My general conclusion would be that these boots would look great with any type of dress pant, but one would probably stop there. I don’t often wear suits in the winter time, but my hope was that I could wear these with a suit if the weather was awful, and I had to wear a suit that day. It was tough to tell from the photographs on the AE website how informal the shoes would be for the office setting. My intention on getting these shoes was to fill the void for winter-capable dress shoes that would be office appropriate. There are 5 eyelets for the laces, and then 2 hooks, which make it easy to loosen and tighten the shoes.Ĭap toes and a toe “height” that’s not boxy. I was kind of hoping there would be some room for thicker socks, but they may be a little too snug for that. The size and fit is comfortable and true. For comparison purposes, I wear a size 12 in Nike from my experience, AE and other USA-made footwear always seem to be a solid size lower than foreign manufactured sneakers. I went with the size 11D, which is the standard for me with Allen Edmonds. The leather felt nice between my fingers and the finish was a deep brown color that should take polish just fine.ĪE’s new weatherproof leather is surprisingly nice. So, the leather is a little thicker and more substantial. But, that was to be expected, as these shoes are “Weatherproof”. Leatherįor those used to the fine calf-skin that typically adorns AE shoes, this is not that. The sole is not too chunky, which I was worried about, and has a nice inlay of wood/grain in the heel. As I inspected the shoes, I noticed the leather to be supple and quite striking. As luck would have it, I could not find any glaring defects. But you just don’t know until they show up. Something happened during the manufacturing process to cause a cosmetic defect, and that’s why they get the extra discount. 2nds are, in essence, “scratch and dent” markdowns.
Having some limited experience with AE’s Factory Seconds, I looked over both boots to try and figure out whether I made a terrible decision in purchasing them. Oh well, I really don’t use the bags on boots anyways. Not something I am used to with AE, but I guess that’s because they are “seconds”. Upon arrival, I opened the Allen Edmonds branded box and there they were. Construction: 360º Storm Welt weatherproof.Additional: Factory Seconds (note that unlike 1st quality, there’s a $25 restocking fee for factory 2nds).
And the fact that I was able to get these with a mega discount, thanks to AE having my size in a factory 2nds option, made them all the more hard to turn down. Either way, they were in a category of footwear my wife clearly did not know I was in need of. They’re like a very dressed up version of a work-boot, or a very casual style of dress boot. To best describe the Alpine, I would describe as somewhere between a dress-boot (think AE Dalton or the JCPenney Stafford Gunner) and a stylish work boot, ala AE Higgins Mill. Nothing fancy with Factory 2nds presentation.Īs described in another recent shoe review post, AE recently released a “Weatherproof” Collection, which includes the subject of this review, the Alpine Cap-toe Boot. She knows better than that, but didn’t push the issue.īoots. The obvious answer to that question was, “Of course!” But, I know better than that now, and I responded with, “Well it was a great deal, and my other boots are getting pretty worn out”. In his spare time he enjoys the outdoors, doing yard-work, and most of all, raising his two kids.ĭo you really need another pair of boots? That’s the question my wife posed to me as I opened the box that was left on my front porch by the delivery driver. It needs to be functional as well, since he learned early on that an 8-hour day can easily turn into 16-20 hours, a lot of which is spent on foot in various environments.
For him, fashion is more than looking good. is a 30-something year-old homicide detective in an urban city on the east coast whose attire ranges from tactical to suits, and everything in between. Alpine Weatherproof Cap-toe Boot – $325 ($425) $199 for 2ndsĪbout the Author: Joe P.