Highlights:

• Price: $395 MSRP
• Pros: The standard for design in an American Oxford, easily available
• Cons: Decreasing quality of materials, increasing competition

Contents:

• History
• Looks
• Fit & Comfort
• Break-In
• Materials
• Ease of Care
• Pricing
• Value
• Overall

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History:

For many within the United States, Allen Edmonds is one of the most storied shoe brands. Starting off in 1922, the company has put shoes on the feet of every President from Reagan through W., Prime Ministers of Canada, LeBron James and Jack Nicklaus, and probably hundreds of thousands of 18 to 21 year olds trying to get their first “real” jobs. They made shoes for war during WWII, and then sold a different type of shoe to those same men for decades after. The company, and the Allen Edmonds Park Avenue in particular, is synonymous with American footwear.

While their history is clear, the company they are today is not the same as it was back then. Over the years they have changed ownership a handful of times, and with those ownership changes came cost saving measures such as off-shoring some production and importing leathers of lower quality for some lines of shoes. As of 2018, Allen Edmonds was sold to Caleres, a footwear firm that owns multiple brands of shoes including Sam Edelman and Vince, as well as store fronts such as Famous Footwear.

The decline in quality has been well documented. Though to play devils advocate I will make a quick note – some of this cost cutting has been passed on to the customer. Taking a look at what is probably America’s second most famous footwear maker, Alden, a similar type of shoe is likely to cost you twice as much when you count Allen Edmond’s nearly constant sales.

No shoe represents the brand better than the famous “Park Avenue”, a cap-toe oxford with no other major stylistic details. The pair being reviewed here is from 2014. Originally on a leather sole, I replaced the old outsole with Dainite studded rubber in 2017. I’ve found this new outsole to be much harder wearing. These were originally factory seconds, however the production failure was a misplaced knot in the sole stitching that no longer exists.

Looks:

The Park Avenue is the classic American oxford, with a cap toe up front, six blind eyelets in the middle, and a small tab to keep everything together in the back. With a black welt and black edge dressing – no matter what sole touches the ground – these shoes are all business, possibly even being too conservative for most work places in the 21^st century.

The leather on this pair has held up well. Relatively thick, especially when compared with newer models of this same shoe, creases are generally tight and fall in line with what you would expect from a shoe used for business. There is a bit of irregular creasing on the side of one shoe, however this didn’t appear until many years of pounding the pavement and seeing rain, sleet, snow, and everything in between.

Unfortunately, the heel has started to come apart on both of these shoes. They look like they will likely fall off entirely in the not too distant future. This does not look particularly good, or professional, and serves as a representation of the declining quality of Allen Edmonds.

Fit & Comfort:

Allen Edmonds built these on their “65”, or simply “5”, last. This last is infamous for being long and narrow. The if your foot isn’t the right shape your toes are likely to feel very pinched. General suggestion is to go down a half size and up a width (or two) from your Brannock. [To Learn More About Brannock Sizing, Click Here] Personally I find that going a half size up from Brannock in your normal width to be the most accommodating to a slightly wide-footer like myself.

A full comparison of the sizing of all reviews can be found here

While they are certainly not sneakers, after a bit of wear these shoes become very comfortable for all day wear, especially when compared to other shoes in their class. The leather has enough give that overtime there will be some adjustment around your foot, and the cork insole will compress into the shape of your foot, providing individualized arch and heel support.

Break-In:

There is a moderate break in time, with the length being determined by which sole you have. After about a week or two of wear the leather upper will have accommodated to your foot and the cork midsole will have compressed. At this point, you should expect a leather sole to be almost entirely broken in.

Dainite, on the other hand, stays stiff for much, much longer. Expect to go a month or more before the Dainite sole softens to where you don’t notice it. Also, be sure to put some wear on asphalt or concrete as the studs will initially have little to no grip on wet tile and wood until they are worn a significant amount.

Materials:

Allen Edmonds chose to use European calfskin on the he upper of modern Park Avenues. This leather is soft to the touch and generally tight grained. The upper is lined with more calf skin leather to help keep it’s shape and prevent extreme creasing. Moving back, the eyelets are blind, metal backed, and facing a partially attached calfskin tongue.

Under your foot, full length leather insole sits on top of the previously mentioned cork midsole. Nestled in the cork is a wooden shank. This won’t provide the same support as a steel shank, but is a god-send to those of us who go through metal detectors regularly.

When this shoe was new, it was sporting Allen Edmond’s standard oak-tanned leather outsole. Current standard Allen Edmonds leather outsoles are notorious for wearing out quickly, something Allen Edmonds know themselves as they put JR leather outsoles on their higher end models. Now, the shoes have a made in England Dainite Sole attached to the bottom that looks like it will last about twice as long as the original leather sole – assuming the heel stays attached that long.

Ease of Care:

To keep shoes such as the Allen Edmonds Park Avenues looking presentable, regular maintenance is critical. Every few weeks of regular wear, expect to break out the polish. I personally prefer a cream polish to a wax as I find there is less build up over time. Others find wax lasts longer in between applications.

Approximately every six months, you’ll want to strip the wax off using saddle soap, and then condition. My personal preference for this is Bick 4. The common alternatives are Venetian Shoe Cream and the much more expensive top of the line Saphir Renovator. There are people who swear by all of these, but the Bick 4 is generally the least expensive. Allen Edmonds itself sells a conditioner that works just fine for the same price, and you can pick it up with your shoes. After conditioning, let dry for a few hours and then reapply a new coat of polish.

Some will go further when stripping off the coats of wax, even going so far as using acetone. However this can also remove the dye from the leather, so be careful if you go this route.

Resoling these shoes is incredibly easy. Allen Edmonds offers to resole their shoes for $125, including shipping both ways. For an additional $30 you can choose to change the sole from it’s original to standard or butyl leather, a half rubber combo sole they call v-tread, Dainite (in red, blue, olive, or black), or a standard rubber outsole they call Othello. You can also take the shoes to almost any local cobbler who should be able to resole them for even less.

The number of times the shoe can be resoled will depend on the work of who is doing the resole. However, it’s safe to assume you’ll be able to get between two and four resoles on the shoe.

Pricing:

Currently, an Allen Edmonds Park Avenue lists for $395 dollars, however I’m not sure anyone has ever paid that price. Allen Edmonds runs sales every couple of months that will drop the price to $299 or $249, and has a standard 15% off full-price items available to anyone who makes a free account on their website. If you have the time to wait, Nordstrom will typically put them on sale for around $200 once a year.

Another option is going the route of seconds. Seconds are shoes that fail Allen Edmond’s quality checks. You can find seconds at factory outlet stores and at Allen Edmond’s shoe bank website. These start at around 75% of the price of firsts, and also go on sale regularly. I bought this pair for just $165 from one of these sales. Though, I have not seem them that low in some time.

• 

Value:

At $395, these shoes are just not a great value. You’ll be better off spending a little bit more to get a pair of Alden’s or Crockett & Jones’. At the real transaction price of $200 to $300 they are far more appealing. At about half the price of the other goodyear welt manufacturers, they will offer a shoe that will still significantly outlast a Johnston & Murphy or Cole Hann. 

Allen Edmonds isn’t alone in this price bracket. Meermin and Loake both sell shoes for between $200 and $300 dollars. That being said, for most Americans not living in NYC, trying on these shoes is all-but impossible. Getting the wrong size could mean sending the shoes back to Europe on your own dime and weeks in transit.

If you have the need to present yourself in a business appropriate way, and will wear the shoes enough that they will need to be resoled, the Park Avenue on sale provides the most cost effective way for most Americans to do so.

Overall:

What more is there really to say? The Allen Edmonds Park Avenue is THE quintessential American-style cap-toe oxford. It looks just as appropriate on an intern getting coffee as the President taking the oath of office. Of course you should pick one up. Though judging by Allen Edmond’s sales figures compared to their competition, you probably already have.

Do you agree? Do you disagree? Let me know down in the comments