PSA: Quality Alden Indy Boot Alternatives

[theundeadkennedys]

Hi All!

I guess this is my intro post. I haven't seen a dedicated thread for intros, sorry if I just missed it.

Parkhurst, a US based company with production in New York and Spain has stock in 2 versions of their Niagra boots. They are more expensive than Westeds, but less than Aldens. These should be just as well made as Aldens, with maybe even higher wuality materials overall.

I'd pick up a pair of if I hadn't just bought a pair of Aldens literally yesterday.

[bearbeast]

Beautiful boots, they look like a nice alternative, but a bit pricey for me: $500 with shipping

[Kokopelli]

the 'waxy commander = suede, so no-go on those. The others look really nice, but Why cant ANY shoe maker have a plain old BROWN color leather, and not 'russett', 'mahogany', 'red-brown'...???? Is it something in the tanning process? or the dyeing process??

[bearbeast]

I see this as a "fashion" thing, it's what people who are "with it" look for, I guess?

I'm with you on this...brown is brown.

[theundeadkennedys]

Beautiful boots, they look like a nice alternative, but a bit pricey for me: $500 with shipping

They're definitely spendy! Impossible to justify solely for cosplay use, but potentially justifiable if someone was going to put regular real world mileage on them.

[theundeadkennedys]

the 'waxy commander = suede, so no-go on those. The others look really nice, but Why cant ANY shoe maker have a plain old BROWN color leather, and not 'russett', 'mahogany', 'red-brown'...???? Is it something in the tanning process? or the dyeing process??

It's definitely something people who usually go in for a lot boots tend to look for. Various shades make it easier to justify buying more boots. As for colors with more prominent undertones, they tend to take on more character than boots dyed through one solid color. When you have a lot of pairs of footwear it's nice when each pair takes on its own character to differentiate itself from other pairs.

But I completely understand when the colors they come in aren't what you're looking for. My first pair of Alden Indy's were in their Kudu leather, which isn't Kudu but a heavily oiled Cowhide of some kind. It stayed uniformly dark brown, but looked lifeless. I liked how the color looked under optimal conditions when photographed by the retailer, not so much how they presented in real life. I do dig brown chromexcel like the Alden 403 Indy boots however and they do have deep burgundy undertones with some batches or are more subdued in other batches it seems to me.

[Kokopelli]

Beautiful boots, they look like a nice alternative, but a bit pricey for me: $500 with shipping

They're definitely spendy! Impossible to justify solely for cosplay use, but potentially justifiable if someone was going to put regular real world mileage on them.

I wear my Aldens every day, I don’t mind paying for quality shoes, I just want them too also look nice!

[theundeadkennedys]

Beautiful boots, they look like a nice alternative, but a bit pricey for me: $500 with shipping

They're definitely spendy! Impossible to justify solely for cosplay use, but potentially justifiable if someone was going to put regular real world mileage on them.

I wear my Aldens every day, I don’t mind paying for quality shoes, I just want them too also look nice!

I'm the same way. But with boots it doesn't feel right to me until they're worn in with some battle scars lol

[bearbeast]

Beautiful boots, they look like a nice alternative, but a bit pricey for me: $500 with shipping

They're definitely spendy! Impossible to justify solely for cosplay use, but potentially justifiable if someone was going to put regular real world mileage on them.

Yes, don't get me wrong, a good pair of boots is worth that money, for sure. If you can change the soles even more so. If for $500 you get boots that last 3-4 years (with some some sole changes) the boots actually end up being 'cheap' in the long run.

For me shoes usually (even the more expensive ones) have a lifetime of about 10-12 months, the soles wear out till they aren't tight anymore. I am currently testing the Wested boots since last August. Let's see....