I already had a pair of Aldens which I purchased about 6 years ago, during their "pumpkin orange" phase (Which have darkened to a more acceptable color by the use of Pecard's brown-tinted leather dressing), so I was confident knowing what type of shoe I would be getting. Since I already had the Aldens, I passed on getting the "saddle" color, which would otherwise have been my first choice, and got the "mahogany" ones.
Out of the box, the shoes I got are the color I expected, and they match up well to the color as shown on his site. They have a slight purple hue to them, but you have to be right on top of them to see it. My photos below don't show this purple hue at all.
The leather is very soft and comfortable, and is much softer than the leather on my Aldens. I actually prefer the softer leather - but then, I intend to wear these more as dress or casual boots, not as work or hiking boots. FYI, my Aldens are 1 lb 14.5 oz, while the Magnoli's are slightly lighter at 1 lb, 11.25 oz.
I was very apprehensive putting them on, as I was afraid how well these made-to-measure shoes would fit, but I am very happy with them - they definitely do fit me like a glove! There's plenty of wiggle-room for the toes, and as I said before, very soft leather. But what I appreciate most of all is the fit over my instep. As you can see in the photos below, my Aldens are laced tight over my instep, yet there's still a large gap between the eyelets. But on the Magnoli boots, the eyelets are right next too each other, yet the laces aren't very tight, so there's less pressure on the instep, thus a more comfortable fit (This close lacing should also help the sliding tongue problem which I had on my Aldens. You can see the fix I had to make on one of my shoes to prevent the tongue from moving to the side). It's clear to me that made-to-measure shoes are the way to go.
The bottom line: I am *very* happy with these boots, and I'm looking forward to wearing them out and putting them through their paces. And I have no doubt that I'll be ordering some more Adventure Boots from Indy Magnoli sometime down the line. And thanks, Indy Magnoli, for offering these boots in the first place; it's very much appreciated!
Here are the photos:
1) Alden & Magnoli, taken outside:
2) Alden & Magnoli, taken outside:
3) Alden & Magnoli, taken inside:
4) Alden, taken inside. Note width between leather/eyelets, as well as poor-man's fix to tongue problem to shoe on left:
5) Magnoli, taken inside. Leather/eyelets close together, fitting perfectly over my instep:
