AE McAllisters or AE Strands

[k.dutton85]

I'm considering AE McAllisters in Dark Chilli or AE Strands in Cigar color.

I wear mostly slim tapered BR chinos and dark wash jeans to work but I also want to be able to wear these with a mid grey suit about 2 times per year. I may eventually get either a navy or Charcoal color suit as well. I also wear sport coat and jeans/slacks to church once a week.

Which option would you choose and why?

McAllister


Strand

[Galcobar]

Generally, formality calls for shoes darker than trousers; the greater the contrast when the shoes are lighter, the more attention you call to your shoes and yourself.

You could get away with either shoe for a navy suit, but I wouldn't pair either with charcoal. The colours are less than formal, and with the amount of pinking and broguing they're about as casual a design as balmoral oxfords can be (the wingtip making the McAllisters a little more casual). If you're planning to wear them with a suit I'd go with the slightly more formal and slightly darker Strand, but it largely depends on how you want to balance formality with flash.

[Spex]

As mentioned above, the McAllisters are slightly more casual, but is really a case of “6 of one, half-a-dozen of another”. I would go with whichever speaks to you.

Personally I’ve always meant to get a pair of McAllisters myself, but now that I see the Strand again after all these years (it felt like it was the must-have shoe on the SF AE thread several years ago as guys started to discover the brand) I do like them. Perhaps since they remind me of their boot version, the 5th Street, which I’ve worn to death over the past decade.

[Evenflow]

I would choose Strand, because they are simply awesome; but for your mostly more casual application, McAllister.

[armedferret]

Get both. Actually get multiples of both. The only way to be sure.

[tankerjohn]

I'm Team McAllister. With that much brogueing, I'd rather go wingtip than toe cap. Technically, I guess the McAllisters are more casual than the Strands. But in this day and age, in America...come on! For anything short of a tux, dress shoes are dress shoes. For colors, its hard to go wrong with dark brown. Personally, I think walnut looks better with navy and mid-gray, but would be harder to pull off with charcoal.

[k.dutton85]

Generally, formality calls for shoes darker than trousers; the greater the contrast when the shoes are lighter, the more attention you call to your shoes and yourself.

You could get away with either shoe for a navy suit, but I wouldn't pair either with charcoal. The colours are less than formal, and with the amount of pinking and broguing they're about as casual a design as balmoral oxfords can be (the wingtip making the McAllisters a little more casual). If you're planning to wear them with a suit I'd go with the slightly more formal and slightly darker Strand, but it largely depends on how you want to balance formality with flash.

Thanks for the input. I should have said I do have a AE black cap toe that I can use for gray, charcoal or navy items too.

[k.dutton85]

I'm Team McAllister. With that much brogueing, I'd rather go wingtip than toe cap. Technically, I guess the McAllisters are more casual than the Strands. But in this day and age, in America...come on! For anything short of a tux, dress shoes are dress shoes. For colors, its hard to go wrong with dark brown. Personally, I think walnut looks better with navy and mid-gray, but would be harder to pull off with charcoal.

Good point about a dress shoe being a dress shoe. Splitting hairs here but I suspect that is why I posted on this forum since people here know the minute differences that certain style shoes are for.

[k.dutton85]

Get both. Actually get multiples of both. The only way to be sure.

Eventually but I got to stick with one

[k.dutton85]

I would choose Strand, because they are simply awesome; but for your mostly more casual application, McAllister.

You nailed my dilemma. I find the Strand more attractive but think the McAllister probably works better with how I will wear it most of the time.

[tankerjohn]

You nailed my dilemma. I find the Strand more attractive but think the McAllister probably works better with how I will wear it most of the time.

Go with your gut, man. Get the Strands if you like them better. Even though the Strands have a toecap, they’re still fully brogued, which puts them on the informal end of the dress shoe scale.

[Galcobar]

You nailed my dilemma. I find the Strand more attractive but think the McAllister probably works better with how I will wear it most of the time.

If you've already got the formal option covered, then it's a matter of preference rather than function to choose between these two shoes. The difference in casualness is negligible even to the well-educated shoe connisouers. Go with the one that makes you smile more. And if wearing the Strands with jeans still feels a little too formal, switch up the laces (though frankly I'd say it's unnecessary).

[mebejoseph]

If you can only get one, reconsider your life and what brought you to this horrible place. Then get the McAllister because I like it better.

[armedferret]

If you can only get one, reconsider your life and what brought you to this horrible place. Then get the McAllister because I like it better.

just be careful which McAllister you get. Some are made with "bookbinder" leather which can't be conditioned as it has almost a plasticy coating on top of the leather. They WILL crack and nothing that can be done about it.

[srlclark]

Generally, formality calls for shoes darker than trousers; the greater the contrast when the shoes are lighter, the more attention you call to your shoes and yourself.

You could get away with either shoe for a navy suit, but I wouldn't pair either with charcoal. The colours are less than formal, and with the amount of pinking and broguing they're about as casual a design as balmoral oxfords can be (the wingtip making the McAllisters a little more casual). If you're planning to wear them with a suit I'd go with the slightly more formal and slightly darker Strand, but it largely depends on how you want to balance formality with flash.

I think that, given the OP's stated needs, they are more likely to be too formal than too informal - if anything, he could consider a suede Strandmok or something like that. Neither the Strand nor the McAllister is too informal to wear with a mid-grey suit or with a sport coat and jeans/slacks. And if he only wears the mid-grey suit twice a year, he's not likely to wear a charcoal suit very often should he eventually buy one. Worrying that shoes are too informal to wear twice a year rather than too formal to wear five days a week strikes me as a mistake. Sure, get the shoes to go with the charcoal suit eventually but don't prioritize them as much as all that. That way, you end up with shoes you almost never wear and, as a result, have to wear the pairs that are the right level of formality for your work place and general life too often. Anyway, he already has a black cap toe, which I imagine gets almost no use. (I've worn my black Fifth Avenues three times in the three and a half years I've owned them. Going forward, I doubt I'll even wear them that often).

armedferret I agree! Get both if possible.

OP - I agree with you that the Strands are marginally preferable. An attractive brogue design but not so all-encompassing that you can't enjoy the leather.