Allen Edmonds Cordovan Review: Park Avenue Cap-Toe Dress Shoes In Cordovan | Kirby Allison

Hi, I’m Kirby Allison, in today’s video, we’re going to review the Allen Edmonds Park Avenue in Cordovan.

Recognizing us as one of the leading authorities on luxury men’s dress shoes worldwide, Allen Edmonds has graciously agreed to grant us access to their entire collection of shoes to review for you on this YouTube Channel. They have merely loaned us the shoes, which we appreciate and return after the video is filmed, and have no financial relationship, or an affiliate partnership, whatsoever.

In this review series, we seek to review brands we admire and that we think are good at various price points for our viewers and then explain what we think is good about them. We will not select a brand to review if we think it is no good in the first place. There is plenty of that elsewhere, and it is easy to find on YouTube.

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BRAND OVERVIEW 0:53
Allen Edmonds is one of the few remaining “great American shoemakers,” still making their premium leather dress shoes here in the United States. Allen Edmonds makes an excellent Goodyear welted leather dress shoe that, if properly polished and resoled, can last a lifetime.

SHOE INTRODUCTION 1:45
The Park Avenues in Cordovan are very special shoes and made to a higher standard than Allen Edmond’s standard calfskin shoes. These retail for $695, which is a $270 premium over the same shoe made in calfskin. However, the price is totally substantiated by the cost of the premium materials used in this shoe.

DESIGN 2:34
The Allen Edmonds Park Avenue is a beautiful, elegant, traditional design. It features a three-piece pattern and construction (toe cap, vamp, and back quarters), with elegant single, double and triple-stitching that gives the shoe additional visual detail. The Park Avenue features a traditional, round toe shape for which Allen Edmonds is famous. The Park Avenue is further differentiated as one of only a couple styles with six-eyelets, which beautifully elongates the silhouette.

MATERIAL 4:47
All of Allen Edmond’s cordovan is sourced from Horween Leather in Chicago, the only cordovan leather tanning factory left in the western hemisphere. Horween’s name is synonymous with shell cordovan. On Allen Edmond’s cordovan shoes, both of the finest available in the world today. All of their cordovan shoes are exclusively made with JR Rendenbach oak-bark tanned leather outsoles and heels.

CONSTRUCTION 8:11
Allen Edmond is best-known for their full 360-degree Goodyear welted construction, which allows leather dress shoes to be easily resoled without compromising the integrity of the shoe. The welt is a thin strip of leather that is sewn to the insole. The outsole is then stitched to the welt. This allows the outsole to be pulled off and replaced without damaging the construction of the shoe.

AVAILABLE FINISHES 8:46
The Allen Edmond Park Avenue Cordovan Cap-Toe Oxford comes in three finishes: black, brown, and the iconic Horween cordovan color #8, which they call burgundy. You cannot go wrong with any of these finishes, and you couldn’t go wrong owning them all! But the cordovan color #8, or burgundy, is the iconic color most widely associated with cordovan leather.

SUMMARY AND ENDING 10:37
The Allen Edmonds Park Avenue in Cordovan is a truly iconic American-made shoe that is constructed with the highest quality materials available anywhere in the world. At $695 they are certainly an investment, but one well worth it.

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Hashtags: #KirbyAllison #AllenEdmonds #ShoeReview

[kirbyallison]

We want to thank Allen Edmonds for loaning us their entire collection of Park Avenue Dress Shoes to review and hope that you enjoy our first installment of a new series on in-depth shoe reviews on our channel. Do you have a pair of Allen Edmonds in Cordovan? Let us know.

In this review series, we seek to review brands we admire and and that we think are good at various price points for our viewers and then explain what we think is good about them. We will not select a brand to review if we think it is no good in the first place (many approach us). They have merely loaned us the shoes, which we appreciate and return after the video is filmed, and have no financial relationship, or affiliate partnership, whatsoever.

If you are looking for a review that trashes brands, this series is not for you. This series is for us to recommend what we think are great shoes all taken within the obvious context of the price point. There are many shoe brands that we are not able to recommend, and you will, subsequently, never find them on this channel. We are in the business of selling shoe polish, hangers, accessories for the well-dressed, which is how we fund our channel, not selling reviews.

[williamcoolidge]

Allen Edmonds is my favorite shoe brand. I own about 10 pairs. My black Park Avenue's are my workhorse pair. I love them! So classic. Timeless.

[cddcraig]

I really enjoy this channel, this sounds more like a sales pitch than a review. If everything is great i cant appreciate what is truly great. Listening to this, why would anyone buy bespoke? It cant be perfect.

[primaryification]

Mr. Kirby, I am wearing my first pair of Allen Edmonds. I made the jump into a pair of beautiful Park Avenue'a in black. There is a discernible feeling that comes from wearing such a shoe. I want to thank you for your insight and practical approach to fine footwear. You were instrumental in helping make the decision.

[DC]

Hello Kirby. Great video as usual. I would like to ask for some cream polish advice for a pair of Allen Edmonds oxbloods that I just purchased. Their new oxblood color is a lighter, somewhat washed out color (seen at 9:34, third shoe from the right), which I don't like as much. I would love to have them look closer to a dark burgundy (like the pair shown at 8:07). Do you think this could be achieved using the Bordeaux saphir cream polish? How about if I used black cream polish? Thank you so much for your time!

[JosephSpadafino]

Excited to hear about the new partnership reviewing AE shoes! In August I got my first pair (calfskin McCallister wingtips in bourbon), and I'm an AE convert for life. Next on my list are strands in walnut, fifth avenues in dark chili, and park aves in oxblood (although now the burgundy cordovan park aves might be where I go...or maybe cordovan Dalton wingtip boots!).

[JohnMooreVlogs]

Kirby, from a business owner and video creator, the fact that Allen Edmonds has given you access to their full catalogue is telling of the quality of your content. They seem to have a high level of brand integrity and they've trusted you with it. I've been tying my shoes with Berluti Knots ever since I saw your video on it. From one creator to another congratulations on your channel growth and best wishes going forward!

[markc]

Hi, Kirby. I have two questions about the Allen Edmonds shell cordovan shoes. First, is the color they list as "brown" for the Park Avenue different than the Strand? Second, I'm debating between between those two for a dark brown dress shoe that will mostly be worn with suits -- do you feel the Park Avenue would pair better? My initial inclination was that the Strand's broguing made it more casual, but seeing it in person I am not as sure. Would love your opinion. Thank you.

[mnj]

Thanks Kirby for doing everything from Allen Edmonds to Edward Green to Cleverley and what is in between. Doing very high end items exclusively can be surreal for most except a select few men, it’s cool but we can’t all live like 007 everyday of the week. I have AE, EG and in between. I like to hear about all of them.

[jeffbrogan]

I fully appreciate your enthusiasm and passion for these shoes. AE's are by far my favorite shoes

[psychmr]

Hello. When wet, and dried too quickly, does shell cordovan shrink such as does leather?

[JohnDotBomb]

Really looking forward to your reviews. I really hope that you discuss last styles if you do more AEs.

I love AE for their B width. I have 3 pairs now.

My first pair of quality dress shoes was a gift from my dad- Johnston and Murphy black captoes, the same kind he has worn to work for 30+ years. I know their 270 degree welt is now as high quality as AE, but I have a special place for them. I gave his old shoes a Presidential polish; he was so happy to see the vamp creases go away with the Dubbin conditioner.

[pwrks]

I walk a lot at work in my Dress shoes for about 10 hours per day, let’s call it about 6 hours of walking. I really like the look of shell cordovan, but do you think it will hope up to heavy use?

[Brian-dyvf]

Kirby, thanks for yet another amazing video. I would just like to add one piece of information: Horween is not the only Cordovan tannery in the western hemisphere, there is a tannery called Lis Royal, in Argentina, that is also producing this incredibly special leather.

[ianmedium]

Wonderful Kirby, the light brown version is stunning, I would love to see you do one of your wonderful high shine cap toe demonstrations on those, I have a feeling they will look stunning.

[thefacts]

Still standard single layered Redenbach sole? Or double layered? I know can customize for double sole, extra $100. But is it needed if it’s double layered standard? Currently $850. Added a 4th color for Cordovan, chili.

[Emmeaellea]

dear Kirby, you deserves a billion subscribers. Thank you so much for your fantastic videos

[chowychow]

I have 3 pairs of Aldens is shell and recently acquired a pair of Allen Edmonds MacNeils and will say they were super comfortable and I was pretty lucky with no quality issues even though i heard some stories online.
Kirby in your opinion why would someone choose a pair of Alden shell compared to AE?

[jeremyenconniere]

Hey Kirk, I wanted to ask how often do you condition your shoes with the renovateur? I wear two pairs of shoes on rotation 5 days a week

[ryanfyfe]

Kirby, at around the $700 price point, what would you suggest for the best value. Would you choose the Allen Edmonds Cordovans, or is there another line or company that you would recommend for quality and craftsmanship? (within a couple hundred dollars in either direction)