Club Obi Wan

Anyone interested in a decent close-enough might want to check out J Crew. The Duxbury Ruggeds are pretty decent, and still about half the price of Aldens. The sole is wrong, of course, and the collar is padded a bit, but not a bad looking boot.

Duxbury Ruggeds at J Crew

I really like the soles on those; very practical. It is also cool that they come with two different types of laces. They're also a great color.

I personally love my J Crew Ruggeds and I wear them every day. I have the "distressed" version they made and not the oiled upper version. I actually wish I had gotten the oiled one now because I removed all the distressing from leather treatments anyway. You never notice the padded collar on regular use though as long as your pants cover them.

Ruggeds are nice, but I wouldn't pay retail for them.

I got mine on the magical land of Ebay.

I got mine in the 50% off sale J Crew had a few months ago before they "revamped" the Ruggeds.

Good looking boots but a little high priced for what you get.

Still trying to decide on whether to spring for Aldens???

Have a great day,

If the choice is between paying retail for these and the Aldens, there is no question: save up for the Aldens.

I'd have to say they are great boots but they aren't worth the $150+ in my opinion. If you can find them on sale then I say get a pair for now. If not save for aldens like Zach R. said.

Colby wrote:I'd have to say they are great boots but they aren't worth the $150+ in my opinion. If you can find them on sale then I say get a pair for now. If not save for aldens like Zach R. said.

Colby, Why aren't they worth $150? I have seen boots in stores like American Eagle or Abercrombie that are the same price or more than these, and J. Crew has their shoes and boots made in Italy, arguably the quality shoe-making capital of the world; why wouldn't they warrant a $150 price tag? -Though, who wouldn't rather pay a sale price?

I ask this because I buy some of my dress shoes from J. Crew and have always found them to be of the highest quality and relatively inexpensive for Italian shoes.
Best,
HJ

Oh don't get me wrong though I love the boots more than any shoe or boot I've ever owned in my life. I'm just saying if you want a decent Indy boot and only for an Indy boot you should most likely save your money for the real deal instead. I think I was a bit too vague and cold in my last post.

Although if I can figure out a way to try and make the ruggeds take on the same color as the Aldens do I would just be in pure joy. They do naturally distress really nicely and the tread is really nice too. One day I'll get a nice pair of aldens but until then I'll always be wearing my ruggeds. It could be a more practical indy boot though since it has the good tread and not too expensive so you can abuse them a bit.

Colby wrote:Oh don't get me wrong though I love the boots more than any shoe or boot I've ever owned in my life. I'm just saying if you want a decent Indy boot and only for an Indy boot you should most likely save your money for the real deal instead. I think I was a bit too vague and cold in my last post.

Oh, I see. You were just saying that in comparison to Alden's and for Indy boots, it is better to save, which I totally agree. I was just curious what your criterion and thought process was. Thanks.

If you do get the ruggeds, don't use the "pull" straps to put your boots on, I think they are just for looks...

Oh yeah that is my only complaint about those boots. I don't want to cut them off though but just about every single time I stand up from sitting my pants are stuck on the little pull straps. I'm constantly checking them.

Hemingway Jones wrote:J. Crew has their shoes and boots made in Italy, arguably the quality shoe-making capital of the world

I'd like to limit the above to "shoe-making capital of the Apennine peninsula" myself... with all due respect, HJ - I know you're a man of impeccable taste - Italian footwear ain't what it once was. Of course, there are still famous brands, such as Gucci and Fratelli Rosetti, but those are IMO no match to Crockett & Jones, Alden or Church (real Church, not the Prada-owned modern derivatives). The generic Italian shoes I've owned have been major disappointments (sorry Erri! ), mainly in terms of durability. I've always preferred British and American footwear.

The Rugged is a very nice Alden substitute. Now, if J. Crew only brought back the Decker too - best Alden clone of them all...

These Ruggeds are nice boots but they arent worth $165 IMO.I got my nearly new Aldens on Ebay for only $185. but if you cant afford the Aldens these would sill be a great pair of boots.
Best Regards,
Joe

Scandinavia Jones wrote:

Hemingway Jones wrote:J. Crew has their shoes and boots made in Italy, arguably the quality shoe-making capital of the world

I'd like to limit the above to "shoe-making capital of the Apennine peninsula" myself... with all due respect, HJ - I know you're a man of impeccable taste - Italian footwear ain't what it once was. Of course, there are still famous brands, such as Gucci and Fratelli Rosetti, but those are IMO no match to Crockett & Jones, Alden or Church (real Church, not the Prada-owned modern derivatives). The generic Italian shoes I've owned have been major disappointments (sorry Erri! ), mainly in terms of durability. I've always preferred British and American footwear.

The Rugged is a very nice Alden substitute. Now, if J. Crew only brought back the Decker too - best Alden clone of them all...

Hey Skandi, when I said "Arguably" that didn't mean that I actually wanted someone to argue with me!
You're right, of course, but you're making an unfair comparison; you're comparing the best English shoes to mediocre Italian shoes: Church's vs. J. Crew. I was comparing, or at least meant to compare, J. Crews with what one usually would get from a mid-level clothing chain in the US, which would be shoes made in Asia or South America: abject junk. In that comparison J Crew has a decent shoe for a decent price.

Ferragamo's vs. Church's is an even match.

If you look at midlevel English boots, say Doc Martin's, and rate them on durability, I don't know if any shoe in the world can compare. I had a pair of DMs for 20 years and I only got rid of them because my shoe size has increased in the last year!

Remember, when in doubt, buy American.

Point taken, HJ. I merely reacted to the word "quality" in your above post. Hence my references to quality shoe brands...

I've been the proud owner of five or six pairs of Doc Martens in various styles, and I must say that the quality of those have dimished considerably as well... the last pair - a kind of a hiking boot - was rubbish. The shoes lost their structural integrity and became unwearable. The ones I bought in the 80's are still going strong, though.

Ferragamo's vs. Church's is an even match.

Ah... as I said: impeccable taste. *tipping fedora in HJ's direction*

Hemingway Jones wrote: Hey Skandi, when I said "Arguably" that didn't mean that I actually wanted someone to argue with me!

Scandinavia Jones wrote:Point taken, HJ. I merely reacted to the word "quality" in your above post. Hence my references to quality shoe brands...

I've been the proud owner of five or six pairs of Doc Martens in various styles, and I must say that the quality of those have dimished considerably as well... the last pair - a kind of a hiking boot - was rubbish. The shoes lost their structural integrity and became unwearable. The ones I bought in the 80's are still going strong, though.

Ferragamo's vs. Church's is an even match.

Ah... as I said: impeccable taste. *tipping fedora in HJ's direction*

That's sad to hear about Doc Martens' quality diminishing. I bought two pairs in the eighties and one pair in the mid-nineties that I still have: a pair of blood-red wing-tips. They were indestructible, though not really "fine" shoes; their components had a certain industrial quality; the leather was more like plastic than the lustrous leather of a Church's. Their soles were amazing; they never wore down, ever.

Skandi, you're a good man and I always welcome a good debate from an old friend!

The Ruggeds will be half price or less after Christmas, at least they always have been in the past.

Regards,
Indybill

indybill wrote:The Ruggeds will be half price or less after Christmas, at least they always have been in the past.

Regards,
Indybill

I'll have to keep that in mind! Half price would be pretty decent!

It looks like they went with a "glossy" finish this time. Nice.

What are the M and H-M next to the sizes? Is that some sort of width?

They are also marked down to $79.99! Get'em while they're hot boys!

IndyDoc wrote:What are the M and H-M next to the sizes? Is that some sort of width?

M - medium H - Half, as in half size.

Ah, thanks. Hemingway.

That beats the heck out of the Red Wing close enoughs which are about $300!

I think I got my RW for about $50. Are they really that much new? That wouldn't even be an option when you can get the real deal for less.

When I priced them out at the Red Wing store last winter, that's what they were asking for them.

$300 for Redwings is silly. The Alden 405s are $275!

With shipping and exchange factored in the Red Wings would be cheaper for me, but then again... they ain't Aldens.

Hi all,

Just got my Ruggeds tonight (paid sale price!) and I'm very pleased; even I'd paid full price I could still say I'd paid more in the past for lower quality items...I'm not a purist for strictly screen accurate stuff, I'm more going for practicality and things that go with a classic safari/outdoor look, and as far as that goes, I'm very happy with them. Honestly I'd rather have something with more traction on the soles than the Aldens anyway, since I'll be wearing these in the snow next week...

I just put them on and got a compliment ("Nice boots!") when I hadn't even been out of the house for 2 minutes!

Thanks to Mojave Jack for posting the link, you guys have been a great help in finding good gear.

Antone

Congrats, Antone. I've had my rugged's for about two years now and they're holding up great. That's saying something, too. I'm not a big "fashion" guy and own very few clothes, these being the ONLY pair of shoes I own. So they see a LOT of wear. I'd love to have some Aldens but just can't bring myself to spend that kinda dough on shoes. Especially since we've got a few "close enoughs" now that are more than just "close enough" in my opinion. Just wait until those things start to break in, darken and crease. They look great! And with pants covering about half the boot anyway there's little difference to Aldens once they've darkened and worn in. If you really like them, you may want to snag another pair now. They're a seasonal thing and will likely be out of stock soon. They'll return in the Fall but at the retail price. They will drop in price, but it will be at least a year before you can have them at the sale price again.

Amen, Shawnkara. It's good to know they'll hold up a while too, that was my only remaining concern about them.

I agree about having so many good "close enough" options, which is a real luxury at this point now that everyone has found good alternatives that cost far less. I'd rather spend the extra $160 on another fedora or travelling anyway; you have to keep your priorities straight after all...

Antone