Jay Butler Cromwell Loafer: 100 miles later – still a good value?
[Disclaimer: Jay Butler provided a pair of their Cromwell Penny Loafers for review. This is not a sponsored post, however, and Jay Butler was not given any ability to see, edit, or change anything in this review. They did, however, encourage us to not baby them and to write an honest review. The following is the true and unmodified opinion of 100wears]
Highlights:
- Price: $195 (Jay Butler)
- Pros: Great materials (especially for the price), Middle-ground style between casual and formal
- Cons: Fast wearing sole, More upkeep
Contents:
History:
Just about every shoe that costs more than a few dollars looks great when it comes out of the box. However, no shoe stays pristine forever. We like to take a look at how a shoe looks once it’s actually been used. These Jay Butler Cromwell loafers have really seen it all. Despite their suede upper and leather soles, they’ve been worn in rain, snow, salt and more.
So, how did they hold up? Did they fall apart immediately? Let’s find out.
For those who missed it, we did our initial review of this pair back in November of 2020. As part of this review I occasionally reference that. If you’d like to take a look there first, click here.
Looks:
Last:
Surprisingly to me, the thing that stands out the most to me after living with these is the last. Unlike most American-style loafers (such as the Quoddy True Penny), which have an extremely rounded toe, these feature a much more almond design. This look is amplified even further with the low-cut vamp. This isn’t an inherently bad thing, and neither is it inherently good. Instead, it’s a design that is purposeful.
This isn’t a design that is easy to throw on with just anything. High-break slimmer cut pants? Great. Loose fit jeans? No way. If you style them right, it can help amplify an outfit. If you do it wrong, well, it’ll still amplify your look, but maybe not in the way you’d hope.
Upper:
After the last, the upper materials is the next thing I need to mention. The already fairly hairy suede developed an even hairier look. Personally, I really like this (though, image compression software built into this wordpress does not). In fact, while this was my first pair of suede stitched shoes, I’ve since picked up 3 more pairs because of how much I like this look.
When it comes to the exterior of the upper, the only part that looks worn is the edge of the moc-toe. You can see a small amount of fraying along the entirely of both toes. Nothing to be worried about from a structural standpoint. Just worth being aware of.
Moving inside, the liner has held up well visually. However, I did notice that the lining leather has started to lose its color a bit. This is mostly notable under the ball of your foot, where the leather is starting to turn a blueish white. I wore these almost exclusively without socks so I don’t know if there would be any dye transfer.
The stitching on the upper has remained pretty much perfect. The only thing to note is a slightly loose thread on one of the beefrolls. To be fair to Jay Butler, the loose thread is after the tie off. It’s extremely unlike this will get any worse.
I’m really impressed with the way the upper on this pair has held up, remember that these are suede shoes, worn throughout winter in an area with snow, ice, and lots of road salt.
Outsole:
I was originally a bit worried about how the midsole would hold up. On the 2nd time I ever wore these, one of the stitches came out. Thankfully, instead of being a sign of things to come this was a one-off error. The rest of the stitching has remained tight.
Otherwise, the midsole looks about as you would expect. The edge dressing has held up well, with small abrasions where I’ve kicked rocks or curbs.
Fit & Comfort:
When I first reviewed these shoes, I noted that even though I sized up from my normal loafer size to a 12 they were tight. While they have stretched out a bit, I would still recommend planning on sizing up if you get a pair. Even after 100 wears on these, I don’t think I’d be comfortable wearing these with socks.
For reference, I wear an 11.5 in most soft leather loafers, and I’m a comfortable 12 in most other stitched footwear by brands like Allen Edmonds and Alden.
Jay Butler does offer free shipping and exchanges, so the risk is fairly low on getting the wrong size, but I stand by my recommendation to have your initial try be a size up.
Maybe the thing I’m most happy about with this whole shoe is the marshmallow soft lining is still extremely soft. It’s not as great as it was when you first take them out of the box, but it’s still more comfortable than any other shoe lining I own. I have no doubts that the comfort from the lining will last the life of the shoe now, and don’t know why other brands don’t use this type of leather.
On the other hand, I was sad to see is the arch support on this pair bottomed out after just a few wears. The lining does provide a bit of impact protection, more than other extremely-thin soled loafers I’ve tried at least, but I’d go into these expecting a basically flat insole.
Finally, just a word of warning. When these shoes are new, they are incredibly slick. The first time I wore them for a real walk my dog literally dragged me down the street. Like any leather soled shoe, they improve with some wear, but it might make sense to scratch these up before the first time you put them on.
Materials:
If you could not tell, I continue to be impressed with the majority of the materials on this shoe, especially for the price. In the previous review, I noted three areas where I was worried: the durability of the lining material, the thin sole’s ability to protect the upper, and how long the sole would last. All three met or exceeded my expectations.
When it comes to the lining Jay Butler uses, my concerns were completely unfounded. Other than some color loss, the material held up great. As mentioned above, this will almost certainly last the life of the rest of the materials.
On the upper rubbing, I’ve found that on many loafers with thin soles the upper starts to lose it structure and the toe will rub when you walk. While it’s possible this may still develop, the shape of the upper is very similar to what it was on day one. I feel comfortable that this is incredibly unlikely to develop.
The sole life, unlike the others, I view this as “just OK.” It’s about half way through to needing a resole. This is better than the Quoddy penny loafer, which is currently my only other thin-soled shoe, but certainly a lot less long-living than a typical single leather sole. The rubber heel is wearing at about the same rate. I’d say that you can expect to go about 200 miles in these, if you wear them somewhat regularly in a wet environment. Maybe 250-300 if you kept them bone dry.
It’s hard to fault the shoe too much. I don’t think anyone goes into this purchase expecting this style of sole to last for decades. However, I do see it as an opportunity for improvement.
Ease of Care:
In the time I’ve owned these, I have cleaned these shoes twice. Both times with a suede brush and a bit of water. I did not use any water repellent on these beforehand – I wanted to see what they looked like with normal wear.
I ended up getting two small statins that I was unable to remove, both of which was grime from the typical road salt/snow slush that builds up near the end of every winter. Other than that, each cleaning was able to get the majority of the grime off while leaving the upper in good shape.
Jay Butler still does not offer a factory resoling service. Because Jay Butler opted for a Blake-stitched construction, getting a new sole put on is going to be harder than with a goodyear welt pair. It’s not impossible to find someone who is willing to do so, but I’d suggest calling ahead first.
Pricing and Value
These are priced at $195. This puts them a good bit less than the “typical” penny loafer recommendation of Quoddy, Rancourt, and Oak Street Bootmakers. These range from $275 to $328 for a pair. Each of those three are probably a better shoe overall, but at anywhere from 40% to 60% more, it isn’t really a fair comparison to make.
Really, a better comparison would be something like Thursday’s Lincoln, Meermin’s Penny Loafer, or Beckett Simonon’s Lambert Loafers. Each of these come in an incredibly similar price point to the Jay Butlers, ranging from $180 to $209. Of course, the one big wild card with this tier is sales. If you include that you can get into something like the J Crew Ludlow Line on sale, which could fall either below, above, or at this price point depending on day.
One thing all of the brands in the last paragraph share is trying to come in at a specific price point. Each of them needs to give up something in order to reach the approximately $200 price point. With Jay Butler, it looks like the focus was to spend the money on the uppers – both in materials and stitching – while saving on the outsole.
To me, that seems like a reasonable compromise. You might prefer something that isn’t as nice on the upper, but with a goodyear welted sole.
Wrap Up:
When I first started looking at Jay Butler, it began with a question: if $100 loafers are bad and, in general, $300 loafers are good, where does a $200 loafer fall on that scale. In other words, would it be something that someone who cares about shoes could enjoy?
I think that these show the answer is yes. Over the past six months I was surprised by the number of times I opted for the Jay Butler pair. These shoes strike a nice balance between being something that felt like an intentional act of getting “dressed up,” while still being comfortable and a notch or two below my old suit-and-tie style from the before times.
If you’re looking for a pair of loafers that won’t break the bank, it’s worth giving these a look.
Why is Oliver Cabell not on the review list ?
Hey Cory –
Oliver Cabell is definitely a brand I would like to take a look at. I’ll reach out to them right now and see if they are interested in sending a pair over for review!