Q. I followed your advice and bought two quality suits as a base for my business clothes, to combine with some blazers in my somewhat casual workplace. These look good and make me feel confident in important meetings, but then I look down at my $80 wingtips and realize they probably do not match.
How good do my shoes need to be with a good suit? The added problem besides price is my size, 13EE. High-end shoes appear to require special ordering in my size and that scares me.
A. You may not want to hear this, but it's true. Even though a man's dress shoes make up a big chunk of his clothing expenditure, they are most definitely not one of the places he should economize. If you spend some time shopping carefully, you can buy a well-tailored suit on sale and you may find shirts and ties at a great price. These don't really need to be top-of-the-line to look good. But shoes built to withstand the test of time and to fit you so well that they are comfortable from Day 1 are another matter. Not only are they not easy to come by, but they are always expensive.
There is an old saying that a $200 pair of shoes will last exactly twice as long as a $100 pair of shoes, but a $300 pair of shoes will last a lifetime.
It helps if you understand what goes into the production of "the perfect shoe" and if you are also committed to investing in your future comfort and good looks. One of America's top manufacturers, Allen Edmonds, makes some of the finest men's shoes you can buy. At $350-$385, they are widely considered to be just about the best men's shoe brand made in America. U.S. presidents from Reagan to Obama have worn them. So has LeBron James. I say "just about the best" because another American-made brand, Alden shoes, is also top-of-the line, but they are even more expensive. Their shell cordovans begin at around $660 and go up a lot higher. Other shoes of similar quality, such as Church's, A. Testoni, and John Lobb, are all made in Europe. Some high-end shoes with clothing designer names, like Prada, cost more than cheap shoes but are not built any better.
Not only are Allen Edmonds shoes high quality, but they have an amazing range of sizes: from 6 to 16, and from AAA to EEE! The company is proud of its "premium value." Since it takes 212 steps to make a pair of shoes, the price seems more than justified. Twice a year, many styles are reduced by 15 percent to 40 percent.
The most notable differences between fine men's shoes and the $100 pairs are leather quality, construction, durability and the footbed.
Well-constructed natural leather shoes are always superior to synthetic materials that look good when they are new, but do not hold up. Full-grain leather can be worn through snow, dirt, sand and sticky floors, and continues to look great for years, maybe even better than it looked when new.
The cork footbed, which conforms to the shape of your foot over the life of the shoe, makes for years of comfort. If you are in a job where looking the part is important, and if you wear dress shoes all day every day, it makes sense to invest in high-quality shoes. They are built to be worn all day.
Another advantage to buying top-quality American-made shoes: There are "recrafting" and "restoring" programs that make your old, worn shoes look new. Allen Edmonds charges $125 (they do 60,000 recrafts a year) and Alden charges $170. Expensive shoes that you love and that love your feet are worth giving a new lease on life.
Important tips for quality dress shoes. First, if you invest in two (or more) pairs and rotate wearing them on alternate days, they will last significantly longer. Second, if you polish them regularly, they look better and better as they get older. Finally, the best way to keep them looking good is with cedar shoe trees.
Here's a style suggestion: Today's hipster not only pairs good dress shoes with his suits, but he just might wear some fine walnut wingtips with a pair of jeans, matching belt, a white shirt and a blazer for a very cool look.
My advice: Buy the best shoes you can afford, or, maybe, save up and buy better than you can afford. Not every man can buy a $1,900 Burberry raincoat, a $250,000 Rolls Royce or a $60,000 Patek Philippe watch, but if your desire is to own the very best there is, you really can justify buying the finest pair of shoes.
Send men's fashion queries to Male Call:
Lois.Fenton@prodigy.net
High Profile on 05/03/2015