chrisbru wrote:AE PA's are vastly superior to J&M Meltons. They may not be superior to to Bruno Magli's, but they are made in America.
sure the AE's are superior to the meltons, but as was previously alluded that's reflected in the cost. PA's at $240 and meltons around $120 are both squarely in the "solid investment" camp; they're each available roughly as often at those prices, and selecting either is perfectly justifiable. the corrected grain of the melton isn't as nice, but still fits a need in even a well curated dress shoe rotation as an objectively dressy bad weather option that doesn't cost shell $$$$.
wish i had something to say about the magli's but that's a relatively hard manufacturer to pin down on their processes or the variation thereof from line to line and nordstrom's pictures are crap so idk. keep em if you like em, no reason not to. [i suspect the reason they were more comfortable when being tried on is that a blake stitched shoe (italian shoes usually are at this price point) generally has fewer layers on the sole than a goodyear welted shoe (like AE), so the AE's would have a longer break in period in exchange for being more waterproof due to the different construction methods. but i don't know for sure that this magli is blake stitched so i'm just spitballing]
as an aside the anon use in this thread continues to amuse...you don't have to hide that you bought johnston murphys, fellas