# Allen Edmonds Park Avenue in Brown or Merlot?



## Barcelona (Aug 13, 2009)

I was thinking of getting a pair of Park Avenues with the Clare rubber sole to wear in wet weather. Not sure which color to choose between the two though. Since it will be my only pair of rubber soled dress shoes I want it to be as versatile as possible. Normally I would opt for the merlot but I do have the Alden 908 in burgundy calfskin, which is a half brogue. Also, the Alden burgundy is a very dark color which goes with virtually any suit color, whereas in some photos the AE burgundy looks dark and in others it appears to be a much lighter red color.

Does anyone know how similar or dissimilar the two burgundy colors are?


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## alphadelta (Oct 2, 2007)

I was in the AE store here in Denver looking at their shoes on sale. Merlot (AKA Oxblood, Burgundy, etc.) is my favorite dress shoe color. It looks great with navy blue and gray suits. Black shoes are boring and brown is old-man dull. The only time I would wear black dress shoes would be with a dark midnight blue (almost black) suit for a night at the theater.


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## Orsini (Apr 24, 2007)

"Merlot" (burg) would have a greater range. It would be a wobbler.


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## Orsini (Apr 24, 2007)

alphadelta said:


> I was in the AE store here in Denver looking at their shoes on sale. Merlot (AKA Oxblood, Burgundy, etc.) is my favorite dress shoe color. It looks great with navy blue and gray suits. Black shoes are boring and brown is old-man dull. The only time I would wear black dress shoes would be with a dark midnight blue (almost black) suit for a night at the theater.


Us old men like to be dull.

Seriously, I could use that brown on Tuesdays.


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## Youthful Repp-robate (Sep 26, 2011)

I would probably get brown. Burgundy captoe bals don't do it for me, for whatever reason. PTBs, loafers, or something with some broguing are all cool in burgundy, but for plain captoes I'd want dark brown. 

If they're going to be your only wet-weather shoes, then it depends on what you're likely to wear with them. If you're just wearing suits with them, then you'd be set. If you're as likely to wear them with sportcoats as with suits, I might do something like a Del Ray... if they'll put that on the rubber sole. The website isn't playing nicely, so I can't check. Of course, I am firmly in the "bluchers with suits" camp.

Also, the link on "black dress" makes the limited list of ad links I find truly amusing.


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## eagle2250 (Mar 24, 2006)

^^
Not to be argumentative, but I've got pairs of AE's Park Avenues in both black and in burgundy (acquired pre-retirement) and have a pair of AE's Cognac Soho's and a pair of Alden's version of the Park Avenue (Alden's model #922, I think they are?) in dark brown. My burgundy Park Avenues see more wear time that the black, brown and Cognac cap toe Balmorals, combined! The brown calf Alden's come in second, based on frequency of wear. Burgundy is a very flexible shoe color, regardless of design  However, I do agree that the Park Avenues are a bit overpowering when worn with casual or dress casual and the brown or cognac colord would better serve to tone down the formality of the design.


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## Barcelona (Aug 13, 2009)

Orsini said:


> "Merlot" (burg) would have a greater range. It would be a wobbler.


What suit colors is merlot a better match for as opposed to brown?


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## salgy (May 1, 2009)

Barcelona said:


> in some photos the AE burgundy looks dark and in others it appears to be a much lighter red color.


it is a darker red... i can try to post an actual picture tomorrow for you...



Barcelona said:


> What suit colors is merlot a better match for as opposed to brown?


i have the Park Avenue in all 4 colors... in my closet, the black ones are worn the least... i would argue that the merlot would look great with any grey from light to charcoal & especially good with all shades of blue suits... the dark brown PA's look good with all shades of darker blue and brown suits... very few greys look good with the brown shoes & i find very few brown suits look good with the merlot shoes... i would look at what you have in your closet & let that be the determination...


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## Barcelona (Aug 13, 2009)

salgy said:


> it is a darker red... i can try to post an actual picture tomorrow for you...
> 
> i have the Park Avenue in all 4 colors... in my closet, the black ones are worn the least... i would argue that the merlot would look great with any grey from light to charcoal & especially good with all shades of blue suits... the dark brown PA's look good with all shades of darker blue and brown suits... very few greys look good with the brown shoes & i find very few brown suits look good with the merlot shoes... i would look at what you have in your closet & let that be the determination...


Thanks, some photos would be a big help. I think some of the pictures I've seen were taken with a flash, making the shoes look lighter than they really are.

I actually wear my burgundy Aldens a lot with a mid-brown suit and a three piece Donegal tweed that is also a shade of lighter brown. I haven't worn them with navy or gray yet but they would definitely work. I'm basically using them for everything that black shoes won't work with right now.


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## Jovan (Mar 7, 2006)

Burgundy works with everything. End of story.


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## IvanD (Jan 5, 2012)

Fine choice of shoes.
If my budget allowed, I would choose both the brown and the burgundy, but for a single choice, I would personally go for the burgundy.
As others have said, it will probably be the most versatile colour out of the 4.


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## mrkleen (Sep 21, 2007)

IMO - Park Ave's are a fairly formal shoe. Brown by its nature is a less formal color.

My favorite shoes from AE are brown - in their many wonderful shades. But I would never buy Park Ave in Brown. Black only for me. If I want Brown or Cordovan, I go with a more 'casual' style.


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## Youthful Repp-robate (Sep 26, 2011)

I lied. The links on "Park Avenue" are my absolute favorite. Buick hubcaps?










As to your comment, eagle2250, I agree that burgundy has a very wide range, and I agree that one's only pair of rainy-day dress shoes should have a wide range. The thing is, I think captoes don't have a very wide range. My feeling is that captoes are the best choice with "city" suits. They don't work as well with rougher fabrics, or with odd jackets. I also think that the suits that pair best with captoes tend to look as good with dark brown as with burgundy. Of course, that's a matter of opinion, but if the OP wants shoes to wear in the wet with conservative business attire, and is firm about them being captoes, then dark brown is what makes sense to me.

On the other hand, if the OP wants shoes to wear with a wide variety of looks, then brown or burgundy bluchers make the most sense. Frankly, I think bluchers with a suit are better than bal captoes with a sportcoat.


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## salgy (May 1, 2009)

Barcelona said:


> Thanks, some photos would be a big help. I think some of the pictures I've seen were taken with a flash, making the shoes look lighter than they really are.


as promised... on my front porch this morning... i put a black PA in the shot to give you reference... when not compared to the black shoe, they do look darker... just FYI, and not that it will make much difference, the merlot PA is 2 years old, the brown just under a year...


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## Rick Blaine (Aug 26, 2012)

salgy said:


> as promised... on my front porch this morning... i put a black PA in the shot to give you reference... when not compared to the black shoe, they do look darker... just FYI, and not that it will make much difference, the merlot PA is 2 years old, the brown just under a year...


No disrespect Salgy but last time, I posted a picture of my McAllister with that criss-crossed lacing, I got a soft bashing. Since then, I changed my lacing to European straight bar but I often see that lacing on bals.

I only have an "X" shaped cross laces on my New Orleans to go with the weaving pattern. Might even change those. Looks a little funky on a captoe.

Coming back to the point... why am I seeing this criss-crossed lacing on bals which are inherently more formal shoes? What am I missing here?


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## Jovan (Mar 7, 2006)

Is there any functional advantage to straight lacing besides that it looks good on a sales floor?


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## salgy (May 1, 2009)

Rick Blaine said:


> why am I seeing this criss-crossed lacing on bals which are inherently more formal shoes? What am I missing here?


Rick, no worries, I get asked this question every time I post a picture of any of my shoes... when new, I give the straight bar lacing the old college try, but inevitably the laces are criss-crossed after the first time i polish them... for me, I can tighten the criss-crossed laces to better fit my foot... I find that the bar laces just do not get as tight and my foot feels like its swimming around inside the shoe... it probably has to do with the shape of my foot, because if I wear a blucher, I have the same swimming feeling...


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## Youthful Repp-robate (Sep 26, 2011)

salgy said:


> Rick, no worries, I get asked this question every time I post a picture of any of my shoes... when new, I give the straight bar lacing the old college try, but inevitably the laces are criss-crossed after the first time i polish them... for me, I can tighten the criss-crossed laces to better fit my foot... I find that the bar laces just do not get as tight and my foot feels like its swimming around inside the shoe... it probably has to do with the shape of my foot, because if I wear a blucher, I have the same swimming feeling...


I find just the opposite: my LWBs work better for me with bar lacing than criss-crossed. I've never tried X lacing a pair of bals, though.


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## Virchow (Apr 13, 2012)

salgy said:


> Rick, no worries, I get asked this question every time I post a picture of any of my shoes... when new, I give the straight bar lacing the old college try, but inevitably the laces are criss-crossed after the first time i polish them... for me, I can tighten the criss-crossed laces to better fit my foot... I find that the bar laces just do not get as tight and my foot feels like its swimming around inside the shoe... it probably has to do with the shape of my foot, because if I wear a blucher, I have the same swimming feeling...


I have probably the lowest instep out there and have the same issue with bar lacing but this method clears it up: https://www.fieggen.com/shoelace/straighteuropeanlacing.htm .

It looks much better than criss-cross, especially if the eye-stays end up close together.


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## salgy (May 1, 2009)

Virchow said:


> I have probably the lowest instep out there and have the same issue with bar lacing but this method clears it up: https://www.fieggen.com/shoelace/straighteuropeanlacing.htm .
> 
> It looks much better than criss-cross, especially if the eye-stays end up close together.


i will have to try this... my eye-stays end up almost touching with cross lacing...


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## salgy (May 1, 2009)

salgy said:


> i will have to try this...


wow... nice & tight... lets see if they stay that way... thanks Virchow... i might have found a new lacing style


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## nlieb (Mar 20, 2012)

I vote merlot. I'm a total hypocrite, though, because I bought mine in black.

Sent from my DROID2 GLOBAL using Tapatalk 2


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## Virginia-Style (Oct 21, 2010)

+1 for merlot. my park ave merlot get the most wear of all of my shoes. look great with navy and greys... but i want a pair of brown fifth aves on sale right now!


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## Barcelona (Aug 13, 2009)

salgy said:


> as promised... on my front porch this morning... i put a black PA in the shot to give you reference... when not compared to the black shoe, they do look darker... just FYI, and not that it will make much difference, the merlot PA is 2 years old, the brown just under a year...


Thanks, I definitely like the merlot the best.



Youthful Repp-robate said:


> I agree that burgundy has a very wide range, and I agree that one's only pair of rainy-day dress shoes should have a wide range. The thing is, I think captoes don't have a very wide range. My feeling is that captoes are the best choice with "city" suits. They don't work as well with rougher fabrics, or with odd jackets. I also think that the suits that pair best with captoes tend to look as good with dark brown as with burgundy. Of course, that's a matter of opinion, but if the OP wants shoes to wear in the wet with conservative business attire, and is firm about them being captoes, then dark brown is what makes sense to me.
> 
> On the other hand, if the OP wants shoes to wear with a wide variety of looks, then brown or burgundy bluchers make the most sense. Frankly, I think bluchers with a suit are better than bal captoes with a sportcoat.


I wasn't firm about the shoes being captoes, that just happens to be the only dress shoe AE has with the rubber sole option. These shoes will be worn with "city" suits for the most part, although I do have the aforementioned Donegal tweed suit as well. As far as a sportcoat is concerned, I can see how these would be quite formal for something like a tweed, but I don't see how they would be out of place with a navy sportcoat and gray pants.



Jovan said:


> Burgundy works with everything. End of story.


But not black.:devil:


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## Youthful Repp-robate (Sep 26, 2011)

Barcelona said:


> I wasn't firm about the shoes being captoes, that just happens to be the only dress shoe AE has with the rubber sole option. These shoes will be worn with "city" suits for the most part, although I do have the aforementioned Donegal tweed suit as well. As far as a sportcoat is concerned, I can see how these would be quite formal for something like a tweed, but I don't see how they would be out of place with a navy sportcoat and gray pants.


I just haven't liked captoes/sportcoat when I've seen it. I think they could work with a Donegal suit -- I always thought of them as "town" shoes, but there's a picture in "Gentleman" that shows brown captoes working quite well with a tweed suit.


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## Leighton (Nov 16, 2009)

Barcelona said:


> What suit colors is merlot a better match for as opposed to brown?


The better question is what suit colors does brown actually go with?


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## salgy (May 1, 2009)

Barcelona said:


> I wasn't firm about the shoes being captoes, that just happens to be the only dress shoe AE has with the rubber sole.


Not 100% true... If you order through AE you can get any of their soles on practical any shoe... If you get them somewhere else (eBay, amazon, zappos, etc) you can send them in for recrafting & get any sole you want


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## firedancer (Jan 11, 2011)

salgy said:


> Not 100% true... If you order through AE you can get any of their soles on practical any shoe...


 For an up charge


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## salgy (May 1, 2009)

firedancer said:


> For an up charge


correct... but not much of one... $35 <i think> if you order from Allen Edmonds themselves... my point was that the OP is not limited to the PA's with rubber soles... if he thinks that cap-toes are too "dressy"


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## firedancer (Jan 11, 2011)

I requested a different sole for an order a couple weeks ago and it was more like $100. 

I'm sure it depends on who you talk to and what kind of orders you've placed in the past but I've noticed that AE isn't as amenable to custom orders as they once were. 

Which is a good thing. It means the production line is busy producing production shoes. Good for them!


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## Jovan (Mar 7, 2006)

I wish AE still made the Fairfax. I would own that shoe in burgundy for sure.


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## Barcelona (Aug 13, 2009)

salgy said:


> Not 100% true... If you order through AE you can get any of their soles on practical any shoe... If you get them somewhere else (eBay, amazon, zappos, etc) you can send them in for recrafting & get any sole you want


I've checked out the "custom shoes" section of the website a little more closely now; I see that the rubber sole is available on a few of their other shoes. I think I will still go with the Park Avenue though. I don't have a captoe shoe right now, and that is available with the rubber sole without going through their custom program so it is cheaper.


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## Bassist (Jul 3, 2012)

*Fairfax!!!*



Jovan said:


> I wish AE still made the Fairfax. I would own that shoe in burgundy for sure.


I was not familiar with this style, so I had to do an image search- WOW! What an absolutely STUNNING shoe!

Joe


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## firedancer (Jan 11, 2011)

Jovan said:


> I wish AE still made the Fairfax. I would own that shoe in burgundy for sure.


Call the shoe bank. I ordered a pair last year and a buddy of mine just got some a few months ago.

Mine are dark brown though.


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## Jovan (Mar 7, 2006)

Thanks!

I have to say, of all the "sleek" shoes I have seen, it's the one I like the most. It also has a surprisingly comfortable last.


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## Bassist (Jul 3, 2012)

Jovan said:


> Thanks!
> 
> I have to say, of all the "sleek" shoes I have seen, it's the one I like the most. It also has a surprisingly comfortable last.


Do you know which last it's on?

Joe


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## salgy (May 1, 2009)

Jovan said:


> I wish AE still made the Fairfax. I would own that shoe in burgundy for sure.





Bassist said:


> I was not familiar with this style, so I had to do an image search- WOW! What an absolutely STUNNING shoe!


although i am a _huge_ AE fan, this is a rare time i prefer another manufacturers offering... have you seen the Crockett & Jones Grenville?!?


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## Jovan (Mar 7, 2006)

Bassist said:


> I was not familiar with this style, so I had to do an image search- WOW! What an absolutely STUNNING shoe!
> 
> Joe


Quite. 



Bassist said:


> Do you know which last it's on?
> 
> Joe


I'll have to ask AE.


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