Park Avenue Derby (Men)

The tongue on these shoes is way too long, and is very hard – it digs painfully into the front part of your ankle! Also, the top part of the shoes (over your top of your foot) for some reason is extremely uncomfortable. After just one day, I had noticeable red marks in both areas after I took them off (attached). I’ve been wearing Delrey’s and Park Avenue’s (and other Allen Edmonds shoes) for almost 40 years, I’ve never had anything but a super comfortable experience. These are absolutely going back - worn or not. if you look at the picture, you can see how long it extended the tongue is and can see how it would dig into your ankle as you walk. I bought these because the company discontinued Delrey’s shoe that they’ve had for 40+ years!! They said this was their replacement. Terrible, terrible shoe - bring back the Delrey’s, or I may have to move on. It’s really sad, most people don’t know that this company was bought by a private equity firm several years ago, and ever since then, the quality control has really dropped. They used to make great shoes!

Honestly, I can't believe I'm leaving such a terrible review about an Allen Edmonds shoe. I own six pairs of AE shoes (the last ones were purchased over five years ago) and I've have never had an issue with any of them. And I should be clear, this review is not against Nordstrom. Nordstrom has been wonderful about this as always. This is about the Allen Edmonds Park Ave derby shoes. I've had to order them THREE TIMES. All three times I received shoes that have been damaged or defective. The shoes have had the same issue that some previous reviewers have called out. The shoe opening appears to be stretched and warped. When I put them on the sides bulge outward and look terrible. The most recent pair looks like they attempted to repair them because it has some cracking and creases like someone tried to bend it back in shape. I took this latest pair to an Allen Edmonds store to be checked out because I wanted their opinion and they agreed that they are damaged. One of the people there said he thought it was the way they were being packaged in the boxes. He checked their stock and even the pair they had in the store had one shoe that was deformed. He was going to notify their production department about the issue. Unfortunately, I'll be returning this third pair back to Nordstrom and probably buying from Allen Edmonds directly when they have an undamaged pair. They're going to notify me when they have a pair.