Ordering shoes online

Stacy Adams!

OP here

Im wearing mostly business-casual: dress pants/chinos, dress shirts, blazers and dress shoes. Problem is most of my stuff is low-mid tier in terms of quality from local/lesser known brands. Ive started to research fabrics/clothing/brands recently and i now understand that there are better brands out there.

>1. Where are you exactly?
Estonia
>2. What's your euro size? Sneakers? Boots?
42
>3. How much do you want to spend?
I am willing to spend up to 800 EUR on good shoes which will last a long time.
>4. What kind of shoe do you want? Colour? Model?
Oxfords, brogues, bruchers and monks, cordovan or calfskin.

Money is not an issue since i am willing to invest in good, high-end clothing. Local brands offer mostly shoes for a max of 150 EUR which are not even Goodyear welted.

Good.
If you are in Estonia you can get free delivery from several stores in Europe.
42 is 8 UK.
800 euro is shitloads of bucks for shoes. You can even get some custom in cordovan.
Now there is a sale on Carlos Santos shoes on afinepairofshoes.co.uk/ Check their stock on Alfred Sargent too.
Check patine.pl/category/na-zamowienie?horizontal for cordovan made to order shoes, around 461 eur.
I would suggest you that whatever you buy, try to look for rubber soles as Estonia's weather can be a bitch.
I don't recommend Allen E., even though they are good shoes, their lasts are not very elegant and they look kind of bulky when compared to other shoes.
If you have questions about your size you can always email the store, but a good aproximation with every brand is this: shoepassion-production.s3.amazonaws.com/static/overlay_pdf/pdf/eng/PDF_men_windows_chrome.pdf

Thanks famalam

most online shops let you refund items if they don't fit you, generally for free or a small shipping fee
just buy the shoes in a few sizes or models, try them on at home and pick the ones you like best

Always go with your EU sizing. Hasn't failed me yet. EU 40 Masterrace

Haha i have the ones in the pic. When they were new they had a weird almost vomit like smell

manlet detected

t. 189cm EU 45

Dude seriously, you can get tons good european oxfords from Italy or the UK. Santonis and Crocket & Jones are probably a bit better than Allen Edmonds and you would probably pay around the same.

What are some other top-tier brands of shoes besure Alden, Allen Edmonds, Crocket & Jones, Santoni?

>Find AE size conversion chart using the world-wide web
>Point your eyeballs at the "in centimeters / inches" column
>Compare that number to your current footwear
>Choose desired size
>Buy

Church's, Carmina, George Cleverley, J.M. Weston, Gaziano & Girling, Edward Green, and John Lobb.

Allen Edmonds isn't a top-tier brand that is comparable to European brands.

Get Alden color #8 PTBs. You can wear them with anything from jeans to suits, and they'll be the most versatile shoe in your rotation. They'll last you a lifetime.

Pic related.

This really. If you don't have too much money, try Grenson. Made in England and pretty good quality.

>NEET
>uni student

?

There is loads of others too, particularly in the sub 400 eur range depending on what kind of aesthetic you're going for.
Fratelli Rossetti is another good italian choice, in the UK Tricker's deserves an extra mention - they are a good combination of sturdy and elegant, always rubber soles, Cheaney's got some good stuff too. If you like chunkier looks, I'd have a look at Paraboot and some other french makers I forgot the names of, and German/Austrian/Hungarian makers. Handmacher, Alt Wien, Vass (the latter two are more expensive but sub 800).

Why the fuck would you ever buy Allen Edmonds shoes if you're in Europe?

Literally the only sales advantage AE has is their good in-store service, the shoe itself is actually shit compared to British, Italian and even French shoes in the same price segment. Ordering them online means you're getting memed long-distance by a self-propelling pile of McDonalds residue, don't do this.

M E E R
I
N

>I would suggest you that whatever you buy, try to look for rubber soles as Estonia's weather can be a bitch.
T b h if he wants longevity out of a shoe I'd recommend not getting a full rubber sole, but instead buying leather soled shoes and having a rubber sole put on, don't know the English word for this but it's a pair of thin rubber soles (toe and heel) with texturized surface that any cobbler can attach to your shoes to prevent wear on the leather sole and improve grip. They are easily replaced too.

This. If you live in Europe you have so many shoe makers to choose from. I like Alden's designs but really it's not fucking worth it.

KInd of similar question: I'm a US 12. This site (pic related) says EU 45 = US 11, even though every other sizing chart I googled says EU 45 = US 12. This pic isn't the actual company's website, which agrees with everyone else that EU 45 = US 12 as well.

I emailed the company but doubt I'll get a quick response. I'm guessing they got the US size wrong, not the EU? Especially since the EU measuring is the first one listed.

Don't think anyone can really answer this, but any thoughts?

Thanks fellas.

shoes or sneakers?
Normally a good estimation is the japanese size, because it is cm. Anyway, 44 EU = 10 UK = 11 US is the standard.
If it is a dress shoe with a very special toe shape in might be that 45 EU = 12 US, but that would be a special case.

>Dont go for Brogues, either get derbys for both formal and informal wear or oxfords if you only wear suits/ nice trousers.

This is really odd advice since both oxfords and derbies can be in a brogue style.
The one in OPs picture is an oxford with a semi brogue style if I'm not mistaken.

They're sneakers.

>45 EU = 12 US, but that would be a special case
But every single size chart I've googled says 45 EU = 12 US. And the BRAND of this shoe's site also says that 45 EU = 12 US, pic related is a 3rd party site (or whatever you call it, but it's not the brand's site).

You're right that 44 EU = 11 US, but then the site chart pic is still wrong and I don't know which measurement to trust. The same legit sites that I googled say 46 EU = 13 US, but then this chart says EU 46 = US 11.5, so they're totally conflicting. I feel I should trust the EU sizing here and assume that this site made a mistake?

Thanks!

Hey never mind dude, the website is totally fake.

Thanks anyway m8

Go for Carmina shoemaker a good pair for 400€

>tfw 200cm EU47

Amerifat here. I have always been partial to the brand Bostonian. What does Veeky Forums think of this brand?

Ugly dadcore.

dont aggravate you tard

allen edmonds are nice but there are nicer ones in EU. you just get rec'd allen edmonds a lot since most of the internet you read is US

Never heard of it. But the image you provided shows derbies that say a night soil man would wear.

...

Kinda like these but they'd have to go with a rougher type of workwear, of course if you wear jeans that's pretty much bang on.

You're in the EU and you're considering AE rather than something from England?

Why?
AE isn't that good to make it worth it IMO, especially compared to the comparable stuff (price wise) from the English manufacturers, or even from Spain.

Look, AE is basic entry tier. You only hear about them online so much because most of the english language web is american, and so they get talked about a lot.

Their QC isn't that good, compared to the English/Spanish of the same level, and they're made in the Dominican Republic anyway, not America (only one made in USA line and it costs much more).

Look, please, dunno if you've already ordered or whatever, but look at:

basic level english:
Loake 1880 ONLY
Sanders Diplomat Line.
Cheaney - Any line
Trickers - Any line
Crockett and Jones - standard line
It only goes up from here, where you pay more for minor increases in overall quality.

At the moment in the English scene, Cheaney's standard line (ie. not the Imperial line) are the sweet spot when it comes to English made.

Avoid other cheaper brands like Grenson and Barker. Fuck them. And avoid all Loake below the 1880. In fact, avoid Loake overall IMO, especially if your budget allows.

The first two I mentioned are entry level proper shoes. The more you pay, the better the materials, and better the construction but overall no matter the price the fit and finish usually surpasses the American brands (that have all sorts off little blemishes, stray threads etc., here and there by comparison - Alden is king of his bullshit).

1/

Spain:
Budget
Meermin - actually made in china, but for what you get, they seem to be really quite something.
I wandered into their store in Madrid once to see them in person. Really superb for the price!

Carmina: wonderful spanish brand. Better leathers IMO than comparable English shoes.

Meermin if you're desperate, Carmina if you can afford.

On my last Euro trip I visited and tried on shoes from every English brand worth looking at, from Loake to E.Green.

In Spain I looked at Carmina and Meermin.
In Vienna I looked at Ludwig Reiter and made a day trip to Hungary for the express purpose of visiting Vass (yes I am that much of a fucking autist, but I have annoying feet so I'm desperate to cast the net wide and try on as much shit as possible to find shoes that fit me).

If you can afford Vass, fuck everything else I mentioned, even Edward Green.

Those are true lifetime shoes due to their construction.

Everything else I've mentioned is made using a (very reliable) method that was created to mass produce shoes.

Vass uses the old fashioned method that is by hand, not streamlined and corner cut for machine making.

All things being equal, the Vass method will out last the goodyear method virtually all other mass manufacturers out there.

Basically, Vass use the method of construction that only the bespoke shoemakers use, but they make them in standard sizes in their workshop rather than custom for individual feet.

If you're in Estonia, perhaps you can visit Budapest? Vass are costly, but there's a reason why menswear circles online have such a hardon for them.

The lady manning the store's a real bitch, though. And the other store? Pretty lackadaisical. Maybe's that' just Hungarians. Whatever.

In the end I couldn't go for any of these unfortunately.

Don't disregard the Loakes 1880. I bought for my father and they were formidable for the price. If you can get them with a 20% or more discount they are quite the deal. I have two Cheaney. I love them, even though I would say that their lasts are not so elegant. The same with Crockett and Jones. Their lasts work better with boots, imo.
Meermin are nice, but if you are worried about the shoe construction I would avoid them.
Vass... Well, what can you say. They even come with the lasted shoe trees.

I'm going to be living in japan for the next 5 years (undergrad degree through a scholarship, I am from a shithole in south america) and I was wondering how to go about buying leather shoes there since I heard its expensive as fuck. Any advice?

Yes. Bad idea. European and american made are really expensive, but not as expensive as japanese shoes. Buy yourself a pair of boots and some dressing shoes before going there, unless you are loaded.
Pic ---> Fukuda Yohei, a japanese shoe maker.

But the thing is, we have no direct zip code so I have to send all the stuff I buy from amazon to a box in MIAMI and that business sends it to paraguay. (Meaning I can't return the shoes if they don't fit so I'm scared shitless of buying online, and shoes here are shit.)

Sí, estás cagado en sudamerica. A pesar que hay buen cuero y materias primas los zapateros son como el culo.
Anyway, Cheaney delivers anywhere in the world without any extra cost. You should wait until they have a sale. They have one for sure around Christmas, but it's good to check their website regularly.

Allen Edmonds has a shoe size guide you can print on A4 paper (without any printer scaling!) so you can figure out your size.

I've never actually ordered them because a local store brings them here, and when I tried them on they were kinda bulky.

Honestly I'd never spend over 300€ on shoes before trying them on in real life.

Thanks, appreciated.

>mfw thread is still up

Thanks for the replies my gents, got a lot of really good info from it.

T b h I've never seen much quality difference between Meermin and Carmina, have three pairs of Carminas but stopped buying them entirely because I get 2-3 pairs of Meermin shoes for the price of one pair of Carmina shoes.

Babmus