About three months ago, I was contacted by the brand relations coordinator at shoemaker Beckett Simonon, Adela Cardona Puerta, with a proposition: she wanted to give me a free pair of shoes because she was sure I’d love them and would sing their praises. After explaining my free product policy for Menswear Musings, she replied that of course, a fair and honest review is all they’d want me to write. And so, after some back and forth to determine my size and style preference, she put me on the list to receive a pair of their Durant Oxford brogue cap toe shoes in dark brown.1 Read on for my review, and if you’re ready to buy a pair, click here and use code MM20 for 20% off.
It was about two months’ wait from that point until their delivery to me at the beginning of January. Beckett Simonon carries no inventory, you see: once a month, they submit a mass order to their shoe making factories for only the shoe sales they’ve made. It’s part of what they say makes their shoes such a high value proposition. From their website: “Carrying inventory adds an extra layer of costs that raises the price you pay in various ways. Inventory occupies warehouse space which is added to the final cost structure. It also requires lots of upfront investment that has to be backed by high profit margins in order to be sustainable.” It’s a logical decision that makes sense to me (though I have to take their word for it at a certain level, as I’ve never tried operating a large scale shoe manufacturing business). Presumably the other aspects of their lower prices are using factories in parts of the world where a good living wage is nonetheless lower than here (all their products are made in Bogotá, Colombia); using full grain leather that, while very good, isn’t the top of the line; and selling direct to consumer instead of via wholesale channels.
But the business practices don’t matter at all if the product isn’t worth what they charge. I’m happy to report that indeed, these shoes are worth the asking price. I’ve waited about a month to write this review, wearing them twice a week or more to see how they break in over time. While I can’t comment on how well they’ll age after a decade of use, I am impressed by them after a month.
The workmanship is very clean (no random, stray stitches here or there—something I’ve found on other shoes in this price range). The leather quality seems really good—it’s full-grain leather (that is, it is not made using inferior leather skins that require a sanding to correct imperfections in the grain), in a beautiful dark brown with a slight amount of burnishing on the toe. Adela tells me it’s leather tanned in Hurlingham, Argentina. “We have an excellent relationship with a small family owned and run operation that has passed down the art of tanning hides for generations. They are amongst the most well-respected tanneries in the world,” she adds.
They’re Blake/Rapid-stitched, which means they can be resoled (though maybe not by a random local guy2). And the welt goes around the entire shoe, heel included (a 360-degree welt, as it’s called). That last bit can sometimes add a bit of bulk and rotundity to the overall sleekness of the shoe, but I think because the heel cup is fairly narrow on their last, these maintain a sleek heel.
The last shape is probably my favorite aspect of these shoes: not too pointy, but it tapers beautifully with a round tip—nothing against a slight chisel toe, but these look perfect to me for a quintessential closed-lacing dress shoe. Adela says they use the same last for all their dress shoes, with a different one for casual shoes.
Side story: A couple of years ago my brother bought a pair of Beckett Simonon shoes, and found the last on them to be ugly, not meeting his expectations. By comparison, he thought these were beautiful. So I’d recommend looking at the photos closely to make sure the last shape of the shoe you’re looking at looks good to you before ordering (though they accept returns, no questions asked).
As for their comfort: I’m extremely impressed. One of the things about leather dress shoes I try to impress on my friends is that they’ll last longer and look better if they spend enough to get full-grain leather with a Goodyear (or Blake/Rapid) welt so they can be resoled properly. But the problem is that out of the box, leather dress shoes tend to feel stiff. Of course, over time they soften and conform to your foot’s shape if they’re made with decent materials. But that out of the box feel can be a high barrier to entry for many who are used to sneakers. In response, some shoe makers make their insoles cushioned. The upside is immediate comfort; the downside is that sometimes, those insoles can make a shoe less comfortable once they lose their initial spring.
Beckett Simonon has a moderately padded insole. That, combined with a last that fits my foot shape very well (which may or may not be the case for everybody, of course), made these possibly the most comfortable leather shoes I’ve tried on. On days I wore them sitting at my desk as usual, they were perfectly comfortable. On days I wore them when I was on my feet for several hours, I still felt good about them (but of course they weren’t as comfortable as a pair of, say, sneakers). I’ve never tried on a pair of leather dress shoes as comfortable as sneakers for all day wear on hard flooring, however, so these are as good or better than any in my view.
Beckett Simonon quotes their prices using a somewhat gimmicky “suggested price”, which is slashed through, and their actual price posted next to it. Their shoes all sell for $199. Considering the others makers around this price out there—Johnston & Murphy, Meermin, Jack Erwin, Spier & Mackay’s new shoe offerings, Velasca Milano (and there are probably another half dozen I haven’t heard of yet)—I definitely endorse these as worth the price. Use code MM20 to get 20% off your order, and the price is even more worth it.
If you’re looking for a sleek leather dress shoe that’ll pair well with dress trousers, I definitely recommend the Durant style. They also look good with cotton dress trousers (which is why I picked them over the Dean cap-toe Oxfords, which is a slightly more conservative choice, one I’d get in black to wear with conservative navy and gray suits). They also make leather sneakers, bags and accessories, which I’d be keen to give a shot. Fellow menswear dude Jesse Burzminski has a favorable opinion of their weekend bag, which is something I’m definitely interested in as someone who makes regular 1-3 day trips.
So I can wholeheartedly recommend Beckett Simonon shoes for someone looking to get a good pair of leather dress shoes for $200 or less.
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1Technically, the style is not an Oxford, but an Adelaide, according to Vox Sartoria. ↩️
2Resoling Goodyear welted shoes is easy enough—I’ve gone to my local Milford, Ohio shop with fine results. But Blake/Rapid stitched shoe repair companies are a little less common in the U.S., as it’s a specific type of machine many places may not have. I recommend B. Nelson, which does very good work by mail. Three other shops recommended on Styleforum are Cobblestone Group in St. Louis, Macfarland’s in Florida, and Bedo’s in Virginia, all of which appear to do mail business.↩️
Thank you to Beckett Simonon for the shoes!
