatility is key and they complement any number of looks pretty nicely -- also, they are far more comfortable than any other dressy shoes i've owned.

I think those shoes are lovely, and not too wacky. I mean, I wouldn't wear white loafers personally, but it's not completely crazy.

i think they're cool! just not what i'm after

I stepped up on the platform
The man gave me the news
He said, You must be joking son
Where did you get those shoes?

Kenneth Cole is wack. Clark's, boy.

-- Lolpez, Thursday, September 6, 2007 11:49 AM (55 minutes ago) Bookmark Link

kenneth cole has far too wide a range of options for u to just dismiss them all ... some of their shit is abysmal, some of it is great, pick the right ones for you.

I like the grey ones quite a lot.

I mostly wear black leather Clarks wallabees but also have light brown suede Desert Boots.

I used to have good luck w/ Kenneth Cole but some of his dress shoes that I bought a few years ago are simply not comfortable.

Best shoes ever were a pair of super simple Kenneth Cole beetle boots I have, zipper on the side, no weird elastic bits, but I've gone through a bunch of soles and need to fix them again.

When in LA I saw some really cool black canvas shoes/sneakers that were in Clarks desert boots style. The logo on the inside had a skull and crossbones and they cost 300 dollars.

Kenneth Cole is wack. Clark's, boy.

-- Lolpez, Thursday, September 6, 2007 11:49 AM (55 minutes ago) Bookmark Link

kenneth cole has far too wide a range of options for u to just dismiss them all ... some of their shit is abysmal, some of it is great, pick the right ones for you.

-- deej, Thursday, September 6, 2007 10:46 AM (11 minutes ago) Bookmark Link

Sorry, I just associate Kenneth Cole with those shoes that are half way between sneakers and shoes, or oxfords with weird panels. Open mine eyes to some Kenneth Coles, plz.

http://www.kennethcole.com/img/prod/KC_KM28012LE_BLK.jpg

The key is to pick "dress" shoes, not from their "casual" collection. The casual ones are those weird frankenshoes.

I used to have Kenneth Cole frankenshoes that were actually really cool. Black leather and canvas sneakers that were kinda sci-fi but also plain enough, pretty simple and not retro like Camper.

I also had these weird Lacoste sneakers that were brown and were the ugliest things anyone's ever seen, but somehow everybody loved them.

I'm liking these:

http://www.amazon.com/Kenneth-Cole-New-York-Under/dp/B000N21Q30/ref=sr_1_3/103-4410121-5615822?ie=UTF8&s=apparel&qid=1189101866&sr=1-3

Oh yeah, I bought another pair of Lacoste sneakers, they look like regular navy canvas chuck taylors, but have the played-out but still classy croc logo.

Like those boots v much, Dan. Also the brown suede Ben Sherman suggested at bottom of page. Hi, add insoles pls, no one should have to wear entirely flat soles...but YUM.

I am currently wearing these, which wear well and look pretty great with jeans (also, weirdly, they're built to fold/roll over for packing, which saves zero space but is kinda neat):

http://www.zappos.com/images/729/7294960/7954-367116-d.jpg

i don't like kenan's suggestion at all, these look all right
http://www.kennethcole.com/img/prod/RX_RM09158LE_black_det.jpg

i cant find pictures of the ones i have

i love wingtips!

xpost

as for the eurosneaker/shoe-sneaker hybrid kind of thing... BLEURGH.

these look cool
http://www.kennethcole.com/img/prod/RX_RM09060CA_CGN.jpg

A heavier, heartier style is VERY much a more American thing, maybe? Because all those slender, trim shoes that Tracer suggested are a little more formal/refined than American men are generally used to, particularly ones who don't have aristocratic little feets.

Wait, Lauren, do you mean the ones I posted? I don't really wear sneakers (apart from Vans), so I kind of like having a casual-dress shoe with a sneakery sole, for lazy everyday purposes.

I used to like the stuff Campers would do when they were aspiring toward dressiness, but every time I've gone over the past year it's just been ridiculous "look, we found a weird and uncomfortable way for this to lace with a 1-inch strand of nylon" stuff.

I so miss the store in Chicago where I got all my interesting shoes -- everything would be marked around $400, but every other weekend would be some kind of desperate sale where they were all "I'll give you 80% off ... okay, if you take that one, you can have this pair for free ... okay, you see that girl over there, she's my sister ..."

Current website wants:

http://www.citysoles.com/CCC/APP/Customer/product_photos/4023967.jpg
http://www.citysoles.com/CCC/APP/Customer/product_photos/4021920.jpg
http://www.citysoles.com/CCC/APP/Customer/product_photos/4021925.jpg

Oh wait, I tried that middle pair on when I was there this summer -- the off-center lacing looked awesome on the shelf, but when you actually put them on your feet it made it look like you had them on backward. :(

you could sneak away from people and they'd think you were approaching

i like your wingtips, nabisco, and i like a lot of the pairs on the site that tracer posted (though the brand name is beyond help). by eurosneaker i guess mean those horrible things that usually feature leather and a mesh panel and have a squarish toe and usually a curvy sole... does that make any sense?

like this?

http://www.shoemall.com/assets/product_images/styles/medium/613205BRN1R.jpg

The Diesel sneaker! That's how I think of them.

Ah yeah, I know the type you mean.

In addition to Schmoove, the site Tracer linked carries Tootal scarves and Goorin hats -- I think maybe the "O" on their keyboard is just broken.

The worst part with Skechers is that they actually have commercials now with really dim-sounding guys going "I can wear them to the game, then to work, then on a date" -- like oh, amazing, frat-guy, a shoe that matches jeans and khakis, so lamely that you're gonna go insane and think nobody notices you wearing them with your suit ...

(Full disclosure: I got to about age 22 still always wanting to have just one awesome pair of shoes that I'd wear every day and really bond with, like a biker and his hog, but then I figured out life.)

fie upon skechers.

the ones posted by dan m. are along the lines of what i meant, also laurel otm in calling that style "the diesel sneaker." the worst, though, are the kind that are more dress shoe than sneaker, but still have that pseudoaerodynamic sole and little "athletic" details.

http://www.citysoles.com/CCC/APP/Customer/product_photos/4023967.jpg

^^^ WANT

it's actually a bit long & pointy looking for my usual style -- long-toed shoes tend to make my frame look especially wide -- but i love the wash & the brass riveting and over-all styling

And the height and slope of the top (tonguepiece?) on them suggests fun interactions with break of trousers!

this is a side of nabisco i was hitherto unaware of!

Actually there's a foot on each side, I think it's called "radial symmetry"...?

No! I lie! It's called bilateral symmetry.

oh man someone with radially symmetrical feet would get made fun of A LOT

Indeed. That would be a wierd looking muhfucker.

Yeah, but you'd be hard to knock over, at first.

While I generally like Kenneth Cole's designs, they sometimes to often fall well short of comfort needs. I have a great pair of suede Chelsea boots that are totally inappropriate to stand at the craps table for 4.5 hours.

I like Ecco, but they still have trouble shaking the orthapaedic look that their first few designs had. I have a pair that have been mistaken for Allen Edmonds.

I like Clarks, too, and it seems that they would be pretty good in LA style weather - no rain - if the complaints above are valid.

Currently, I want a pair of casual brown shoes, but I spent a good bit of money on a bachelor party this past weekend, so no go on the shoes for a month or so.

x-post on the radially symmetrical footed person making a good sumo wrestler.

Clarks have been the only shoes I've been able to find that actually fit my super-wide feet, don't look retarded and last. I made the mistake of trying a pair of Timberlands for my last pair and they went to shit pretty quickly. I don't really see Clarks getting "played out" - they're like the wool crew neck sweaters of shoes (the simpler styles, anyway)

wear cowboy boots (but only if you got the balls to justify the strut them boots'll give ya)

i'm just tired of wearing clark's, that's all i meant by "played out on these feet"

sorry, misread your post

I wear my Tsubo sneakers kinda like dress-casual shoes, mostly because they're all black.

http://www.tsubo.com/tools/phptumb/phpThumb.php?src=../../snickers/all/BOMBYC_V21-07.jpg&w=350&h=260&q=100

They're also maybe my most comfortable shoes.

http://www.revolveclothing.com/images/TSUBO-MZ3_CAT.jpg

No one reppin' Cole Haan yet? SUCKAS!

http://i24.ebayimg.com/05/i/000/b4/13/fef5_1.JPG

Monk Strap FTW!

http://i4.ebayimg.com/07/i/000/b3/eb/2756_1.JPG

A sneaker/dressy hybrid I think works ok.

http://ec1.images-amazon.com/images/I/41NjyX+Eo7L._AA280_.jpg

i sometimes wear cowboy boots, but my old pair got worn to bits

When I go looking for work/business casual shoes I just got to Nordstrom Rack. I don't look for any brand or style in particular but I usually end up with Ecco, Bostonian, or in some rare cases, Kenneth Cole. I rarely pay more than $40.

http://www.skechers.com/images/productimages/medium/60594_BODX.jpg

i've been wearing a version of these to work for about 3 years(in black, with less of a monster truck sole). time for some new ones but I can't find any simple, boxy, and clumpy enough for my taste. pointy ones feel too fancypants since i rarely wear a suit. those clarks look terrible, too much stitching and crap.

I have a big scuffing problem though. Evidently, I drag my toes when I walk. And I hate getting a shoe shine.

i always wanted some bates shoes; they do uniform shoes for military, police, etc. but they're kinda pricey and they're starting to make them too sporty.

these are the most conservative i could find ("postal oxford")and there's still too much stitching argggh
http://usaimages.wolverineworldwide.com/bulk/2003/7/16/BTS-WSR56-03-y.tif.fpx?cell=210,240&qlt=80&rgn=0,-0.761431725007884,2.2075055187638,2.52286345001577&cvt=jpeg

http://usaimages.wolverineworldwide.com/bulk/2003/7/16/BTS-WSR58-02-y.tif.fpx?cell=210,240&qlt=80&rgn=0,-0.325763831544178,1.44508670520231,1.65152766308836&cvt=jpeg

these are 100% super great looking except probably too hot for the summer (and $140). my wife got some apparently fake Bates through ebay for her brother (who got kicked out of the guatemalan army and pines for some remnants of his former life; bates or nothing for him. well bates and those classic black reeboks, he can't get enough of those) and they literally fell apart before he even wore them.

nabisco i do have that relationship with a pair of shoes! i've been wearing the same pair since 1998. they've been resoled three times. i must have mentioned them before, they're made by jean-baptiste rautureau (whose women's line is called "freelance"). i don't know what i'll do if they ever fall apart.

i feel that i could possibly forge a similar relationship with this pair you posted, although i like a snubbier toe:

http://www.citysoles.com/CCC/APP/Customer/product_photos/4021925.jpg

just landed a pretty sweet pair of rachel comey oxfords in toast, like this:

http://www.selectism.com/news/wp-content/uploads/2010/02/rachel-comey-uncle-dan-oxford-01.jpg

i dont really know how to take care of them tho. the leather is unfinished and im afraid polishes and creams and even shampoos will mess with the color too much. tho maybe i should just live with the fact that the color will change.

your thoughts please

whered u get those dawg

feel like i would like some of those in a maybe brown

Yeah even a suggestion of water will mar them ime. Not sure what the answer is, but I guess if you applied like a silicone spray maybe, at least the change in color would be consistent? As opposed to being visibly water-spotted.

That orange-fawn color is luscious.

thinking about getting a pair of docs...

nice shoes max.

got these recently, been wearing them a lot

http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/41hgdJuYLzL._AA300_.jpg

whered u get those dawg

― ice cr?m, Monday, December 6, 2010 2:51 PM (3 minutes ago) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink

my buddy sold them to me for $75!!!!!!!! theyre a lil creased but he only wore em a couple times.

if u are in nyc i believe there is a rachel comey sample sale this wed

those are nice max

lusting after a similar pair from cos in black with wooden soles, tho worried that'd be a pita

polish the hell out of those shoes. they need to be tough for all that nyc walkin. colors change, that's fine. it might be hard to find orange shoe polish but a light brown over it could look really cool - with that warmth underneath. the way painters do an underlayer of whatever tone they want to emphasize.

i emailed rachel comey and a very nice woman named allison suggested i spray them with scotch guard and never wear them in the rain or snow, which is a sweet suggestion but the kind of thing only people who live in fashion-world would say

Shoe advice?

I have to wear standard business attire for work, but my budget’s really tight. For the last three years, I’ve been buying Florsheims. They usually cost between $70-80 at various discount shoe chains. They’re in a range where they aren’t the cheapest shoes in the store but anything more expensive would be stretching my wallet considering that I kill these shoes dead after 5 or 6 months. I guess I’m pretty rough on shoes, even though I don’t walk incredible distances in them or anything.

If I were to throw down for a higher-end pair of kicks, is a longer life one of the benefits? Are $200 shoes sturdier than $100 shoes? Like, if I spent that much money on shoes, would I not have to buy another pair for a while?

I mean, is structural quality part of the trade-off for $$$, or does it have more to do with style and comfort?

wow max those are gorge

sweet hue

if u are in nyc i believe there is a rachel comey sample sale this wed

― max, Monday, December 6, 2010 2:56 PM (35 minutes ago) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink

arrive wed nite :/

Pretty much anything you put on natural leather will darken it slightly - you're basically adding oil to the leather to keep it protected and pliable. Obenauf's Leather Preservative is pretty good about not over-darkening good leathers. I used it on my natural bridle leather wallet and there was no significant change in color. In NY slush and rain, I'd be tempted to put Sno Seal on boots and shoes, but that darkens leather significantly.

I'm not sure just how natural/unfinished those shoes are, but exposure to the sun (if nothing else) will darken them over time - the patina is the goal.

it's the fucking GOAL max jesus

All-over, yes. But you don't want it to spot like silk because you got caught in a light drizzle.

I mean, is structural quality part of the trade-off for $$$, or does it have more to do with style and comfort?
generally, yes. you get what you pay for.

Ecco & Mephisto, all the way if i'm going for nicer shoes. both companies will also re-sole yr shoes (or give you a new pair!!!) no matter the reason, no questions asked.

that said, i pretty much wear Israeli combat boots most days because it doesn't matter in my line of work. but that's besides the point

If I were to throw down for a higher-end pair of kicks, is a longer life one of the benefits? Are $200 shoes sturdier than $100 shoes? Like, if I spent that much money on shoes, would I not have to buy another pair for a while?

Yes and no. Sometimes you're paying for name and design rather than construction and materials. If you want shoes to last a long while, you want them to be resoleable (usually Goodyear-welted) with quality leather.

For $150 you could get the new Doc Martens For Life series, where they'll re-sole and replace your boots until you die (or DM does, whichever comes first).

Ecco & Mephisto, all the way if i'm going for nicer shoes. both companies will also re-sole yr shoes (or give you a new pair!!!) no matter the reason, no questions asked.

― hot weiners is the best and i want a hot weiner (the table is the table), Monday, 6 December 2010 20:59 (21 minutes ago) Bookmark

yeah, i wore the same black ecco loafers to work everyday for months and they held up great. highly recommended.