Alden Shoe Shop | 344 Madison Avenue

On a recent trip to New York City, I made sure to leave enough time to stop by the Alden Shoe Store on Madison Avenue (@44th street). I get so used to seeing the raw material on a daily basis that it's really great to see a room full of finished product from time to time. With burgundy, the loafer, and hand-sewn deck shoes enjoying a revival, the store on Madison is a viable option for choices of all three. They also had a nice stock of some of the browns and lighter colors - whiskey, cigar, and ravello.

Everyone should have at least one pair of really nice shoes - and they should take care of them. They don't have to be Aldens, and they don't have to be cordovan, but if they're made well you should have them forever, and you should wear them, a lot. If anyone has a square toed anything left in their closet, hopefully this will act as motivation to replace that style. Just in case, the contact info for the store can be found at the end of this post (and they accept phone orders).

I recently stumbled across a pair of really "vintage" Color #8 Shell Longwings - they'd been in a closet here at the factory for an indeterminable amount of time. There's one more exhibit here that makes the case for cordovan in a big way. See below.