Starter casual penny loafers under $400
I’ve been looking to get a pair of casual rubber sole loafers. I bought a pair of Paraboot Reims on sale a while back and am starting to realize they aren’t for me, mostly with the fit being too wide. I’m thinking I want to move in the direction of something still casual, but less chunky than the Paraboot. I mostly regret taking the plunge on them when I should have eased myself into loafers considering I have had issues with finding the right fit in the past. I usually wear things I can try in person like Blundstones, Birkenstocks, Red Wings, or most sneakers.
I was looking at brands like Morjas, but I’ve seen some conflicting opinions online - it looks like their leather either used to be, or is still bad, correct me if I’m wrong. I was also looking at brands like Meermin if going cheaper makes more sense too. I’m normally open to used options, but being able to return them if they don’t fit is probably the reasonable option for me. Again, I’m pretty new to loafers and am fairly inexperienced, so I’m sorry if this is a relatively vague question. I live in MN, so no suede.
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Can’t try them on in person but Thursday boot co has loafers (more moccasin style) with rubber soles
those are not loafers.
alden or rancourt second hand?
Meermin is good, I like mine from rancourt which are also in the price range
It might be worth starting out with something like weejuns so you can figure out your fit
I was looking at these too. I do have anxiety about fit
allen edmonds comes to mind, possibly bass weejunz as well
I live relatively close to an AE
that being said every company uses different lasts so that's a fun part of buying leather shoes!
I know AE is pretty spotty quality wise but I don’t feel bad going there just to get a fit
the latter (gh bass) might be useful because they also sell a lug sole moccasin that would help with the damp weather
I also am fine waiting until the next time a head to Chicago or something to try on more stuff
Yeah going to ae to get your brannock measured is worth a shot
I would not spend more than $200 on their loafers
I’m not against lug soles, but it would be kind of repeating the Reims style again
I would not buy anything at AE msrp for sure
Utility wise, lug soles make alot of sense for where I am
I’m not against ordering a couple sizing from some place like meermin and returning one or both
the bass larson is a little less chunky than the reims i think but like you said, the utility was the driving factor https://www.ghbass.com/products/baz1w007c0
I don’t know why, but something about the gh bass lugs just doesn’t look good to me
i think if you find an AE last that fits to go with that because they tend to be cheaper secondhand, otherwise meermin, bass and rancourt are all good options
I take a look through those 3. I’ll hit up AE first just to get an idea of fit
whatever you choose, find a cobbler to apply topy on the shoe you pick to preserve the sole
Part of me is open to something with laces as well like a boat shoe or something. Probably not a derby though
iirc all three brands mentioned sell boat shoes or ranger mocs (gh bass probably the most known)
ll bean would also be an option in that case
Sounds good. I think having a fit from AE will help too just because almost every brand uses them as a comparison point I’ve found
So I’ll pivot more towards used off that most likely
I’ll second a secondhand pair from Bass or similar, I got a very lightly used pair of Weejunz for ~$25 as my starter loafers to test out sizing and the style. Lots of availability, depending on how many specific features (lug sole, penny vs tassel vs other styles) it may require some patience but an good entry point IMO
could you elaborate on "test out sizing"? does that mean you find your correct size in Weejunz and then apply that same size to other brands of loafers? I would think since other brands use different lasts, the size might differ
Correct, moreso a low investment in the event they didn’t fit well since I got them online. I wouldn’t expect sizing to translate perfectly between different brands or even different lasts
I ended up getting my measurements at AE and ended up being a size 9 brannock, at least on their 97 last (Grayson).
I would’ve tried on more stuff but the salesman was being really annoying and I had to get out of there
In general it seems like that’s a half size bigger than I would’ve guessed that it would be a full size down from my sneaker size, so 8.5