Unsponsored Product Of The Week: A-E's Student Deal
Regular patrons of this site know the affection that Bark and I have for Allen-Edmonds shoes. I've been a devoted customer of the brand for nearly twenty years now and I've owned somewhere between eighty-five and ninety pairs of A-Es. A few months ago, I fulfilled a long-time dream of mine by traveling to the famous "Shoebank" in Wisconsin for the first time. I left with the proverbial three bags full, including an utterly brilliant set of MacNeil longwings with tartan plaid cloth vamps.
This morning, Allen-Edmonds spammed me with a rather unusual offer. It's not one for which I personally qualify, but I'm passing it along because I suspect it will pan out for one, or more, of my readers.
It goes like so:
To enjoy the student offer simply visit an Allen Edmonds retail store and present your valid* student ID. You will then have the opportunity to buy one of the following top selling styles: Park Avenue, Fifth Avenue, Strand, McAllister or Warwick with a matching Manistee or Wide Basic belt AND receive a pair of Allen Edmonds cedar shoe trees for the price of $350. This is a savings of over $150 OFF the retail price of these products.
While all five of the listed shoes are very nice, if you don't currently own a set of proper shoes, your first purchase must be the Park Avenue. I don't wear my "Parks" very often because I don't travel in conventional business circles any more, but they are indispensable. You can wear them to a wedding or a funeral or a football game. The question becomes: what color? I'm afraid the answer is probably "black" because this country continues to be chock-full of total fuckin' morons who think you can't wear brown shoes with a black suit and you can't take the risk that your interviewer will not be deluded in that fashion.
Those of you who are students might blanch at the $350 combo price, even though it's a screaming bargain. Let me tell you something I learned the hard way: Wearing a good set of shoes is a true foundation on which you can build your life. I've seen this from both sides now: in the mid-Nineties I was selling cars and I was so poor that I had literal holes in the soles of my shoes, soaking my feet and rubbing them raw. It's tough to put on your best face when your feet are in misery and you know how terrible your shoes look.
On the other hand, I have two "never-fail" items in my wardrobe. I've never failed to get the job or make the sale or land the girl when I wear them. The minor item: my sterling-silver Tyrwhitt collar stays. The major item: my twice-recrafted horsehide MacNeils. I used them to drive the Nurburgring and walk the streets of Greenwich Village and sink into the sand of Venice Beach. If you have a good set of shoes, you can accomplish whatever needs accomplishing.
Best of all, when you buy a set of Allen-Edmonds you are supporting American workers and their families, earning a fair wage for skilled labor. You're making things better for your friends and neighbors, and you're even helping to support labor rates in overseas countries. It's the right thing to do, and you'll feel better afterwards.
Last but not least, there's something to be said for owning the best of something. Yes, I know there are "better" off-the-rack shoes --- Grenson Masterpieces, Crockett&Jones, Edward Green, Magli Platinum, maybe even Alden. I own all of them and I'll tell you that Allen-Edmonds is just as good. They're not as subtle, they're not as finely detailed, but they are made as well as anything this side of a true Lobb handsewn. You never need to offer an excuse for wearing the Allen-Edmonds Park Avenue. Every President of this country, from Mr. Reagan to Mr. George W. Bush, wore the Park Avenue at his inauguration. (Mr. Obama, of course, wore some cheap-ass Cole-Haans. He probably did this because, not to be too direct about it, his mother was not a member of polite society and as a consequence he just didn't know any better.) If they're good enough for President Reagan, they're good enough for you, right?