i’m about to retire my old dress shoes.  i’ve had the same johnston and murphy black oxford cap toe dress shoes since freshman year of college (embarrassing i know).  no offense to j&m but their shoes don’t make your heart swoon.  i’ve tried other dress shoes in this 10 year period – both cheap and expensive but i always go back to my j&m’s cause they’re worn in.  sure, they might be a half size too large but my feet have molded to them.  it’s tough to part with comfort.

full disclosure: i’m a banker.  i have been for almost 3 years.  when i left my hip music industry job, someone more informed than me said “have you bought your allen edmonds yet?”  it was meant to be somewhat of a jab at bankers, but then he informed me that all bankers wear allen edmonds.  noted.

i’m now three days away (payday) from purchasing my first pair of allen edmonds and it couldn’t have come at a better time.  they’re running a “rediscover america” sale on their website where you can receive 14.92% off their shoes.  the deal is good through columbus day.  get it?

this will be my second go at allen edmonds.  i bought a pair at their denver store last april, but the idiot shoe salesmen sold me on a pair a full size bigger than i needed (he was extremely convincing).  when buying shoes, trust your foot.  my foot failed me in the store.  i should have done my research.  the last that the allen edmonds park avenue shoe is built on is a long, narrow last.  what does that mean?  it means that i should have sized down a half rather than up a half.  my foot is narrow to begin with.  lesson learned.

dress shoes are something you need to spend money on.  as you grow older, you’ll notice that other men will check out your footwear.  don’t let it creep you out.  nice shoes are important and allen edmonds park avenues are the cadillac of dress shoes.  don’t be the guy in the meeting with the box-toed oxfords (i noticed one of my colleagues had some on this morning).  people will notice.