How many of you are into shoes... (Dress Shoes)?

[dddrees]

Originally Posted by austinp

Arrived today. They look just like I was hoping. It’s a pretty casual boot but so am I. I’ll give them a good test this weekend. Thanks again for all the help answering my silly questions.


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They look great, glad to hear you are happy.

[swils8610]

Nice boots! Congrats


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[MisterG12]

Love boots



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[JasoninDenver]

Originally Posted by MisterG12

Love boots



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Here I am thinking I am not going to spend any money on myself at Christmas this year and then someone goes and posts a sweet pair of Aldens.

Thanks man. I’ll tell the wife its all your fault.

[JasoninDenver]

Originally Posted by dddrees

They look great, glad to hear you are happy.

X2.

Those are fine. How is the fit???

[MisterG12]

Originally Posted by JasoninDenver

Here I am thinking I am not going to spend any money on myself at Christmas this year and then someone goes and posts a sweet pair of Aldens.

Thanks man. I’ll tell the wife its all your fault.

Thank you Jason. This makeup came out really good for sure.


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[1William]

Great looking boots.

[GB-man]

Originally Posted by austinp

Arrived today. They look just like I was hoping. It’s a pretty casual boot but so am I. I’ll give them a good test this weekend. Thanks again for all the help answering my silly questions.


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Looking good congrats

[GB-man]

Originally Posted by MisterG12

Love boots



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Is that your closet? Looks like a boutique lol nice

[MisterG12]

Thank you. It is the store I own although I do have quite the shoe closet.


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[JasoninDenver]

Originally Posted by MisterG12

Thank you. It is the store I own although I do have quite the shoe closet.


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Can you pm me the name of your store?

[Mendota]

Originally Posted by MisterG12

Thank you. It is the store I own although I do have quite the shoe closet.


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Wow, that is super cool. I really like how you used antique trunks as the foundation and legs for your display table. What a really great idea. So classy. What other merchandise do you sell?

[logo]

More of a performance boot, but these new Canada Goose hiking ‘Journey’ boots are fantastic for anyone looking for a burley waterproof winter boot. Put it to the test on the mountainside recently.

[Syed117]

Thinking about checking out some Carmina boots.

Anyone have experience?

[austinp]

Originally Posted by JasoninDenver

X2.

Those are fine. How is the fit???

Haven’t given them a good test yet. But I wish I could try on a half size smaller just to be sure. The break on my right foot is a little weird but so far so good. I love the looks of them and the quality appears excellent.


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[dddrees]

Originally Posted by Syed117

Thinking about checking out some Carmina boots.

Anyone have experience?

I own a few pairs which I purchased awhile ago. In my opinion their Quality iwas on par with Alden but their Lasts are more sleek, thus I prefer them over Alden.At the time I purchased them I could get them for closer to Allen Edmonds so it was a no brained for me.

[JakeK]

Originally Posted by dddrees

So which boots did you decide to go with?

Man this is such a late response, but...

i don't know.

I wear Clarks desert boots to my day job now.

I wear Nocona square toe to my evening and weekend job.

maybe a pair of whites cutters????

[Syed117]

Originally Posted by dddrees

I own a few pairs which I purchased awhile ago. In my opinion their Quality iwas on par with Alden but their Lasts are more sleek, thus I prefer them over Alden.At the time I purchased them I could get them for closer to Allen Edmonds so it was a no brained for me.

That sounds great. Their prices have definitely gone up. A little less than C&J maybe but they are up there now.

Have to go to their store in the city soon and check them out. I could never get myself to like Aldens.

[dddrees]

Originally Posted by Syed117

That sounds great. Their prices have definitely gone up. A little less than C&J maybe but they are up there now.

Have to go to their store in the city soon and check them out. I could never get myself to like Aldens.

I do personally like CJ boots more but they have always been more than Carmina.

Although you may not be able to locate a pair locally without knowing what the current price structure, I would highly recommend looking at Enzo Bonafe. To be honest I don't have a pair of these but if it were a thing when I was buying boots I would have a few as long as I could have gotten a good fit. At the time I became aware of them they were in that middle area between Carmina and C&J but I had already got to a point where I had more than my share of footwear. I've heard nothing but great things about them and I personally find the way they look to be quite appealing.

If interested enough to look you can find some of them here:

https://www.skoaktiebolaget.com/collections/enzo-bonafe

If nothing else I can highly recommend Skoaktiebolaget very highly. Back in the day that's where I used to buy a great majority of my footwear even though they are actually located in Switzerland, and I live in the Midwest. They used to have the BEST prices on footwear from not only Carmina, but Edward Green and Gaziano & Girling. Things have changed since then but that was because the manufactures started regulating prices. Bottom line was that the other retailers started complaining.

Anyway, I don't know if that recommendation interest you for various reasons but I've always worked on the premise that I would rather know than not know what my various options are.

[Thug]

Vass is another option. It's been a while since I handled a pair in person but they punch above their weight. It used to be hard getting them back in the day but they set up an online store and run sales pretty frequently. Only issue would be sizing might be hard to figure out.

I also may be in minority in this thread but I actually like Alden's lasts more than some competitors. I think the Aberdeen and Van last are the ideal shape for the tassel & penny loafers. Also really like the shape of the unlined chukkas on the Leydon.

[dddrees]

Originally Posted by Thug

Vass is another option. It's been a while since I handled a pair in person but they punch above their weight. It used to be hard getting them back in the day but they set up an online store and run sales pretty frequently. Only issue would be sizing might be hard to figure out.

I also may be in minority in this thread but I actually like Alden's lasts more than some competitors. I think the Aberdeen and Van last are the ideal shape for the tassel & penny loafers. Also really like the shape of the unlined chukkas on the Leydon.

Vass would be an option but if nothing else if their pricing remained the way it was back in the day it would be even higher than C&J if I remember correctly. So it's really not in the same range as Carmina.

However, as you said sizing does tend to be one of the more difficult to figure out. That and I've heard more than a few times is that even if you get sizing right on one pair the next pair on the very same Last may not be the same. No problem if shopping locally but it's a big inconvience if purchasing from overseas. People just kind of knew this on Styleforum and dealt with it.

[Thug]

Like I said, they've been running frequent sales (especially last year). Not sure if they changed strategy this year but you could've had them for cheaper than Carmina during one of their numerous sales offers. The pricing on Vass end was always pretty fair imo.

In the past it was just retailer markup that drove the high prices. A decade ago you had to either go to them directly in Hungary, or pray that a retailer near you carried them. Otherwise there really wasn't any other way to get them.

[dddrees]

Originally Posted by Thug

Like I said, they've been running frequent sales (especially last year). Not sure if they changed strategy this year but you could've had them for cheaper than Carmina during one of their numerous sales offers. The pricing on Vass end was always pretty fair imo.

In the past it was just retailer markup that drove the high prices. A decade ago you had to either go to them directly in Hungary, or pray that a retailer near you carried them. Otherwise there really wasn't any other way to get them.

Sorry, I missed the sales thing and yes my experience is dated as I tried to indicate.

By the way I never meant to indicate they weren't worth the price. On the contrary and in fact I own a pair and find them to be very nice shoes. However, their sizing is known to be difficult especially when doing this without being able to try them on personally. Also I've never heard so many comments from people about any other brand where so many people experienced an issue with a Last where they figured out their size not working on the very next pair they ordered. Not all the time but it did occur quite often. So who's to say you might not get the odd sizing the first pair or was the second pair correct??? Just not the best thing especially when doing it completely overseas or when attempting to get an MTO which a good number of us do.

Now if they have corrected this sizing thing by now then great. But I'm just relaying what I know based on how it used to be.

[Syed117]

Originally Posted by dddrees

I do personally like CJ boots more but they have always been more than Carmina.

Although you may not be able to locate a pair locally without knowing what the current price structure, I would highly recommend looking at Enzo Bonafe. To be honest I don't have a pair of these but if it were a thing when I was buying boots I would have a few as long as I could have gotten a good fit. At the time I became aware of them they were in that middle area between Carmina and C&J but I had already got to a point where I had more than my share of footwear. I've heard nothing but great things about them and I personally find the way they look to be quite appealing.

If interested enough to look you can find some of them here:

https://www.skoaktiebolaget.com/collections/enzo-bonafe

If nothing else I can highly recommend Skoaktiebolaget very highly. Back in the day that's where I used to buy a great majority of my footwear even though they are actually located in Switzerland, and I live in the Midwest. They used to have the BEST prices on footwear from not only Carmina, but Edward Green and Gaziano & Girling. Things have changed since then but that was because the manufactures started regulating prices. Bottom line was that the other retailers started complaining.

Anyway, I don't know if that recommendation interest you for various reasons but I've always worked on the premise that I would rather know than not know what my various options are.

As always, thanks for the info Dan.

I'm always open to new brands. I think you had first mentioned C&J to me years ago and I have 6 pairs now (3 boots). Have had a great experience with them. In that 500-800ish range they are my go to for sure.

Not on the forum too much these days but I always come back to this thread to see what's going on.

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[dddrees]

Originally Posted by Syed117

As always, thanks for the info Dan.

I'm always open to new brands. I think you had first mentioned C&J to me years ago and I have 6 pairs now (3 boots). Have had a great experience with them. In that 500-800ish range they are my go to for sure.

Not on the forum too much these days but I always come back to this thread to see what's going on.

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Glad to hear that worked out so well for you. Good luck with your next pair no matter what you choose. Really don't think you can go wrong with either brand mentioned.

Thanks again to the person who started this thread one of the main reasons I come back as well.

[Fredrik]

Just a quick correction regarding Skoaktiebolaget mentioned earlier. It is located in Sweden, that's where I buy my boots, or used to at least. I have about 12 pairs now and I have what I need for the moment.

[airchitect]

So who here would recommend Gucci horsebits? Lame and played out or still the classic?


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[Thug]

The 1953 is always a classic. Not a fan of the Jordaan because imo loafers should be more rounded. Also the high vamp on a loafer is

[dddrees]

Originally Posted by Fredrik

Just a quick correction regarding Skoaktiebolaget mentioned earlier. It is located in Sweden, that's where I buy my boots, or used to at least. I have about 12 pairs now and I have what I need for the moment.

Oops....


Thank you sir.

[JasoninDenver]

Originally Posted by airchitect

So who here would recommend Gucci horsebits? Lame and played out or still the classic?


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At least here in Colorado, they are still the gold standard for bit loafers and slippers.