The Alden Shoe Company Custom Bootmakers Since 1884

A long time ago the Alden Shoe Company decided that it is important to create handsome shoes of great comfort and quality. Since 1884, they have designed and manufactured classic gentlemen's footwear that represents New England's tradition of old-school, custom bootmaking at its finest. Alden crafts their shoes today as they did a century ago, carefully hardworking the finest selections of premium calfskins, luxurious suedes, and genuine shell cordovan with painstaking attention to detail. What Makes Alden Shoes So Special? 1. Classic patterns, crafted with extraordinary attention to detail. Made on our exclusive lasts, designed for comfort and refined appearance. 2. Upper leather selected from the top grades of the finest tanneries in the world. Rich, aniline calfskins, luxurious calf and kid suedes, and genuine shell cordovans. Hand stained and polished to the classic patina that is the hallmark of the custom bookmaker’s art. 3. Heavy, natural leather insole of pure vegetable tannage. Unsurpassed for breathable comfort and long wear, it assumes over time the contours of your foot shape giving a truly custom quality to the fit. Beneath the insole is a layer of natural cork, providing additional resilience and insulation. 4. Every Alden New England shoe has a full leather lining chosen from our special stock of supple glove linings and smooth, glazed kip linings. 5. Oak tanned leather bends are cut into outsoles at our factory for maximum control of quality. Specially treated for durable wear, then patiently burnished with carnauba waxes to a fine luster. 6. Genuine Goodyear welt construction. Top quality leather welting is security stitched through the upper to the insole rib. On models requiring the clean appearance of a close heel trim the welt runs from the heel forward. For other styles, such as brogues, where the solid look of an extended heel trim is appropriate the welt is stitched all around the shoe. 7. Every Alden New England shoe carries a tempered steel shank, precisely contoured and tripled ribbed for extra strength. Truly the backbone of a fine welt shoe, the shank provides the proper support and shape so necessary when your day involves much walking and time on your feet. 8. Long wearing rubber dovetail heels with leather inserts. Solid brass slugging gives secure attachment yet allows for easy rebuilding.

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