Your New Shoes are Flawed... Should You Return Them? 

A phrase you said a few times, "it does not affect the function of the shoe". This is exactly what a defective product is based on. Does it stop the product from being used, or not. Cosmetic is subjective and companies usually have guidelines within their standards and tolerance levels. AE is made by hand for the masses. If you're scared of destroying your shoes maybe get cheaper stuff you do not mind beating up. Shoes are made to be worn not prized, and flaunted. In my opinion. That phrase is such a great self question to yourself when deciding this.

Great video, Bob.! I think AE should commend you for explaining so many things that get more attention and publicity than they deserve. I like you, have encountered these things and learned from experience that I could fix so many myself. I'd like to add that there is a certain joy in doing so and a knowledge and joy of being able to work with my investment. The skills you pick up make the experience of ownership richer. And,you don't have to be an accomplished DIYer, or have the skills of "Cobbler Bob" to do so.! I think you have simplified and condensed several years of shoe smarts into one video.! Excellent job, my friend.

Great video Bob! I do not mind the quirkiness of AE brand. AE shoes are a unique and (sadly) all to rare bit of quality US manufacturing. I want to support them and the people they employ and help this slice of Americana to continue. It’d truly be a sad day if AE shuttered it stores and discontinued all mfg in the states. I also do not get why, some people, cannot differentiate between a minor aesthetic flaw and a major structural issue with the shoe? The actual amount of major issues with AE shoes has to be a very low % in my opinion. Many people are purchasing shoes clearly marked as factory 2nds and they are criticizing AE for minor defects that is really unwarranted imho. Great video!!

Bob, I think this is your best video yet. I do not believe I have ever seen a better description of shoe construction.

Loose grain or just poor grain break in general, really bugs me. So I've found buying lightly pre-owned advantageous, not only for the obvious value reasons, but because a pre-owned pair will almost certainly already have some creasing, so it's easy to avoid anything with problems. Although when buying new, I've looked up pre-owned pairs to see if undesirable creasing is a pattern with the shoe I'm looking to buy.

This is an amazing video Bob. The guys in the FB group should watch this one!

Thank you Robert, as always informative and entertaining.

I miss the AE Whitney. They need to do another actual leather soles dress shoe on the 42 Last

Very informative. Thank you.

Thank You Mr. Powers & Merry Christmas!

Almost every full grain shoe maker uses semi aniline leather, meaning they put thin coat of acrylic paint on grain for uniformity but it still reveals pores and texture. The true untouched hides look like work boot leather or are so pristine that go into the super luxury bespoke shoes. That info comes from Kalas of Ashland.

Allen Edmonds lack of refinement has been an issue. Even large clunky lasts squeeze your toes. I’ve worn European shoes 30 percent narrower than AE that fit beautifully with no pressure points. I’ve tried four different AE lasts in all different widths and my foot still hurts. I Think stitching uppers in the Dominican Republic contributed to the refinement problem. They pretty much just slap the soles on in Wisconsin these days. Takes about three minutes to do the stitch job based on videos.

This is a unpopular opinion but Allen Edmonds is just as bad as direct to consumer brands when looking at them as a shoe brand and what they were. Yes they have their own branded stores, that's great but 10 years ago you could go to a department store, a casual sit and fit store local to your town, and other privately owned franchises or stores and buy Allen Edmonds. And they had a solid part of their business in wholesale. That is gone. Keeping costs all within their company and able to have better profit margins for themselves, and not worry about retailers getting annoyed that the website is undercutting the in person stores. Allen Edmonds is a budget shoe in a higher price point, there are 3 price sections I have seen and ae to me is a budget version within that 2nd grouping. And they did that by pushing their website sales. If you buy AE full price you got money to blow. Back when you found these in multiple stores they were more high end, but now they compete with high end budget brands, and are entry level budget truly high end brands. I work at a shoe store, trying to find dress shoes to sell is hard. Brands like Thursday boots just flat lie about what they are, and Allen Edmonds devalue their products because if you just wait you will get a 40 to 50% off deal on brand new pairs. So in store if I carry a brand that has decent quality around 200$ to 300$ with a brand that values wholesale retailers, I get screwed by online retailers doing direct to consumer and spending millions on ads instead of paying a sales team. The market for men's is saturated and impossible to not be undercut. Guys who want quality stuff will find it online and believe marketing. Budget guys will keep going to target and Nordstrom rack getting whatever they like. This video explains so much and needs to be put in every Allen Edmonds forum. These people expect perfection from a budget luxury brand. It's quite interesting.

People also often cite beveled edges as an issue. They are not

Great video Bob. Thank you.

Ehhhhhhhh im a cobbler, and i can tell you, Allen Edmonds don’t have hand patina work, its sprayed on. Still super good, there great shoes, but no its sprayed on finisher

You are amazing👍great video

(Shoe)Pundit Bob! Cheers!

Vintage is the best.

We never got to know why he told us about the car

In general, I like AE shoes and have purchased numerous pairs of both 1st and 2nd run shoes from them. Then a few years back, I bought a pair of 2nds brown cap toe oxfords from them that the left and right shoe were dyed at least two full shades off from each other. These shoes should have never been sold off to a customer, they should have been re-dyed or trashed, but instead AE pawned their trash off on me. I might buy 1sts from them at some point, but I will never buy 2nds from them again.