Shoes that look better with age...

[Tarmac]

the regular Indys are really an inferior level compared to most Aldens. They are orthopedic construction with cheap cloth lining and rubber outsole. Look on ebay for vintage Tru-balance aldens and you will see what I am referring to. The higher price for the premium Aldens makes sense.

[moykky]

^ ^ By the way, does anybody know if that is just to cut expenses or does it have anything to do with making them "authentic" like they were made back in the days? I know synthetic rubber was something new and fancy in the beginning of 20th century.

[Supawyde]

Trickers Monkey Boots Japan Only.

[amlai]

^ ^ By the way, does anybody know if that is just to cut expenses or does it have anything to do with making them "authentic" like they were made back in the days? I know synthetic rubber was something new and fancy in the beginning of 20th century.

My understanding is that the Alden 405 has remained essentially unchanged from the original design and is built to the Foot Balance specification. As stated above, the Foot Balance specification is Alden's orthopedic shoe line and as such is not made to their dress shoe standard (Alden New England). The Foot Balance shoes as I understand are simply less expensive, requiring less skill and care to manufacture.

[barwag]

Trickers Monkey Boots Japan Only.

i saw those in their factory shop yesterday, in suede though.

[GregNYC]

Tarmac and moykky - One thing I know about the current Indies that makes them less-then-old-skool. Greg at Eddie's Shoe Repair told me that the Indies have *pressed paper* for the heel layer between the rubber and midsole. Premium Indies will have leather there.

So the cheapest way to make them vintage-like is to get them re-soled with leather sole+rubber half-sole, or full leather sole. I haven't seen any vintage (early post-1977) Indies, but I wonder if they had speedhooks or all eyelets????

[tmadd]

Tarmac and moykky - One thing I know about the current Indies that makes them less-then-old-skool. Greg at Eddie's Shoe Repair told me that the Indies have *pressed paper* for the heel layer between the rubber and midsole. Premium Indies will have leather there.

So the cheapest way to make them vintage-like is to get them re-soled with leather sole+rubber half-sole, or full leather sole. I haven't seen any vintage (early post-1977) Indies, but I wonder if they had speedhooks or all eyelets????

I would be very interested in seeing older 405s...does anyone know when Alden first started making them?

[GregNYC]

I would be very interested in seeing older 405s...does anyone know when Alden first started making them?

I was in the NYC Alden shop when the owner Ralph called up one of the Tarlow family. Art, I think. I'd asked Ralph to find out when the shoes were first issued. So Ralph asked Art the question. Art said that he himself designed them, and it was in 1978....

[braid]

I recieved my Tricker's Burford's in the mail today. Oh my, they are truly tres-magnifique! I'll post lots of pics tomorrow night.

btw, Greg, I don't believe we've seen pics of your whites with the paws yet. Were you able to straighten out the color on the soles?

[fre-co]

supawyde: very fucking nice indeed!

barwag: Did you go to northampton and see the trickers or do you mean the jermyn street shop? Also what size were the monkey boots you saw, do they have stock? Sorry for the questions but I've been after some of those......

Braidkid: glad you like them, looking forward to the pictures.

[fre-co]

I was browsing the alden of carmel site and came across these wonderful boots....

Calf leather wingtip, barrie last.

I wonder how this might compare to (my favorite of the brogue boots) the C&J sky?

[GregNYC]

btw, Greg, I don't believe we've seen pics of your whites with the paws yet. Were you able to straighten out the color on the soles?

You're right - no photos yet - I've been busy on a seminar I'm conducting on Buddhism and postmodernism. But I should get the photos done this weekend, and the boots do look a lot better. I think I'll eventually send them to Eddie's, but they look pretty good for now.

[butters]

I bought these after reading this thread. I went into my local Alden dealer planning on buying some indys but got these instead because they were on sale.

[tmadd]

Those look pretty sweet, what is the lowdown on them?

I bought these after reading this thread. I went into my local Alden dealer planning on buying some indys but got these instead because they were on sale.

[butters]

oops, suppose i could have described them.

They are from Foot-So-Port, I think it is called the supreme as that is what they say on the bottom but I cannot seem to find them on their website. They have been worn for about a month.

[Tarmac]

shoulda got da indys

[la-vvoc]

just curious....do indys look good with slimmer fitting jeans and stacking (like flathead f310/3001s)? I tend to see jeans with larger hems and rolled hems than slim stacked fit...opinions??

[partytaco]

mcqueen would not approve of your "stacking".

just curious....do indys look good with slimmer fitting jeans and stacking (like flathead f310/3001s)? I tend to see jeans with larger hems and rolled hems than slim stacked fit...opinions??

[edmond]

mcqueen would not approve of your "stacking".

i second this 66666666666666666666666

[WhiteShark]

Tarmac and moykky - One thing I know about the current Indies that makes them less-then-old-skool. Greg at Eddie's Shoe Repair told me that the Indies have *pressed paper* for the heel layer between the rubber and midsole. Premium Indies will have leather there.

So the cheapest way to make them vintage-like is to get them re-soled with leather sole+rubber half-sole, or full leather sole. I haven't seen any vintage (early post-1977) Indies, but I wonder if they had speedhooks or all eyelets????

If i remember correctly this is how it went down....

The 405 alden shoe pattern has been around since alden started making shoes. Sometieme in the 30-40's they stopped producing the boot. Then in the 70's they started making the shoe again.

At that same time, Harrison ford was working as a carpenter for Gerorge lucas(thats how he ended up becoming Han solo), and he was wearing the 405 as his workboot, thats how it evuntally ended up becoming the indy boot, becuase ford demanded that he use the alden, even though the costume designer wanted redwings. Ford said the aldens were period accurate, comofortamble and good looking, and the good part was he allredy had 4 pairs. So they disregarded deborah noodleman (costume designer of raiders of the lost ark) and harrison ended up wearing a pair of his shoes in raiders. (1981)

Here is a picture of a pair of alden boots from 1975

these belong to a member of the IndyGear.com forum. He went to an alden trunk show and asked if they had any indy's in stock, and the salesman said the only pair he had was an old sample pair. And it was this pair from 1975. There was even an article inside the shoe box with the date 1975 on it, talking about the indy boot. Its pretty much exactly the same as today, the only diffrence is the color.

Adam

[amlai]

^ They looks like mine I got from ebay about 2 months ago. The heels looks different and I think they are an older model. Maybe I am wrong.

This, from the indygear.com page, is my favorite Indy color. Looks perfectly vintage, without shading into flat orange or brown. I'm sure the tanning and dying and year of creation had a lot to do with the color, since they have looked brick-red or oragne the last few years. I haven't been able to replicate this nice tone by using polish.... The sole looks different now too, no longer black (unless that was a resole)

Tarmac and moykky - One thing I know about the current Indies that makes them less-then-old-skool. Greg at Eddie's Shoe Repair told me that the Indies have *pressed paper* for the heel layer between the rubber and midsole. Premium Indies will have leather there.

It seems that the one thing that has been changing on the 405 is the heel and possibly the sole. In the earlier editions of the 405 (1970s vintage or so), the heel appears to only have 2 layers on top of the neoprene. Looks to me that both the layer just on top of the neoprene and the rubber sole used to be thicker and there didn't used to be any pressed paper in between. You can see this in WhiteShark's pictures as well.

[GregNYC]

It seems that the one thing that has been changing on the 405 is the heel and possibly the sole. In the earlier editions of the 405 (1970s vintage or so), the heel appears to only have 2 layers on top of the neoprene. Looks to me that both the layer just on top of the neoprene and the rubber sole used to be thicker and there didn't used to be any pressed paper in between. You can see this in WhiteShark's pictures as well.

Yeah, the earlier models looked to have rubber layers where the pressed paper is now.

White Shark - Thanks for the info. I like the 405's much more now! I don't know what Alden's Art Tarlow or Ralph were talking about - maybe they had forgotten the older generation's 405s. I'm not sure which Red Wing model Deborah Noodleman had in mind (shouldn't have been the 875, since they are post-WWII 50's design), but I agree with Harrison Ford - the 405 always looked like something from the early part of the century, except for the fact that the earlier boots were usually leather soled. It didn't really make sense for something with a moc-toe and an ortho last/heel and a conservative look to be designed for the first time in the 70's. Especially considering the styles in the 70's. In the early 70s I was wearing platform wingtip pimp shoes, brogues with 1-inch soles and 3-inch heels!!

[la-vvoc]

mcqueen would not approve of your "stacking".

i really dont wanna roll my jeans cause im working on the stacking fades lol....

thats a picture of fre$cos shoes with stacking, not too bad? id love to see a full shot though.

[Guest mattes]

here are more pics of my vintage alden indy:

Inside label is different from WhiteShark's photos and the soles are the same.

and the soles are the same.

[riff]

I really like the look of the vintage 405's - thanks for posting!

So many Aldens, so little time... Well, I've added to my growing collection... . A big thanks to Ryan for his Paris proxy service! These are the captoe black cordovan "navy workboots", on the modified last, from Anatomica. This last, compared to the Truebalance last, seems to fit narrower, and longer. the 7.5 C/E corresponds well to my 8B/D Indys.

Some shots:

[braid]

really nice boots riff.

Here are my Tricker Burford's I recieved yesterday. To me, the color is the best part of this boot, although my girlfriend likes to call them orange doc martins (eeek). I love the simplistic style of the boot and it goes well with just about anything. I got them on sale from pediwear and they arrived within a week of my order. They were on sale for 165 pounds shipped which is a steal as they seem to go for double that on the US market if you can find them.

I'm not sure what to do with the soles. I'm thinking of leaving them and learn to slip and slide. I almost wiped out a couple times already today.

Now on to the pics...

[WhiteShark]

Holy crap.

I've never seen that before, and I'm an alden shoe picture junkie.

I'm going to email the factory about it...

[riff]

The Burfords look great Braidkid! I've always loved the wide, well define welt on the Trickers. Orange Docs????? Blasphemy!! Hear you about the leather sole though... I've been having the same problem with the navy workboots, but don't want to put anything on them just yet...

White Shark, seems like some retailers can make special orders from Alden that are unique to their stores. Was just by accident that I came across these navy workboots, selling at Anatomica in Paris. They also have a plain toe version, and I believe both come in either black or cordovan color.

Do an Alden search on Rakuten, and you'll find all kinds of amazing models that have never been seen in north america

[amlai]

Tom just let me know about something he and LeatherSoul Hawaii are doing. They're having a contest for the best picture of yourself wearing an Indy boot (any variation.) Winner gets a pair of the "Ultimate Indy." I would think that someone here on SuFu has got to be able to win this contest.

Details in the link below:

http://www.leathersoulhawaii.com/2008/02/17/contest-show-us-your-indys/

[WhiteShark]

NICE!

That would be me!

I am going to win this...

riff,

somehow my post got pushed down...

I guess I should have added I was talking about the

logo inside the heel of the vintage Indy's.

That's a Decal I've never seen anywhere on any alden shoes.