# The "Someone talk me out of buying these" Thread



## Cardinals5 (Jun 16, 2009)

As a public service to all forum members I'm starting this thread and making myself its first victim. The purpose of the thread is to show pics of possible purchases that you're hesitant about and have other forumites talk you back from the abyss.

I like tassel loafers, I want a pair of suede loafers, have always liked NSTs, moccasins are comfortable - is this offering by Ralph Lauren (made in Italy) a horrible design monstrosity (darn things even have a kick heel) or would they look great with casual outfits and sockless in the summer?

My gut says save up for Alden suede tassels, my wallet says I can have these now for less than $50.

https://imagehost.vendio.com/bin/vi...,082710_005.JPG,082710_006.JPG,082710_007.JPG
https://imagehost.vendio.com/bin/vi...,082710_005.JPG,082710_006.JPG,082710_007.JPG
https://imagehost.vendio.com/bin/vi...,082710_005.JPG,082710_006.JPG,082710_007.JPG


----------



## Peak and Pine (Sep 12, 2007)

I will send you $25 if I can wear them half the time. So that's talking you out of half of it. Really nice shooz.


----------



## srivats (Jul 29, 2008)

Cards, I say save up and buy alden suede tassels (dark brown) f the aberdeen last fits you well.

BTW, are those RL shoes welted?


----------



## The Rambler (Feb 18, 2010)

I think you should buy those and, if you must, convert them to suede tassels, by the application of tassels which you take from a pair of junkers you keep around for parts.


----------



## Cardinals5 (Jun 16, 2009)

Peak and Pine said:


> I will send you $25 if I can wear them half the time. So that's talking you out of half of it. Really nice shooz.


I'll let you have one of the shoes for $25.



srivats said:


> Cards, I say save up and buy alden suede tassels (dark brown) f the aberdeen last fits you well.
> 
> BTW, are those RL shoes welted?


The aberdeen fits pretty well so that's not a probelm. I was kind of leaning toward these because I already have two pair of Alden tassels and these are a different look. I'm not sure if they're welted (they're on eBay), but I'll assume they aren't just to be safe. These are one pair of a number of RL Italian-made shoes that have suddenly appeared on eBay that seem to have come from some mid-1990s NOS stash.



The Rambler said:


> I think you should buy those and, if you must, convert them to suede tassels, by the application of tassels which you take from a pair of junkers you keep around for parts.


:biggrin2: I'll have to find a pair of the old Nettleton speed-lacer tassels, which would look great on these. Let me check the stockroom.


----------



## Centaur (Feb 2, 2010)

The little thong of leather reminds me of the ties teddy boys used to wear.


----------



## smujd (Mar 18, 2008)

Save for Alden. Those shockingly ugly shoes will only put you another $50 away from Alden suede tassels.


----------



## PeterW (May 14, 2004)

These shoes are neither here nor there. Too cute by half. Alden, all the way bro. 

Also, the goal here is not to have as many shoes as possible, but to have just enough perfect shoes. These shoes are not perfect. Tassels are.


----------



## Cardinals5 (Jun 16, 2009)

That's it, fellas. Keep it up. I just need one or two more bad reactions to banish them from my mind forever.


----------



## Saltydog (Nov 3, 2007)

I've wasted more money in my life on things that were _almost_ what I wanted, but at a cheaper price, easier to get, available right now...you name it. My wife finally got through to me by telling me numerous times that if it is not exactly what I wanted...be patient, save up if you have to, you already have plenty of other (whatever it was) to wear or use until you can get exactly what you want and then you can enjoy them for years. As usual, she was always right. I never really enjoyed the "close but not quite" items that much...felt cheated out of the real thing...and ultimely used them little. Meanwhile it set me back or took away my rationale for getting the real thing (because I no longer really _needed_ it and it would be an extravagance because I already had the "close enoughs".

Don't buy them. You WILL have buyer's remorse. They will break your heart. Wait until you can get what you know you really want. You'll thank me one day.


----------



## The Rambler (Feb 18, 2010)

Wise advice indeed, Salty, but Cards buys, just guessing, 20 pair a year. I don't believe for a second that buying these, er, unconventional shoes will stand between him and the Aldens :icon_smile_wink:


----------



## chacend (Mar 4, 2008)

The Rambler said:


> Wise advice indeed, Salty, but Cards buys, just guessing, 20 pair a year. I don't believe for a second that buying these, er, unconventional shoes will stand between him and the Aldens :icon_smile_wink:


Actually, Cards buys 20 pairs a year of shoes at this price which equates to at most about 3 pair of full price Aldens. So unless he finds the ones he is looking for at thrift or eBay he will be undermining the savings plan he needs to get the Aldens.


----------



## Peak and Pine (Sep 12, 2007)

Buy them, if just to smother the Alden snobbery oozing outa this thread (some from you). As for Salty Dog, wha? Saving for perfection: blaaagh. All my good stuff is second class. That is, until I got my hands on it. Ownership can bring stuff up a notch; it's about personality, yours. If you had bought those babies then posted again with your feet stuck in them and left out the dichotomy of the Aldens, you'd have gotten raves. I know this bunch.


----------



## Orgetorix (May 20, 2005)

Peak and Pine said:


> Buy them, if just to smother the Alden snobbery oozing outa this thread (some from you). As for Salty Dog, wha? Saving for perfection: blaaagh. All my good stuff is second class. That is, until I got my hands on it. Ownership can bring stuff up a notch; it's about personality, yours. If you had bought those babies then posted again with your feet stuck in them and left out the dichotomy of the Aldens, you'd have gotten raves. I know this bunch.


Yeah, some folks here are Alden snobs; what of it? Alden makes a better-looking and better-made product. The shoes Cards posted are ugly. And won't last as long. Some snobbery is justified.

If I decide to pass on buying a Ryobi tool so I can save my money and get a Delta tool, does it make me a Delta snob? Maybe. But if so, I don't mind being that kind of snob.


----------



## Benson (Aug 28, 2009)

The split toe pushes them toward a whatsthat-hybrid for me. If they were just a suede (boat/tassel) moc, sure why not, at least for summer and early autumn, but the split toe gives them the air of having been the creation of someone under deadline trying to reinvent the wheel.


----------



## Peak and Pine (Sep 12, 2007)

Orgetorix said:


> Yeah, some folks here are Alden snobs; what of it?


Er, are you asking me to step outside? (Maybe I should have peppered my post with smileys.)



> Alden makes a better-looking and better-made product.


Than what? What do you know about the shoes Cards posted except they're PRL Made in Italy, which sounds pretty good to me.



> The shoes Cards posted are ugly. And won't last as long. Some snobbery is justified.


You speak in pronouncements. Leave that to GBR. And snobbery is never justified.
Cards, buy the damn shoes, will ya? Get this guy off my back. Besides, I think he's into tools, or something. I didn't get the analogy.


----------



## TheWGP (Jan 15, 2010)

Seriously, Cards? Just wait, and you'll have Alden tassels bloomin' out the ears in those Greenville thrifts, in every leather and color your could imagine!


----------



## chacend (Mar 4, 2008)

Cards,

We all know what you really want are these:








Alden Snuff Suede Unlined Flex Welt Loafers. This pair is mine, but they are your size. I'm not cheap, but I can be had (or traded for).


----------



## Cardinals5 (Jun 16, 2009)

The Rambler said:


> Wise advice indeed, Salty, but Cards buys, just guessing, 20 pair a year. I don't believe for a second that buying these, er, unconventional shoes will stand between him and the Aldens :icon_smile_wink:


Sir, you overestimate, I'm a 15 pair a year man. Of course, I then sell or donate 13 of those pairs .



chacend said:


> Actually, Cards buys 20 pairs a year of shoes at this price which equates to at most about 3 pair of full price Aldens. So unless he finds the ones he is looking for at thrift or eBay he will be undermining the savings plan he needs to get the Aldens.


True enough - I have a tendency of small timer spending that keeps me from the larger purchases.



Peak and Pine said:


> Buy them, if just to smother the Alden snobbery oozing outa this thread (some from you). As for Salty Dog, wha? Saving for perfection: blaaagh. All my good stuff is second class. That is, until I got my hands on it. Ownership can bring stuff up a notch; it's about personality, yours. If you had bought those babies then posted again with your feet stuck in them and left out the dichotomy of the Aldens, you'd have gotten raves. I know this bunch.


No Alden snobbery here, but I do like the "ownership can bring stuff up a notch" talk.



Orgetorix said:


> Yeah, some folks here are Alden snobs; what of it? Alden makes a better-looking and better-made product. The shoes Cards posted are ugly. And won't last as long. Some snobbery is justified.
> 
> If I decide to pass on buying a Ryobi tool so I can save my money and get a Delta tool, does it make me a Delta snob? Maybe. But if so, I don't mind being that kind of snob.


Ouch, Ryobi picked up a bad reputation pretty quickly.



Benson said:


> The split toe pushes them toward a whatsthat-hybrid for me. If they were just a suede (boat/tassel) moc, sure why not, at least for summer and early autumn, but the split toe gives them the air of having been the creation of someone under deadline trying to reinvent the wheel.


Straight talk - exactly why I created this thread.



Peak and Pine said:


> Er, are you asking me to step outside? (Maybe I should have peppered my post with smileys.)
> 
> Than what? What do you know about the shoes Cards posted except they're PRL Made in Italy, which sounds pretty good to me.
> 
> ...


More straight talk, but I fear I'm losing control of this thread (look at my hubris, as if I ever had control ) I probably won't buy the shoes (this is the "Someone talk me out of purchasing these" thread, but I'll give you a big :icon_smile_kisses: for your efforts here  (I know you hate smilies, but my life is incomplete without them :icon_study



chacend said:


> Cards,
> 
> We all know what you really want are these:
> 
> ...


You're the devil, sir. The keys to my closet are yours.


----------



## PeterW (May 14, 2004)

Now that's a pair of shoes.


----------



## The Rambler (Feb 18, 2010)

yes, exceedingly so: perhaps a major deal is in the works.


----------



## NoVaguy (Oct 15, 2004)

I hate tassel loafers, and like these a slight bit more Alden suede tassel loafers. Not enough to want to buy them, though.

If you want a suede loafer, I suggest a elasticated English slip-on. Or a suedue chelsea boot.



Cardinals5 said:


> I like tassel loafers, I want a pair of suede loafers, have always liked NSTs, moccasins are comfortable - is this offering by Ralph Lauren (made in Italy) a horrible design monstrosity (darn things even have a kick heel) or would they look great with casual outfits and sockless in the summer?
> 
> My gut says save up for Alden suede tassels, my wallet says I can have these now for less than $50.


----------



## Thom Browne's Schooldays (Jul 29, 2007)

I was looking at a pair of made in Italy PRL shoes a while back, and my quick, google search research revealed that many people did not think much of them. Not sure if that was because of construction, style or both.


----------



## chacend (Mar 4, 2008)

The Rambler said:


> yes, exceedingly so: perhaps a major deal is in the works.


Maybe, it's kinda like baseball cards for grown-ups. However, like anything it's not what they are worth it's what is someone is willing to give you for them and both people walking away happy.


----------



## harvey_birdman (Mar 10, 2008)

To OP, the shoes you have posted look great except for the laces instead of tassels on the front. However, there may be a way to remedy this. I had a pair of Alden tassel mocs lose one of the little tassel bits on the leather lace. My local cobbler was able to remedy this by inserting an entirely new length of leather with two new tassels. If you can find someone skilled enough to complete this maneuver it would offer considerable savings over a new pair of Aldens. As I recall, it was somewhere in the neighbourhood of $50 for the work.


----------



## NoVaguy (Oct 15, 2004)

Thom Browne's Schooldays said:


> I was looking at a pair of made in Italy PRL shoes a while back, and my quick, google search research revealed that many people did not think much of them. Not sure if that was because of construction, style or both.


from what i recall, the big problem was the calf quality (or lack thereof). I think people complained about wrinkling and creasing. I'm not sure if that applies to the Suede shoes.


----------



## The Rambler (Feb 18, 2010)

chacend said:


> Cards,
> 
> We all know what you really want are these:
> 
> ...


 btw, who makes those magnificent shoe trees?


----------



## Sir Cingle (Aug 22, 2009)

Cards: I actually like the PRL shoes from the front. But, personally, I don't care for the sides: I think the use of leather isn't very attractive. It's a shame: they are actually a somewhat interesting hybrid. But, if it were me, I'd save up for the Aldens instead. They just look better.

BTW: This is a great idea for a thread. If I had someone around to talk me out of buying something marginal, I'd have a lot more money on my hands. Or, perhaps, in the bank.


----------



## Trip English (Dec 22, 2008)

Cards, there are a lot of things I like about those, but only individually. There doesn't seem to be a thing wrong in build quality but they have a sort of Frankenstein thing going on and not in a "red-brick-sole-on-a-blucher-moc" way.



Orgetorix said:


> If I decide to pass on buying a Ryobi tool so I can save my money and get a Delta tool, does it make me a Delta snob? Maybe. But if so, I don't mind being that kind of snob.


Delta is not worth the snobbery. Save it for Festool.


----------



## The Rambler (Feb 18, 2010)

That's the thing about snobbery - there's always something better.


----------



## Thom Browne's Schooldays (Jul 29, 2007)

Trip English said:


> Delta is not worth the snobbery. Save it for Festool.


Seriously.

"Once you go brushless you never go back."


----------



## chiamdream (Aug 7, 2009)

Let's see what this thread can do - please talk me out of these 



I mentioned in another thread that, with the wet weather coming, I'm kind of in the market for a pair of Aldens with the crepe sole. These are really the nicest ones I've seen, and the stock has been steadily dwindling since the shop released them, and I have no idea whether there'll be another run or not.


----------



## CMDC (Jan 31, 2009)

^Can't help you. Those are gorgeous. Thank god they don't have my size or I'd be going through the same hand-wringing.


----------



## The Rambler (Feb 18, 2010)

Drop dead gorgeous, Chaim. Nicer looking than my old aww's in pebble grain calf. So: reasons not to buy: 1. They don't have your size. 2. You just spent a fortune on your last pair.


----------



## srivats (Jul 29, 2008)

chiamdream said:


> Let's see what this thread can do - please talk me out of these
> 
> I mentioned in another thread that, with the wet weather coming, I'm kind of in the market for a pair of Aldens with the crepe sole. These are really the nicest ones I've seen, and the stock has been steadily dwindling since the shop released them, and I have no idea whether there'll be another run or not.


I have a pair and they are AWESOME -- they are going to be great for the coming fall weather.


----------



## chiamdream (Aug 7, 2009)

Well, thanks for nothing, guys. This thread is useless. 

Sri, do you have any pics?


----------



## Cardinals5 (Jun 16, 2009)

In the spirit of this thread I'll nitpick and say I'm not crazy about the contrast storm welt (I forget the proper name for that extra stitching on the welt). Then again, I'll join the others and say those look perfect for your purposes and you'd be an idiot not to get them, especially since they'd be great in Chicago winters and the plantation crepe soles can really take a beating. 

In this case the thread has failed, but it would have been perfect for those Winn Perry Aldens with the red brick sole (I can't remember their name), which were so controversial.


----------



## Sir Cingle (Aug 22, 2009)

Chiam: You've given us a pretty tough assignment. It's easier to talk people out of marginal purchases than it is to get them out of buying fantastic shoes like that. For me, the only reason I don't buy such a pair is that I wouldn't spend the money. But they are obviously great.


----------



## chiamdream (Aug 7, 2009)

Sir Cingle said:


> Chiam: You've given us a pretty tough assignment. It's easier to talk people out of marginal purchases than it is to get them out of buying fantastic shoes like that. For me, the only reason I don't buy such a pair is that I wouldn't spend the money. But they are obviously great.


You are quite right - I was not really respecting the spirit of this thread. I thought maybe someone would contribute a bad experience with the crepe soles or something...but I think everyone likes them.

I did discover another store (Leffot) that carries the same version, so it's not so much of a now-or-never purchase. It makes sense - it's kind of a perfect shoe.


----------



## Dragoon (Apr 1, 2010)

If you buy those Chromexcel AWWs, I will be jealous and annoyed that they don't have them in my size.


----------



## Cardinals5 (Jun 16, 2009)

I need some more help, fellas. I haven't bought a pair of shoes in a while and the itch feels like it need scratching. I've got all the bases covered (and some extras) but started fancying these kiltie loafers. Usually I dislike kiltie - too cutesy - but these have me wavering. They're C&J for RL. Feel free to give them a real tongue lashing so I'll stop being tempted.


----------



## Patrick06790 (Apr 10, 2005)

They will add at least a decade to your appearance and you will start talking about your "sosh securrdy" benefits.


----------



## Cardinals5 (Jun 16, 2009)

On the positive side, I might start getting a discount at Dairy Queen.


----------



## roman totale XVII (Sep 18, 2009)

Are you sure they are men's shoes? They look identical to the summer uniform worn by the girls at my 1980's high school in England. if you're into white knee-high socks and gingham shirt-dresses then go for it...!


----------



## The Rambler (Feb 18, 2010)

That's a good one. I'll ask, how many pair do you currently have, Cards?


----------



## 32rollandrock (May 1, 2008)

Smart money says he's already bought them. That floor looks familiar...

Go with a plaid skirt instead of gingham, though--or maybe one of those all-in-one backless dresses with a bib-style front and a white blouse with puffy sleeves underneath.


----------



## phyrpowr (Aug 30, 2009)

Cardinals5 said:


> I need some more help, fellas. I haven't bought a pair of shoes in a while and the itch feels like it need scratching. I've got all the bases covered (and some extras) but started fancying these kiltie loafers. Usually I dislike kiltie - too cutesy - but these have me wavering. They're C&J for RL. Feel free to give them a real tongue lashing so I'll stop being tempted.


As an older Southerner, a gen-u-ine (bad) shagger at the old OD clubs, I can say the buckle straps are a deal breaker. Kilties are fine, kilties with tassels are okay, but no straps. Pass, Bubba (sweet color, though)


----------



## Thom Browne's Schooldays (Jul 29, 2007)

I just don't understand kilties I guess, the only time they've ever looked good to me is in mr mort type outfits. Too cool for me.

Still, there must be _something_ about them, I'd guess over 75% of business travelers in midwestern airports are in Kilties or Kiltie-Tassles.

This thread should never have been allowed to be buried, Festool and Alden flex-welts on a single page!


----------



## hookem12387 (Dec 29, 2009)

This one is easy: they're really, really, terribly ugly.


----------



## Cardinals5 (Jun 16, 2009)

Thanks for the medicine boys, I needed it.


----------



## Cardinals5 (Jun 16, 2009)

The Rambler said:


> That's a good one. I'll ask, how many pair do you currently have, Cards?


Including the camp mocs, boat shoes, and stuff like that, probably around 40.


----------



## The Rambler (Feb 18, 2010)

kilties do serve a purpose - to keep your shoelaces dry on your golf shoes.


----------



## eagle2250 (Mar 24, 2006)

Cardinals5 said:


> Including the camp mocs, boat shoes, and stuff like that, probably around 40.


Cards: LOL. Ya just gotta ramp it up with those shoe purchases. There was a point, a few years back that my shoe count was pushing 90 pair. Embarrasseded by my own excess, I undertook an aggressive shoe reduction campaign and at one point, had worked the number down to 47. Presently, even with giving away eight to ten pair a year, the number has edged back up to 55 and I am itching to pull the trigger on two more pair. Have you seen those Double strap monks Alfred Sargent is offering as part of their Signature line?

Now let's just stop all of this "someone talk me out of it" nonsense and get out there and buy more shoes! :crazy:


----------



## rbstc123 (Jun 13, 2007)

Wow! What a much needed thread on AAAC. I'm in! I'd rather hear it from you fellas than the wife any day!


----------

