# USA made sperrys



## firedancer (Jan 11, 2011)

So some A/O models are being made in the USA again. I'm pretty hard on boat shoes so The price point is a little steep IMO, but still.

https://10engines.blogspot.com/2012/04/sperry-topsider-made-in-brewster-maine.html?m=1


----------



## DFPyne (Mar 2, 2010)

The blog brings up a good point. I wonder if these are recraftable. Surprising that the price point is even higher then a pair of Rancourt Boat Shoes.


----------



## Topsider (Jul 9, 2005)

Rancourts come in widths other than medium (D), as well.


----------



## Taken Aback (Aug 3, 2009)

These were discussed in another thread recently (can't seem to find it atm). I believe the response was also that they were overpriced.


----------



## Topsider (Jul 9, 2005)

Taken Aback said:


> These were discussed in another thread recently (can't seem to find it atm). I believe the response was also that they were overpriced.


I think it was on another forum.


----------



## statboy (Sep 1, 2010)

Don't know if it helps, but you can get 25% off for a few more hours. I got them in my cart. I'm waiting to decide if they're worth it....I keep waiting.


----------



## statboy (Sep 1, 2010)

statboy said:


> Don't know if it helps, but you can get 25% off for a few more hours. I got them in my cart. I'm waiting to decide if they're worth it....I keep waiting.


Code FRIEND or FRIEND25 maybe.


----------



## Taken Aback (Aug 3, 2009)

Topsider said:


> I think it was on another forum.


Oops. 

Sperry code is FRIEND. Terms & expiration: https://askandyaboutclothes.com/community/showthread.php?117010-Sperry-Top-Sider-25-Off


----------



## Jovan (Mar 7, 2006)

Thanks for the code. I was disappointed in my Bean boat shoes, they were lesser quality than Sperry. I may just order another pair now. $60 and all.


----------



## hardline_42 (Jan 20, 2010)

Jovan said:


> Thanks for the code. I was disappointed in my Bean boat shoes, they were lesser quality than Sperry. I may just order another pair now. $60 and all.


Same here. The Casco Bay mocs have been the worst boat shoes I've ever owned. Sperry is a close second. If MIMEs (Made In MainE) are out of the question, I'd say step up to the Timberland 2-eye classics for better quality at a similar price.


----------



## Jovan (Mar 7, 2006)

Eh, Sperry were just fine for my needs.


----------



## hardline_42 (Jan 20, 2010)

Jovan said:


> Eh, Sperry were just fine for my needs.


No shame in sticking with what works!


----------



## Taken Aback (Aug 3, 2009)

No, just in overspending. Sahara and Navy A/O's commonly filter down to off-price chains for less than $40. Hopefully Jovan has uncommon tastes.


----------



## yen157 (Feb 16, 2012)

DFPyne said:


> I wonder if these are recraftable.


Are boat shoes typically recraftable? I've just assumed "no", but now I wonder.


----------



## bd79cc (Dec 20, 2006)

Thanks for posting, firedancer. I wouldn't have seen this otherwise!

This was an easy buy for me. I really like my Sperry Top-Siders, but have wanted a more carefully-made version made of better materials for a while now. Also, my current pair have, for lack of a more polite term, lots of character. 

Two items of note: (a) the 25% discount worked for me - price was $225.00, (b) normal ground shipping is free, so my total bill was. . . $225.00.


----------



## hardline_42 (Jan 20, 2010)

yen157 said:


> Are boat shoes typically recraftable? I've just assumed "no", but now I wonder.


They are. Typically the soles are affixed with a layer of glue and perimeter stitching. Some have a welt. It should be a relatively simple procedure for any cobbler.


----------



## hardline_42 (Jan 20, 2010)

bd79cc said:


> Thanks for posting, firedancer. I wouldn't have seen this otherwise!
> 
> This was an easy buy for me. I really like my Sperry Top-Siders, but have wanted a more carefully-made version made of better materials for a while now. Also, my current pair have, for lack of a more polite term, lots of character.
> 
> Two items of note: (a) the 25% discount worked for me - price was $225.00, (b) normal ground shipping is free, so my total bill was. . . $225.00.


Are they made of better materials? There's very little mention of materials except that the leather is U.S. sourced and it's hand stitched of "the finest materials." Please be sure to review them when you receive them. I'm curious to see how they stack up against the originals and other boat shoes in the same price range.


----------



## Jovan (Mar 7, 2006)

hardline_42 said:


> No shame in sticking with what works!


They're definitely better than the L.L. Bean. I unfortunately didn't take very good care of my last pair and wore them a little too much, which is why on year three the insole is cracking apart. I just ordered a pair of the AE SportsDry inserts (shoe trees are a bit much for unlined sport moccasins) so it will hopefully take care of any damaging moisture on this next pair.



Taken Aback said:


> No, just in overspending. Sahara and Navy A/O's commonly filter down to off-price chains for less than $40. Hopefully Jovan has uncommon tastes.


I just bought the Amaretto ones for $60 using the code. Supposedly they and the Sahara use better leather. I'll keep an eye out for the Navy so I can have a good rotation of casual shoes. Where have you seen them for that price?


----------



## Taken Aback (Aug 3, 2009)

DSW and Marshall's. Marshall's will toss out the box, though. More risk of a scuffed pair there unless they're recent arrivals.

Do you have Daffy's down in FL? If so, they get smatterings of Topsiders, but A/O's are not quite as common there than as at the above chains.

EDIT: Forget Daffy's. They only go as far as Philly.


----------



## Jovan (Mar 7, 2006)

There's a TJ Maxx and Ross here, that's it, and their offerings are usually not very good apart from the occasional RLP tie or shirt. I may have more luck once I move to the ABQ.


----------



## Taken Aback (Aug 3, 2009)

TJ Maxx doesn't carry men's shoes, while Marshall's _does_. Of course, that's my local experience, but employees have said it's chain-wide. I'm not sure about Ross; there's none here, but it's the kind of chain that might get them too.


----------



## eagle2250 (Mar 24, 2006)

Unless they drastically improved the footbed of the shoes, to enhance the bio-mecchanical support to ones feet and the overall comfort of the shoes, $300 or even with the discount applied and reduced to $225, made in the USA or not, they seem way over priced!


----------



## statboy (Sep 1, 2010)

I did it. Might've been stupid, but here we go!


----------



## C. Sharp (Dec 18, 2008)

My observation from looking at how products change over the years is that quality keeps going up in price. $225.00 Sperry's might be yesterday's normal Sperry's but they are close to the top of the heap now. Like any product, how much is it worth to have a product you are 100% happy with. If you wore them 225 times your happiness cost a dollar a wear, 450 times 50 cents ect. Price is always an individual deceision as is satisfaction that product brings.


----------



## DFPyne (Mar 2, 2010)

C. Sharp said:


> My observation from looking at how products change over the years is that quality keeps going up in price. $225.00 Sperry's might be yesterday's normal Sperry's but they are close to the top of the heap now. Like any product, how much is it worth to have a product you are 100% happy with. If you wore them 225 times your happiness cost a dollar a wear, 450 times 50 cents ect. Price is always an individual decision as is satisfaction that product brings.


That is if of course if you can get 225 wears out of these shoes. The short lifespan of Sperry's is what ultimately drove me to a competitor and it looks like while the leather may be improved it does not look like the sole is any different then the China models.

I never pulled the trigger on the "75th Anniversary Authentic Original Boat Shoe" the thicker sole always intrigued me. If that sole was offered on this new Made in the USA model the price would a little more justifiable, and IMHO would have played into the history of their original USA shoes a little stronger.

vs.


----------



## C. Sharp (Dec 18, 2008)

I bought the 75th AOs when J. Crew was giving them away awhile back, maybe a year or more. I wish I was keeping a wear log. I will say for the record that the leather on the model I have is nothing to right home about. On some level I am suggesting that longevity and appearance are a hard pair to find now days. Also how much is it worth to have a pair of shoes that look right out of the box. I am not so much advocating buying Sperry as saying buy something that makes one happy with no regrets. 
I am at the point were I will not buy another pair of Bean camp or Blucher mocs. Which is an odd feeling not having them since I do not think I have been without a pair over these past 24 years. Trip mentioned in an old post about having a next rock to jump to, I am not sure what that rock is right now for me. The whole loafer,boat shoe,camp moc and blucher moc market just seems difficult, frustrating and potentially costly to navigate right now.

QUOTE=DFPyne;1291465]That is if of course if you can get 225 wears out of these shoes. The short lifespan of Sperry's is what ultimately drove me to a competitor and it looks like while the leather may be improved it does not look like the sole is any different then the China models.

I never pulled the trigger on the "75th Anniversary Authentic Original Boat Shoe" the thicker sole always intrigued me. If that sole was offered on this new Made in the USA model the price would a little more justifiable, and IMHO would have played into the history of their original USA shoes a little stronger.

vs.







[/QUOTE]


----------



## Taken Aback (Aug 3, 2009)

Jovan, I recommend you sign up for DSW rewards (you can do it online). I just got yet another $10 off $10 coupon. If nothing else, I can walk out of the store with free shoe care products, or towards cedar shoe trees ($2 after coupon) if not Top-Siders. Even if you don't have one near, the code is usable online too (better deal in-store, though).

https://www.dsw.com/dsw_shoes/user/rewardsLanding.jsp


----------



## rwaldron (Jun 22, 2012)

Did anyone end up buying these?


----------



## godan (Feb 10, 2010)

FWIW, my new pair of Topsiders arrived today. Made in the Dominican Republic. They are not flimsy in the manner of Chinese Clarks desert boots, but like other Sperrys I have owned over the years, they are pretty lean. There is not much to them. The reason I continue to buy them is that they stretch to fit in the same sense that 501's shrink to fit.


----------



## At Law (Apr 15, 2008)

I have found Sperry to be of very low quality.
I even made the purchase of a pair of Gold Cups this year and although they are very comfortable with the deer skin lining, the leather is similar to a suede, which I find will not develop a nice patina with time like a good horween leather.
I strongly suggest Oak Street Bootmakers for a very fine boat shoe made of Horween leather in Chicago.


----------



## blue suede shoes (Mar 22, 2010)

Taken Aback said:


> DSW and Marshall's. Marshall's will toss out the box, though. More risk of a scuffed pair there unless they're recent arrivals.
> 
> Do you have Daffy's down in FL? If so, they get smatterings of Topsiders, but A/O's are not quite as common there than as at the above chains.
> 
> EDIT: Forget Daffy's. They only go as far as Philly.


Just for the record, Daffy's went out of business last year; yes, they even closed the store in Philly. I attended their going out of business sale, but the racks were picked clean by the time I got there.


----------



## Himself (Mar 2, 2011)

DFPyne said:


> I never pulled the trigger on the "75th Anniversary Authentic Original Boat Shoe" the thicker sole always intrigued me. If that sole was offered on this new Made in the USA model the price would a little more justifiable, and IMHO would have played into the history of their original USA shoes a little stronger.
> 
> vs.


That sole on the "original" re-issue, which Sperry has done several times, is same as the old khaki-colored Captain's Oxford. It's hard rubber like what you'd find on vintage bucks or saddles. In a boat shoe context it's too stiff and tends to crack.

I've had previous re-issues and wouldn't buy them again. If you wear them with socks in a "normal" shoe context they're OK, but stiff and crude and not particularly comfortable. If comfort and support is what you're looking for, go for better quality modern ones.


----------

