Best penny loafers $300-500?
Looking to decide on a natural color loafers for casual wear.
https://oakstreetbootmakers.com/beefroll-penny-loafer-natural-chromexcel-leather-sole-with-dovetail-toplift
https://www.rancourtandcompany.com/collections/loafers/products/beefroll-penny-loafers-natural-chromexcel
https://www.grantstoneshoes.com/collections/loafers/products/traveler-penny-dune-cxl
Any other brands I should consider as well? Feel free to go above budget.
Would like to hear some thoughts on comfort and construction.
Oak Street Bootmakers
Beefroll Penny Loafer - Natural Chromexcel
Genuine Handsewn Construction. Hand-Rolled Gullwing Saddle. Horween® Chromexcel® Leather. Leather Sole, Stacked Leather Heel with Dovetail Toplift. Unlined Form-Fitting Inner. Waxed Handsewn Thread. Tone-On-Tone Stitching.
Rancourt & Co.
Beefroll Penny Loafers - Natural Chromexcel
The Beefroll Penny Loafer is our most iconic style. Cut from unlined Horween Chromexcel it doesn't get any more uniquely American than this. Chromexcel is the flagship leather from the iconic Horween Tannery in Chicago, IL. Chromexcel is impregnated with a proprietary blend of natural oils and waxes, this special tanna
Grant Stone
Traveler Penny Dune Chromexcel
Our penny loafer was created with two things in mind: versatility and comfort. It's the ultimate shoe for travel, given the ability to be paired with a sport coat or t-shirt and most anything in between. We find ourselves wearing this shoe year round—sockless with shorts/lightweight fabrics in the summer and with wool
38 Replies
cough alden pennys in snuff suede ... out of the budget but if you know a size fits you perfectly (after trying on in store) you can find open box new or like new within the budget. But for any loafers you definitely gotta try em on in store
I'd also say Alden LHS is the best option (although as pointed out technically out of budget). You could probably find a used pair or 2nds for under $500. Of the choices you listed I'd probably go with the Raincourts.
They’re all about equally comfortable and constructed well. Picks the ones with the style you like the most!
They first question you have to answer is the leather you want and the second question is the style.
If you want natural chromexcel, I think you’ve captured the pairs out there. Alden has done a natural cxl but they are hard to find these days.
If you want beefrolls, you’ve covered the main contenders but I’d take a look at quoddy too. Beefrolls are great but if you go with natural cxl you’ll be limited to pretty casual fits.
If you don’t have to have beefrolls, there are a ton of options out there. Imo, Alden color 8 shell LHS are probably the most versatile out there in terms of dressing up or down (expect to pay 200-350 for a used pair on eBay).
If you want something more casual, I’d go with Alden’s snuff suede LHS from eBay for 200-300.
If new is a must, I’d take a look at what Horatio and Sid Mashburn have (big fan of Sid’s looks but can’t comment on the quality). Astorflex also has some cool loafer options but style wise I prefer Sid.
I love beefrolls, and I love Rancourts. Great build, age well, fit comfortably. If you know your size you can find them surprisingly cheap 2nd hand.
I’ve tried multiple pairs of modern Quoddys and I find them impossibly narrow. I don’t wear a nonstandard width in any shoe but Quoddys hurt. I do have one older pair that fit like Rancourts though.
Quddy does a lot more womens shoes than Rancourt. I wonder if thats what you ran into bc I've found quoddy and rancourt to be similar in terms of fit
I’ve read that they’re supposed to be the same size wise, and it seems like that was the case at some point, but when buying the same size penny loafer from each the Rancourt fits great out of box - the Quoddy pair I gave up trying to wear because it has never become comfortable (I tried emailing them a couple times about the stretching service they offer and never received a response).
what stores can I try on these brands? It would be preferable to buying multiple sizes online and having to return them.
Alden has a pretty comprehensive list of retailers: http://www.aldenshoe.com/DrawStoreSearch.aspx?PageID=3
Depends on which brand. Generally, 1) first-party stores if they exist (which even for relatively mainstream companies like allen edmonds are not super common, but major metro areas often have one); 2) second-party shoe stores dedicated to shoes -- but of course some are dedicated to much more casual shoes, so you need ones that are dedicated to or have large sections for dress shoes; 3) mall stores, anywhere on the macys to saks spectrum, if that makes sense, they all have some amount of dress shoes you can try on.
The important thing to note is that often a store will not have the exact shoe you want - especially mall stores, they tend to only stock a few kinds from a big brand. However, that's hopefully okay, you are likely to find a shoe in the same last and material or at least the same last, to find what works. Like for example, I went to the store, no snuff suede indy boots, but they did have tan suede indy boots which obviously fit the same. Or (eg) last 65 for allen edmonds, same last in same size means same fit more or less, especially if it's the same leather (calf, suede, etc.) So as long as you're looking for something reasonably popular you can test fit equivalent-fit shoes and write down the details (size, last.) Plus do a proper brannock measurement when you're there.
Some shoes and boots are pretty friendly to getting the fit more-or-less good, some are less friendly. IME loafers are very un friendly to getting an imperfect fit. I can eyeball a lot of oxfords, bluchers, and boots, but I can't really eyeball loafers, they have to fit exactly right and for that I go into a store.
How well does suede last if cared for? Those do look great and I'd definitely shell out for them if I can buy-it-for-life.
Forever. Suede needs minimal care - just brush them with a horse hair brush after wearing and they’ll last years/decades. You can get suede soaking wet with no issues.
No shoes are truly buy-it-for-life as a general rule, unless you wear them infrequently enough. Shoes get beat up really hard, harder than anything you wear. With that said, usually what fails first is the sole, by far. Which is why good footwear is re-soleable. High quality suede will last a long, long time, as long as you 1) take modest care of it and 2) don't do decidedly un-city things with it like use it to go traisping through bogs. In city life, that also means 3) try not to have it just absolutely dragged though salt and ice puddles and so forth. A bit of water won't really hurt it, but enough exposure to the environment will eventually.
I've seen plenty of suede boots treated hard that are on their 4th sole, where the leather is still totally respectable. Nobody really treats loafers like boots though so from that perspective I wouldn't really anticipate issues with good quality leather. Soles (the whole stack under your foot) first, other stitching second, in order of failure, I'd estimate.
Noted. I live in some of the least walkable cities in the US so these are office/restaurant/travel shoes. No issues there.
Yeah if you walk a lot on carpet and sit in restaurants and such I'd expect them to last a decade plus between resoles, and you might get buried in em if your feet don't start to require orthotics when you're old ;)
Forever, even with minimal care
https://burk.blog/posts/suede-rant/
Suede is NOT Delicate
Myth: suede is delicate.
I don’t know how the myth got started, it’s entirely false. Real suede is an incredibly durable leather. It doesn’t show surface scratches or stains very much. It can get literally soaked and bounce right back. It’s incredibly easy to care for; it’s receptive to neglect and papering.
Oak Street Bootmakers +7yrs of wear
...
ordered, excited to try them on soon!
:)
Just got them. Fit is almost right? toe box good, ball of foot is snug, heel is slipping. I think I'll go down half a size. 10.5D ->10E.
How bad is the heel slip?
2-3 inches? whole heel pretty much about to come out
and that's with socks on
Hmmmm that may not be fixable with heel pads, yeah. Would probably want input from @ll.beansandrice🫘 and/or @LeisurelyLoafing for any solutions. This is the price of buying loafers online .......
Do you mean your heel comes out that far? Suede LHS are tough because the heels can stretch out. I’d say try down .5 and then decide
2-3 inches of slip, yeah. i'm fairly confident a half size down will work. 10 would be the smallest i've ever gone for a shoe
Don’t sweat it - sizes are so different across brands. Go with what feels right and don’t focus on the number
You do want some heel slip but your foot shouldn’t be flopping out of the shoe
That’s the good stuff!
I just noticed this. Seems like a pretty significant defect
If you don’t notice it on-foot my vote is to keep them. They’re pretty far behind on producing these bc of the handsewn moc stitch
LOL that's a pretty funny defect. Okay, honestly though, if you took two days to notice it.... yeah so for Alden right now you're basically stuck between a rock and a hard place. You can either accept poor QC that doesn't affect function and is hard to notice, and swallow being mad at the issue given the super high cost of the shoes, or you can return them for an exchange and then possibly have to wait ages. You may also be able to work out a deal where Alden re-soles just the heel on their own dime, as they do run a resole program, or potentially pays ~$50 or whatever for a local cobbler to do the work. Would suggest talking to your supplier/store to ask about options.
Yeah, I'm still pretty new to this so I've been weighing the pros and cons. 10E doesn't seem to be available anywhere at the moment.
I'll see if Alden can resole the heel.
A wide size isn’t going to be easy to find yeah
im over my initial panic. I think I can live with it even if I can't get it fixed. Just surprised I got a defect from a reputed grail brand.
It’s quite common honestly. There’s a lot of effort and cost that goes into many other parts of the shoes. And volume is quite low. It is really frustrating tho, I feel you
I try to think about it as tho you’ll have them for a very long time and this will just be one of many sets of heels the shoes will have!
Thank you for your message. Please contact Shoe Mart, they will assist you with the repair. We are sorry about this.huh, shoemart does repairs?
Yes you can send them in for that, please use the return lable we sent along and make the note on the label stating you'd like to have them repaired and sent back and that you'd like the heels to be made even. My owners will see this note when they come in and make the repair for you and ship them back out.oh cool, ig they do
Perfect!
Finally got them back.
Shoemart didn't really do the repairs, they just forwarded them to Alden 
about 4-5 weeks. Shoemart didn't notify me of any ETA or shipment. They just appeared on my doorstop one day.
Just gonna mention that for anyone searching for info in the future.
about 4-5 weeks. Shoemart didn't notify me of any ETA or shipment. They just appeared on my doorstop one day.
Just gonna mention that for anyone searching for info in the future.Went on a weekend trip to LA and walked around downtown in them. So comfortable.
