Club Obi Wan

Hey Bink,

You aren't the only one sportin' a brand new pair of Aldens. I just picked mine up today. Sweeeeeet! I really like the color of brown. It is definitely not what people described as the pumpkin colored ones.

Well, I guess that since these are my first pair of Aldens, I should give my first impression. Excellent quality boot. Everyone raves about the comfort, and they are comfortable. I don't think they will hurt my feet at all while breaking them in. They are not the most comfortable boot that I have ever owned. That distinction belongs to a pair of Rockport boots of mine. However, these Aldens will be around when the Rockports have long since been retired to the County Landfill (aka "the dump").

Some folks had said that the Aldens were a heavy boot. I was a little worried about that as I do not like heavy boots or shoes. I don't think these are that heavy at all. I had a pair of Sketchers that I actually liked the looks of, but after wearing them a couple of times, I had to sell them on e-bay. They were like cinder blocks for the feet.

And that brings me to the Quality. WOW! These things are built like a tank. I have no doubts that I will have these around for a really long time. I would have to say that I lean more towards Felix Unger than I do Oscar Madison. So, I am very easy on things that I own. That is why my choice of leather for my Wested was real easy, authentic lamb. I don't have to worry about how tough it is. Things that are not built anywhere near the way these shoes are, can last me a lifetime, so I guess my Aldens will be a family heirloom.

Now, I don't want anyone to go gettin' the notion that I am a wimp or something. That 's not it. I have always been real good at sports and I guess that means I am fairly co-ordinated. I am also very aware of things around me, at least I was before I got bifocals. (It's not the years, it's the mileage) I think this is what causes me to be easy on things and they always seem to last.

The stitching on the front of the shoes is one of my favorite features. Anyone that owns a pair or has seen a pair know what I am talking about. I think it is very unique looking and I like it very much.

Now I get to my shopping experience. I found out a couple of things that I have not seen on the forum before. Everyone has said that you should get measured before ordering and then when you order, the wait is excruciating. I think it is worse than Christmas when you were a kid.

This was not the case for me. I found out that Washington DC, is home to the only factory owned Alden store. There are a couple of stores that sell Alden shoes exclusively (New York and San Francisco and maybe some others), but they are independently owned.

This is important because, not only did I get measured for a proper fit, but I got to try on the shoes right there. They had the 405s in stock in all the most popular sizes. My two feet are slightly different sizes. Most people have a slight difference in the size of their feet, so I am not a freak or something. After I got measured, I got to try on a pair in the two sizes closest to my measurement to see which one I liked best. Having picked out my babies, I now got to look around the store.

Alden has some very nice dress and casual shoes. They do actually sell things besides Indiana Jones' favorite shoe. Most are in the $300-$400 range. They also have a lot of leather accessories, belts, key fobs, business card cases, and such. They are about to come out with a very high quality leather wallet. One fairly neat thing I saw was a leather keyring that the leather part was a case that held a Swiss Army knife.

I decided to buy an Alden shoe brush. They had one that was bigger than those Kiwi brushes that most places sell. But that was their travel brush. They had one even bigger than that. The one I bought was huge compared to the ones I see for sale today. It is like the ones that I remember seeing as a kid. I never really thought about how the shoe brushes have been downsized over the years. I have been wanting a bigger one and now I've got it.

They threw in a freebie Alden Shoe horn (unfortunately not one of the real shoe horns that they sell) and a polishing cloth. I guess the polishing cloth deserves special mention too, as it looks like a beach blanket compared to the ones I see everywhere else. Okay, I measured it. It is 12"X27" and has a nice Alden logo on it. Now that I was armed with everything I needed to take care of my new boots, I was ready to go.

About a half an hour after walking into the store, I walked out with my Aldens. I had been measured and got to try on pairs to find the perfect fit and I got my shoes right there with no waiting. If anyone is looking to buy a pair of Aldens, and are anywhere near Washington DC, I highly recommend going to the Alden Store here.

Congrats on the new Aldens Did you go today? If so thats funny then because two people on the east coast would have inquired about getting Indy's boots possibly around the same time. Only it worked out much better for you. I didnt have an actual Alden store to try, though theres a store nearby who specialize in boots i might try...if there still there. But i did try the little Shoe and luggage repair store in my shopping center i work at. This place is really really small and old fashioned looking which is why it always got my attention but i never went in..to today. its also in the shopping centers alley that splits the center. Anyway its neat looking cause you enter the alley and all you see if a small shoe repair store and you forget your surrounded by a 100 other stores and a huge parking lot.<not to mention the beer distributor is on the corner there but..> anyway.. i went in the first time after 2 or so years of walking by it..and there was a guy behind the counter maybe around my age and i started by asking if they do shoe sizing, and if possibly they could order shoes from other companies..when i get asked if i could help you from the lady sitting by the window writing something and smokeing a ciggarete. i thought she was a customer waiting..so i repeat my question and im told the owner can do that but hes away come back tommorow. So no Alden's for me or even a shoe measurement for now. I figured if they could get me the correct size order and order them i could even have them do the extra work right away, like sewing the tongues in, and putting the Soles i seen on indyblues boots.i think it was Indyblues. After today though i might just ask to get my foot measured since i kinda felt like they asked if they could help me like i shouldnt have come in the store. But someone told me i just misjudged them,maybe..

That reminds me. I said that I learned a couple of things that I had not seen posted on the forum before. Regarding the tongue slipage poblem, I noticed in Aldens dress shoes, that the inside edge of the tongue, halfway up the tongue had one stitch in it to keep the tongue from slipping.

I wonder why the 405 boot does not have this stitch in it. It would solve the problem with the tongue slipping. A boot with a longer tongue would have more need for this than a dress shoe with a shorter tongue.

At the store, they said that they could have it done for me, but I didn't want to wait for the shoes and I hadn't tried them yet, to see if they were going to slip.

I don't know why, but in boots like this, my left tongue usually slips and the right one doesn't. Go figure. Right away the left one on my Aldens began to slip. I recentered it and I am trying to keep it centered and train it that way while they are being broken in. After wearing them half the day, the right one has begun to slip. We'll see what happens. It doesn't look promising that they will stay centered without being stitched.

I just finished giving my new Aldens the obligatory Pecards treatment. I used the neutral weatherproof shoe dressing. I didn't use the brown weatherproof shoe dressing as I didn't want to change the color of the shoes at all. The shoes look the same and even the color of the laces were not changed, but now they have been waterproofed and conditioned.

I am not sure if the weatherproof shoe dressing is exactly the same as regular Pecards but it sure looks like it. The black and brown may just be regular Pecards with some color thrown in to help restore the color to shoes. Regardless, the stuff works great.

For people looking for Aldens that want as short a wait as possible, Kathleen Flynn, the manager of the DC Aldens store, told me that if someone calls wanting a shoe that they have in stock, they will send them out the same day. She said it usually takes 1 to 2 days for the shipping and the cost is $15.00. She is very nice to do business with.

If anyone is interested here is the info:

Kathleen Flynn
Manager
Alden
1725 K St. NW
Washington, D.C. 20006
202-452-0710
Fax 202-452-0712

Bufflehead, what a GREAT experience! Funny thing was, I was IN Washington D.C. a few times this past week! My wife and I were on vacation and we checked out American University (as well as some old haunts of mine from when I used to live in the area). That's great to know I'll have a local place to get my Aldens taken care of when I'm eventually move back with my wife. We're back in Fort Wayne now, but we had a wonderful week.

What I can say about my Aldens is that they got a LOT of use this week! In fact, we walked for miles around Washington on Monday and I have to say that these shoes are incredible! They are indeed the most comfortable shoes I've worn on my feet. I'm glad I broke them in prior to the trip, though!

As for the tongue slipping, I waited only five or ten minutes for the shoe store out here to stich the the tongues of my boots in place. They put a handful of stiches in the top of the tongue along the top seam of the boot, so it's barely noticable.

Congrats on the Aldens, Buff!

bink

Thanks Bink. I got to tell you tho, I have been pickin' on you while you weren't here to defend yourself.

That doesn't surprise me in the least, Bufflehead. But to be fair, every time I saw the boards on the Washington Beltway that gave a number to report suspicious activity, I called and reported you. The feds should be knockin' on your door any moment... And I ain't talking about the hats, if you know what I mean.

bink

That's ok, Bink. I know most of 'em. I guess I should put the coffee pot on.

I hear they've made a new rule that you can now wear your gear while they sit you in the electric chair...

bink

Any idea what their hours are at the DC store? I tried calling her around 6pm to see if they have my size in stock and noone answered. Ill try again tommorow earlier but just wondering if you knew. Thanks.

binkmeisterRick wrote:I hear they've made a new rule that you can now wear your gear while they sit you in the electric chair...

that's one way of distressing gear I bet nobody has tried before.

Yeah, but they dry out quickly.

Indycire wrote:Any idea what their hours are at the DC store? I tried calling her around 6pm to see if they have my size in stock and noone answered. Ill try again tommorow earlier but just wondering if you knew. Thanks.

From talking to them, their clientele is mainly the high dollar DC lawyers. So they keep the same hours. Mon-Fri 9-4or5...I can't remember which. I am pretty sure that they don't stay open as late as 6PM.

Does this mean they close on Saturdays? I thought I had something extra to look forward to if I move back next Spring!

bink

Okay, I was off a little bit. Their hours are 9:30AM to 6PM, Monday thru Friday. And yes Bink, they are closed on weekends.

All I saw was the the title of the post, and thought to myself "well, if you shot low, that shouldn't be TO hard to do".

I don't know, I can be a pretty small target at times. Besides, all I'd have to do is hold your coffee as hostage and I'd be able to get away...

It's a bummer they're closed on Saturday! Just means I'll have to find a reason to take a long lunch!

bink

Small target? Does the term 'shotgun effect' mean anything to you? (grins) Regards. Michaelson

Has the tongue slippage worked itself out yet? Did you end up getting the stitches added?

If not, there may be another trick you could try rather than having them stitched. I had a pair of Doc Martins boots with really bad tongue slippage on the right boot. Someone taught me this trick so I take no credit, but it really works. At least on my Doc Martins. I don't own Aldens, yet, so I can't vouche for the effectiveness of this "trick" on those particular boots. However, it may be worth a try. I'll try to explain it the best I can, but it's really hard to describe in words and, no, I don't have a photo right now.

Okay, here goes:

Fold the tongue of the boot down toward the toe of the boot. The fold should be close the top of the tongue stitching. By top I mean closest to the top of the boot. Keep the fold about an inch to an inch and a half from the stitching. Now, make a second fold an inch or so below the first fold bringing the tongue back up to its original position. What you should have at this point is a tongue that is folded over on itself and about an inch shorter than it was originally. You will also have a lump in the tongue when you wear your shoes. But wear them like this for a week or two. After the tongue is nice and broken-in, let out the folds and see if it didn't solve your problem.

This isn't exact science, so you may have to play around a bit to get the fold in a comfortable position for your foot, but try to keep it low, as low as possible. The second fold should be really close to the level of the stitching.

I hope this works for you, because it worked really well for me. The tongue on my boots was slipping so far that I may as well have not had a tongue in the boot at all. It was that bad. But now, the tongue is nice and straight. And you do get used to walking around with folded tongue. And, it cuts down the break-in time for the tongue.

Hopefully that all makes sense.

I take it you do this without the laces in? I got used to the slippage in my old Alden's because it was just one and it wasn't really all that bad of a slip, but my newer pair that I have has atrocious slippage and it's in both boots!


James

You know, this problem didn't really rear it's ugly head until the lovely pumpkin colored 405's were introduced. In order to save monies, Aldens used less leather in the wrap around section of leather, forcing the tongue of the boot to cover more of the front of the shoe/foot, hense the slippage. I have NEVER experienced slippage with my old reddish versions, but did with the second pair. I do know folks have had them sewn in place, but the method above sounds like a solid method.....correction without surgery! Blue cross, blue shield would like that if it were a medical method! Regards. Michaelson

I take it you do this without the laces in? I got used to the slippage in my old Alden's because it was just one and it wasn't really all that bad of a slip, but my newer pair that I have has atrocious slippage and it's in both boots!

Yeah, I forgot that part. Take the laces out before the performing the "Alden Origami". Put them back in nice and tight, and keep the boots laced tight while wearing them. It's uncomfortable for a few days, but it gets better.

Michaelson wrote:Small target? Does the term 'shotgun effect' mean anything to you? (grins) Regards. Michaelson

Yeah, but then you'll hit your coffee which I've held hostage. You don't want anything bad to happen to your coffee, do you?

bink

Guess we'd call in an arbitrator at that! Regards. Michaelson

binkmeisterRick wrote:I don't know, I can be a pretty small target at times. Besides, all I'd have to do is hold your coffee as hostage and I'd be able to get away...
bink

Holding the man's coffee as a hostage! Bink, that is just cold man. Consider the beast you would unwittingly unlease if Michaelson goes through coffee withdrawls!

Hey, if it's a matter of MY LIFE over HIS COFFEE, then I'm afraid I'm willing to do what it takes. However, if he agrees NOT to shoot me, then I will happily give the man back his coffee!

bink

I could be the hostage negotiator. Just let me know if you need me.

I dunno. This could end up looking like the Keystone cops trying to rescue The Three Stooges from the Marx brothers ...

Darn Communists. Oh, wrong Marx...

bink

Excuse me while I butt in here again. Sorry, but in an effort to help out I wrote the Alden Anti-Tongue Slippage Fold from memory. Not a good thing. When I got home, I checked out the Doc Martens and the fold actually goes under first and then back out. I'm sure it would work either way, but I just wanted to clarify the way that I did it. Under, to the inside of the boot, and then back out again. Sorry for the confusion. Now back to the regularly scheduled banter.