Grensons (good, sturdy, every day shoe), both Rushden (lower end) and Rose collections, Loakes and Barkers. Better (light years) than Bata or so-called italian shoes that I can find around here, in Bucharest. Next stop C&J!
The worst quality that you can get on that range it is better than what people are selling here - let me give an example, I was taking off some gross layers of polish from a pair of pseudo italian made shoes that I had bought in a hurry - needed black shoes quickly - and when I had started to re-polish them I saw the marks of the correcting machine over the leather. What made me furious was the fact that the retail price (which I did not payed) was comparable to the retail price (on pediwear) for a pair of Grensons!

My Grenson masterpieces have never ever had one wrinkle in the uppers. They are as smooth as smooth.   l still feel that the shoos are weaker (all ranges) than my Church's and Trickers (too flimsy feeling).  Cheaney and C&J aren't any better.

The old timers would always tell me stories as an 8 year old kid when i'd visit Melbournes top shoo stores. l'd check out the Church's at 8 years old. The shoo guys would tell me (a wide eyed shoo-kid) stories about Trickers, Lobb and Edward Green. lt seemed like heaven at the time. lt seemed....getting Trickers and Lobb was like stealing the golden goose and living happily ever after. This kid had big shoo-dreams from reeeel young.

Last edited by The_Shooman (2008-07-12 09:54:42)

And just one more thing before bed Jan Libourel. lf you are wondering if you should switch from AE to English mid ends. l say sh*t yeah! lf you really appreciate a good shoo, you will forget about about the pointless value for money analysis and just enjoy good English shoos. We are people that feel emmotions. Value for money comparisons doesn't improve lifestyle (enhancing the `emmotional feel-good' factor'  is very important here). The extra price is well worth the experience of feeling good shoos (AE feel like sneakers). `Shoo-fans' should always have great stuff. lf you have had average shoos, mid end English shoos will certainly improve your life.

Last edited by The_Shooman (2008-07-12 12:50:37)

With all the problems facing the English midend factories (hard to get skilled staff, competition causing cost cutting on shoes and almost total erosion of the supply of the midend market), the midends are going to be really rare in the near future. lmagine how the midend English shoe market will look in 25 years. lt's a scarey thought and upsets me greatly.

I noticed that a lot of the Brooks-Peals are now up to $498 (some still were at $468), which increasingly puts them out of reach of those with moderate incomes.

I really don't "dream" about Edward Greens or other really high-end shoes. If I ever win the lottery, I might give Greens and JLPs a whirl to see what all the fuss is about. Otherwise, I am perfectly content with A-Es. If this makes me sound like Cruiser and his J.C. Penney suits...well, so be it. I have always acknowledged that I have a philistine streak. However, largely inspired by this thread, when I was at South Coast yesterday evening (and this is second only to Rodeo Drive for upscale shopping in Southern California), I paid special attention to the male customers' footgear. Overwhelmingly, by an absolutely crushing majority, they were shod in either sneakers or sandals. Of the hundreds, maybe thousands that I saw, I could probably count on the fingers of one hand the number of shoppers (as opposed to salesmen) who were shod in even halfway-decent looking leather shoes. In such a world, as I have argued before, between A-E and EG...does it really matter?

What was the story behind Stollenwerk's selling AE?  It wasn't long ago that he mentioned in the Journal that he was bully on AE and the long term benefits and continuity of the AE tradition.