Regarding heeled shoes that do not pass the shock straight up into your leg I strongly recommend Alden's with a commando sole. It's much more comfortable than Commando soles I've owned and worn from any other brand. I walked 4 miles today in an Alden with a commando sole and had some slight discomfort in the ball of my foot but nothing you'd not expect after walking 4 miles.

Great boots.

 

I need to buy some new shoes for work. I am leaning towards a pair of Birkenstock Birmingham Chelsea boots. They are quite expensive, around 300 USD/ 280 euro/260 GBP.
I have had a couple of pairs of Birkenstock sandals and I really like them. Has anyone here got any experience with their shoes or boots? Are they long lasting?

I have read a few different reviews, some good, some not so good.

I don't mind spending the money but the quality has to justify the cost.

 

I'd not have high hopes, they are not known for that type of shoe. Doc Martin on the other hand has an excellent rep at the price.

 

From hearsay and some experience Dr Martens are very poor quality. If you neglect them a little bit too much then the corrected grain leather will tear.

I personally have great experience with Panama Jack nappa gras leather boots. I am currently on my second pair of their Glasgow model and the only reason the first went in the bin is because I neglected to have the sole replaced and the leather got water damage.

 

I dont have any experience with Birkenstock, but this guy have mixed feeling about them. He does not test a Birmingham Chelsea thou.

I have lots of experience with DocMartens after wearing them for 30+ years. They are comfortable and look cool, but the leather is not top quality.
https://www.youtube.com/@RoseAnvil/search?query=docmartens

 

Without commenting on whether or not Doc Martens are quality or not I would like to suggest that Rose Anvil should be treated as an infotainer and youtube personality at best. He's not always consistent in how he rates construction, and his primary method of rating is what he perceives as leather quality and construction but has no rating system for wear comfort over the life of the product (which I understand can be subjective), which is kinda important.

RE: the doc Martens and birkenstock, I'd want to know if it's a well-wearing but disposable boot, or something re-soleable. Doc Martens are pushing it in price for a "non-resolable" boot imo; I'd rather spend 2 - 3x more for a good quality boot that will have a much longer lifespan, but I understand some people may wish to change Styles more frequently or may not be interested in the break-in sometimes required for such boots (or visits to a cobbler).

If the doc marten/birkenstock is super comfortable and reasonably priced for the known lifespan (and the buyer knows this lifespan) I wouldn't necessarily expect the same kind of construction quality that the resolable shoe or boot with an expected lifespan of 10 to 20 years would have.

Heck, tennis shoes/running shoes are pushing what, $140-200 these days, and are absolutely a wear product.

Me? I'm for something I can resole that will also stay comfortable for a decade+.

 

Wearing a new to me Alden 8920. Neither suede nor a wedge-style outsole like this that borders on a tennis shoe is my normal style and this is a pair of boots that my wife ordered for me. I walked about ~2miles in them yesterday, and I found them very comfortable and very light, and there's something very attractive about the suede.

In some respects they definitely wear a lot more like a tennis shoe- I'll be interested to see how the comfort of the Goodyear wedge holds up, and how long it lasts before replacement.

 

@lillatroll if you are a fan of Rose Anvil, he does have a video going over only Chlesea Boots. In line with the conversation- If I were planning on getting a comfortable but disposable chelsea with a boot with a comfortable lifespan less than 2 years (say 2 to 3 years of very regular wear), I'd expect to pay 200ish or less. If I wanted a comfortable Chelsea in a semi-dress-style with a very long lifespan that will develop nice aging pattern & color with good care, I'd look at the Nick's chelsea (but this is double your price range and you may not know exactly what size you need, which is always a pain).

At the 300 dollar price point you mention, Red wing is another great option for Chelsea boots and is a "work boot" style similar to the birkenstock. They're likely to remain comfortable for longer than the birkenstocks (and I say this as a lover of birkenstock sandals) and are re-soleable through red-wing or a good cobbler and will develop a good patina with wear. The trac-tread wedge sole on the redwing should give you 2 to 3 years of wear life at minimum and be resoleable, I have a pair of RW87519 moc toes with a trac-tread sole from about 2019 that are still on their first sole (but it needs to be replaced at this point), and they're still quite comfortable for several hour periods and I wear them semi-regularly. I have another pair of red wings that I replaced the original sole with a christy-wedge through a standard cobbler, but the trac-tread is, in my experience, more comfortable (and probably a bit softer wearing) than the standard christy wedge.


EDIT to add: my brother has owned a pair of Blundstone chelseas (probably a model 550) for at least 4 years and wears them regularly and swears by them. I know they're on the less pricey side of the chelsea range and I imagine they're cemented and probably not easily resolable.

 

Birks and Boots.

 

leather soles aren’t noted for their longevity or suitability when it’s damp or wet out
I usually get a very thin rubber outsole added by a cobbler- it improves grip too

 

Ahinsa Sundara ankle boots on my feet today- which an extremely comfortable barefoot ankle boot- I find them a nice mix style wise- can wear with shorts heading out to the shops, can pair with office clothing and head into meetings… also very useful if I’m walking long distances- biggest day I’ve done in these was 43.1 kms and had no foot pain which I thought was pretty remarkable

 

Ethnic Spirit goodness

 

Yesterday was Wallabee Wednesday in Cincinnati…but today is Wallabee Thursday in Detroit…

 

I managed to acquire some Allen Edmonds brogues in burgundy shell cordovan. I am so very pleased with these shoes! For polishing I only used Saphir cordovan creme and a horsehair brush.

 

Those are some seriously pretty Color #8s! Any idea who made those for AE? Nice pickup.

 

Thank you. Unfortunately no idea. Is there any clue I could look for?

Regarding color #8, the difference between that and burgundy is unclear to me. Particularly since Saphir offers both #8 and burgundy in their shoe polish collection. These are listed on AE’s website as burgundy so I got the burgundy polish as well.

 

It's unclear to me as well! As far as I am aware, Allen Edmonds sources the shell Cordovan from horween- horween calls it "color 8" but AE chooses to call it burgundy. Around 2 decades ago AE may have sourced lighter colored shell cordovans from horween that were closer a true burgundy. They either quit doing that or they started adding some sort of darker finish during the build process and I'm not sure which.

As far as the polishes go I would assume that saphir color 8 would keep them darker, pretty close to what they are now with that brown-purple tone, and a burgundy polish may eventually let them lighten a bit into the red-brown spectrum towards true burgundy.

As far as my other comment goes, I thought that AE sometimes does crossover projects with other producers but I'm not sure they've actually ever done that with their shell offerings, which are absolute top quality. Those are beautiful and will likely last the next 30 years or beyond. Beautiful boots!

 

No shoes, no socks just summer time.

 

Custom in suede rough out and hand tooled upper, mule ear faux pulls and old school spade sole.

Hollywood Riff-Raff
He called them his homage to the classic western “The Good the Bad and the Ugly”

I just said “yes”.

 

I managed to pick up a second pair of NOS AE cordovans in as many months. Remarkably both from Italy. I don’t think this seller realised the importance of the marking on the sole since it was listed for the same price as a dozen or so others in calf. They should arrive in two weeks or so, and I will share a pic when they do and after a brush.

These are the discontinued MacNeil model. Code database says burgundy for this ref. but they don’t look it on these photos.