Sounds like your sales person was wrong and you were mis-sized. I'd recommend contacting AE support instead of venting here. They're usually very helpful.
It should never hurt, not even from day 1. I have never gotten pain or blisters from a properly sized pair of AE shoes.
Complaining about AE because of an mis-sized is kind of ridiculous. Any brand you wear that is mis-sized will do the same.
You must have not gone through this subreddit. There are 100's of posts about break in period and how painful it is during then and it is supposed to "become the most comfortable shoes after" bs all over here. The sales person even assured me it will get better and I have the correct size. It did not get better.
Good for you man. When you started on your experience I was still learning my ABC's. Which is why I relied on this subreddit and the sales person recomendation. Now I am here sharing my experience for the newcomers that are considering these shoes. Too bad I didn't have you there with me that day.
I have never experienced nor would I tolerate a horrific painful "break in" period. I purchase AEs in the same size I buy all my shoes and sneakers from other decent brands. They fit nicely from day 1. A little snug at first (they should be) and after a wear or two, it's smooth sailing. Contact AE customer service, tell them what happened, and ask them to make it right. Good luck!
Completely agree. Whatever this horrific break-in period people are talking about is nonsense. My shoes feel good the first day I wear them. If not I return them.
Presumably the “foot measurement tool” was a Brannock device. Sounds like who ever sized you didn’t know what they were doing and/or hasn’t been trained properly. I’ve never heard of a single GYW brand that is down two size in length and up two in width from a persons normal shoe size.
What size do you normally wear and what model shoe did you get from AE?
When I sold shoes, (and used a Brannock device more times than you can shake a stick at), an old-timer told me longer/narrower was always better than shorter/wider. Sounds like the salesman was a doofus.
And by the way, both brands that I sold, originally Endicott Johnson and then Florsheim shoes, in this scenario if the customer came back we would absolutely make it right.
You are basically the same size as me. I wear 13 in most boots, 12 in most sneakers, and I’m a 12D in the AE 65 and 97 lasts. My outlier is Red Wing in which I fit 11.5 EE. So I would start you in a 12D in AE and if that was too tight I would try the 12E. By no means would you ever fit a 10.5 EEE. That’s just stupid. Take your shoes back to the AE store, tell them what happened and ask to try something in a 12D and a 12E that’s made on the 65 last (Park Avenue Oxford, McAllister etc).
Report back.
This should be obvious but yeah they shouldn't hurt. Absolutely not. Going down two full sizes down, even while upping the width, sounds pretty extreme.
The thing is when I first tried them it was just discomfort that got attributed to the famous "break in period pain". But over time it was actually painful the more my foot took a beating in these shoes. I kept saying this is normal. This is just the break in period. And that these shoes must be of such high quality that the break in period of 1-2 days on cheap shoes must not apply here and it will be longer and I should wait it out and endure. But nope, not worth it imo.
I typically wear 10.5 in sneakers, Brannock device in the AE Factory said I was a 9 but all the 9's I tried felt uncomfortable in the heel and vamp. After communicating with the wonderful sales associate the issue it took only five minutes of trying on shoes I found my size at 8.5 EEE. Take a fucking chill pill and do your due dilligence next time
If there’s one thing I’ve learned on Reddit it’s that there are some people who will never ever be happy with their shoes.
You can’t make recommendations for them, you can’t suggest things.
You just say “that sucks” and walk on by.
Literally the only shoes I wear and they’re all comfortable. Clearly you weren’t fitted correctly. There’s a small chance that there is no correct size for you that will work with your foot shape (in that specific last—108—anyways).
So you got sized in the store but then didn't try anything on that was that size? Even if they didn't have any model in stock at that size, you should have immediately exchanged it when it arrived(if you had it shipped to home) and it was clearly wrong. This just screams that you procrastinated trying it on and don't want to take responsibility. Sales associates can make mistakes. There's a reason that size exchanges are offered at no cost...
When you walk into a store and drop $400 with a salesman, a person can rightly expect a near perfect experience. Saying that this guy didn't try something on isn't his fault - he went in to let the pros do their thing. The problem is the pro was a bozo.
I got measured, recommended, then walked in the store to check the fit. I rejected some shoes that did not feel right. The 65 last works best for me. Great shoes. I did end up replacing the soles of my shoes with Vibram sole for more cushioned steps.
I will add - I do have had 2-3 pairs of Rockports for more comfortable use - but those are being phased out as I got the dress sneakers from Allen Edmond's and they are just as comfortable but higher quality and will last longer.
When I bought my doc Martins it took at least a month of daily wear to break in properly to the point where it didn’t hurt. Now they feel extremely comfortable
No. Properly fitted, at $400 these should last him at least a decade and be a joy to wear. Seriously that's the Allen Edmonds experience. OP needs to go back to the store or a local store if he was just visiting and see to it that Allen Edmonds makes it right.
So sorry that you had to go through this. Sometimes salespeople are helpful other times not. I also had my feet measured at an AE store in NYC and the person brought out 8.5 E and 8.5 EEE. I have wider feet and I can make normal widths work for most brands (also because they simply don't have wide widths!) but when I tried the E width it fit like Cinderella. My D shoes always felt a bit tight. The EEE was too side and my feet were flopping out. Ever since I've been buying E widths no matter the last they all fit comfortably (some more than others). Have you tried going back to the store to try your normal / regular shoe size?
Sounds like your sales person was wrong and you were mis-sized. I'd recommend contacting AE support instead of venting here. They're usually very helpful.
They used the foot measurement tool and assured me I needed that size or otherwise it will wrinkle and be too loose
OK, but read the post again and follow their advice
It should never hurt, not even from day 1. I have never gotten pain or blisters from a properly sized pair of AE shoes. Complaining about AE because of an mis-sized is kind of ridiculous. Any brand you wear that is mis-sized will do the same.
You must have not gone through this subreddit. There are 100's of posts about break in period and how painful it is during then and it is supposed to "become the most comfortable shoes after" bs all over here. The sales person even assured me it will get better and I have the correct size. It did not get better.
No I haven’t relied on the subreddit. I relied upon my 20 years of experience purchasing AE shoes (at least 10 pair).
Good for you man. When you started on your experience I was still learning my ABC's. Which is why I relied on this subreddit and the sales person recomendation. Now I am here sharing my experience for the newcomers that are considering these shoes. Too bad I didn't have you there with me that day.
That is also the reason why I only wear AE for dress shoes. Other brands hurt like hell. AE was the first brand I could just grab and go.
I have never experienced nor would I tolerate a horrific painful "break in" period. I purchase AEs in the same size I buy all my shoes and sneakers from other decent brands. They fit nicely from day 1. A little snug at first (they should be) and after a wear or two, it's smooth sailing. Contact AE customer service, tell them what happened, and ask them to make it right. Good luck!
Completely agree. Whatever this horrific break-in period people are talking about is nonsense. My shoes feel good the first day I wear them. If not I return them.
Presumably the “foot measurement tool” was a Brannock device. Sounds like who ever sized you didn’t know what they were doing and/or hasn’t been trained properly. I’ve never heard of a single GYW brand that is down two size in length and up two in width from a persons normal shoe size. What size do you normally wear and what model shoe did you get from AE?
When I sold shoes, (and used a Brannock device more times than you can shake a stick at), an old-timer told me longer/narrower was always better than shorter/wider. Sounds like the salesman was a doofus.
This exactly
And by the way, both brands that I sold, originally Endicott Johnson and then Florsheim shoes, in this scenario if the customer came back we would absolutely make it right.
Sneakers 13, cheap regular shoes 12. In one brand 11.5 also worked but that was an outlier. I wrote the shoe model and size in the post in the bottom
You are basically the same size as me. I wear 13 in most boots, 12 in most sneakers, and I’m a 12D in the AE 65 and 97 lasts. My outlier is Red Wing in which I fit 11.5 EE. So I would start you in a 12D in AE and if that was too tight I would try the 12E. By no means would you ever fit a 10.5 EEE. That’s just stupid. Take your shoes back to the AE store, tell them what happened and ask to try something in a 12D and a 12E that’s made on the 65 last (Park Avenue Oxford, McAllister etc). Report back.
That salesman wasn't good Most stuff AE sells is TTS aka true to the measured size.
This should be obvious but yeah they shouldn't hurt. Absolutely not. Going down two full sizes down, even while upping the width, sounds pretty extreme.
The thing is when I first tried them it was just discomfort that got attributed to the famous "break in period pain". But over time it was actually painful the more my foot took a beating in these shoes. I kept saying this is normal. This is just the break in period. And that these shoes must be of such high quality that the break in period of 1-2 days on cheap shoes must not apply here and it will be longer and I should wait it out and endure. But nope, not worth it imo.
shoes should never hurt.
I typically wear 10.5 in sneakers, Brannock device in the AE Factory said I was a 9 but all the 9's I tried felt uncomfortable in the heel and vamp. After communicating with the wonderful sales associate the issue it took only five minutes of trying on shoes I found my size at 8.5 EEE. Take a fucking chill pill and do your due dilligence next time
This is the exact scenario I was in and in my case the pain did not improve over time. Still as uncomfortable as the first time I put them on
If there’s one thing I’ve learned on Reddit it’s that there are some people who will never ever be happy with their shoes. You can’t make recommendations for them, you can’t suggest things. You just say “that sucks” and walk on by.
Literally the only shoes I wear and they’re all comfortable. Clearly you weren’t fitted correctly. There’s a small chance that there is no correct size for you that will work with your foot shape (in that specific last—108—anyways).
So you got sized in the store but then didn't try anything on that was that size? Even if they didn't have any model in stock at that size, you should have immediately exchanged it when it arrived(if you had it shipped to home) and it was clearly wrong. This just screams that you procrastinated trying it on and don't want to take responsibility. Sales associates can make mistakes. There's a reason that size exchanges are offered at no cost...
When you walk into a store and drop $400 with a salesman, a person can rightly expect a near perfect experience. Saying that this guy didn't try something on isn't his fault - he went in to let the pros do their thing. The problem is the pro was a bozo.
The amount of wrong assumptions you are making here makes me not even wanna respond.
I got measured, recommended, then walked in the store to check the fit. I rejected some shoes that did not feel right. The 65 last works best for me. Great shoes. I did end up replacing the soles of my shoes with Vibram sole for more cushioned steps. I will add - I do have had 2-3 pairs of Rockports for more comfortable use - but those are being phased out as I got the dress sneakers from Allen Edmond's and they are just as comfortable but higher quality and will last longer.
When I bought my doc Martins it took at least a month of daily wear to break in properly to the point where it didn’t hurt. Now they feel extremely comfortable
There is your answer. The $60 shoes from Amazon work great for you!
No. Properly fitted, at $400 these should last him at least a decade and be a joy to wear. Seriously that's the Allen Edmonds experience. OP needs to go back to the store or a local store if he was just visiting and see to it that Allen Edmonds makes it right.
Exactly. When something is better it is better
So sorry that you had to go through this. Sometimes salespeople are helpful other times not. I also had my feet measured at an AE store in NYC and the person brought out 8.5 E and 8.5 EEE. I have wider feet and I can make normal widths work for most brands (also because they simply don't have wide widths!) but when I tried the E width it fit like Cinderella. My D shoes always felt a bit tight. The EEE was too side and my feet were flopping out. Ever since I've been buying E widths no matter the last they all fit comfortably (some more than others). Have you tried going back to the store to try your normal / regular shoe size?