France
JM Weston -- The triple-soled hand-welted Chasse model is amazing and one of the true classic shoes available today. The other shoes aren't made to the same standards, but they are well-made machine-made welted shoes. I don't think that they're quite to EG standards, but they're not priced like EG, either. The Perry-designed Weston shoes are extremely distinctive. People either love them or hate them. I happen to love them.
Berluti -- I will admit that I feel betrayed by Berluti. Since I became aware of high-end shoes, Berluti's classic Club three-eyelet wholecut has been on my list of sublime RTW shoes. I wanted a pair terribly. Then Barney's started carrying Berluti, and I got to see the shoe in person. Talk about a let-down. There's just nothing special about the construction. Most Berluti shoes are Blake-constructed in the StefanoBi factory in Italy, and, frankly, you can get a better-constructed shoe for $700 less from Gravati. It just doesn't seem right.
Aubercy -- Aubercy's shoes typically are flashy, and I believe that most of the RTW is Blake-constructed in Italy. Nevertheless, I like them. To me, they succeed where Berluti's RTW fails. But that might be just me.
Altan -- Another maker that I know very little about. According to Ãtienne below, Altan's shoes are Blake-constructed, made in Italy, and fashion-forward, concentrating on extreme patination, a la Berluti and others.
Marc Guyot -- I know nothing whatever about the quality or construction methods of these shoes. You can see as much as I can from looking at the pictures on the website. According to Ãtienne below, these shoes are Blake-constructed and Italian-made.
Heschung -- Heschung is a specialist in rubber-soled Norwegian-constructed country shoes, although they make a full range of other styles, from driving mocs to dress shoes. For a time, they made some of JL Paris's more casual shoes, although I believe that this has been discontinued. I have very little experience with them, but I have been impressed with the shoes that I have seen, especially for the price. Heschung is based in Alsace; but I believe I have read that they are moving at least some of their production out of France, although to where I can't remember.
Corthay -- I believe that Corthay's initial foray into RTW shoes was composed of a line made for them in Spain. Now, I am told, their RTW shoes are made in a factory outside Paris. I don't know about the standards of production, but the pictures make them look very nice indeed.
Bexley -- In what must by now seem like a recurring theme, I don't know a bit about this maker. They offer good-looking Goodyear-welted shoes at good prices, but I have never seen them and know nothing of their quality.
Loding -- This maker seems to be similar to Bexley in that they offer good-looking Goodyear-welted shoes for low prices and that I know nothing about their quality.
Paraboot -- More well-priced, attractive Goodyear-welted shoes. Unlike the preceeding two makers, I do know a little bit about Paraboot: people whose opinions I trust tell me that these are well-made. That's about all I know.
Spain
Carmina (Albaladejo) -- Carmina is shell cordovan specialist, but instead of sticking with the standard deep burgundy Color 8, they like to branch into more exotic colors like green, blue, tomato red, and whiskey. They do make calfskin shoes, too. In the past, Carmina has suffered from inelegant lasts, although over the last two years or so, they have remedied that with the Philly 2 and the Rain. The shoes themselves are Goodyear-welted and may have a slightly lower quality of construction than the very best in the RTW shoe industry; however, they are good shoes that are typically offered at very good prices.
Yanko -- I know very little about Yanko. Others have commented that they make solid, if unexciting Goodyear-welted shoes, and that seems reasonable given the models shown on their website.
Pertini -- According to Ron Rider, currently the US agent for Martegani, formerly the manager of the shoe department at Franco's, an excellent independent men's store in Richmond, VA, Pertini shoes are the product of the Igmapa factory. Some of these shoes are Goodyear-welted, although it appears from the pictures on the website that not all of them are. I believe that Ron has said that these shoes offer good value for the money, but other than this statement and the pictures on the website, I know very little about them.
Central and Eastern Europe
Vass -- Vass gets a lot of discussion on the forums, mostly, I think, because Gabor Halmos and Andrew Harris, the faces of Vass in the United States, participate here. That attention is well-deserved. Vass shoes are handmade products made to extremely high standards, and they are works of art. They are among the finest RTW footwear that you can find anywhere, at any price. Their traditional Hungarian lasts are distinctive but not for everybody. Recently, though, they have branched into sleeker last shapes such as the P2 and especially the F and the U, both of the latter developed for the Roberto Ugolini RTW shoes sold in Japan and made by Vass. In case it's not obvious from the preceding, I think the world of Vass shoes and am conflicted about the possibilities of Gabor and Andrew having success in establishing the brand here in the United States only because I fear that it will mean increased prices. For a more extended discussion of Vass shoes, see my post here.
St. Crispin's -- St. Crispin's is based in Vienna, although both their bespoke shoes and their RTW shoes are made in Romania. From the descriptions on their website, these are handmade shoes; and I like the look of them very much. The last shapes are Central European, with high walls at the toe; but they're more elegant than, say, Vass's traditional lasts (not F, U, and P2 -- think Peter or 3636) or Dinkelacker's.
Heinrich Dinkelacker -- Aside from Vass, Dinkelacker makes the only legitimate RTW Budapesters with anything like a wide distribution. It's a German company, although I believe that the shoes are made in Humgary. They're not for the faint of heart or for those who want a sleek, minimizing shoe. They're big gunboats, and proud of it. I have never seen any in person, but I like the way they look. If only they were distributed in the US.
Bally -- Bally is a Swiss company, and if their website can be believed, they still maintain a factory in Caslano, Switzerland. Jim Pierce, the owner of the shoe department at Harold's in the Heights in Houston likes to reminisce about how years ago, Bally was the first company that he ordered spec shoes from. Sadly, Bally decided that its future was in becoming a fashion brand, and they degraded their quality and became unwilling to work with independent fiddlers like Jim. What I've seen on their website about their Scribe line of shoes is encouraging, however. The shoes look to be, well, solid, double-soled things; but all the verbiage about construction is right. I hope that this signals a return of Bally to the land of quality shoes.
United States
Alden -- Along with Allen-Edmonds, one of the two premier US makers of shoes. Alden is a shell cordovan specialist, and their shell cordovan shoes have something of a cult following in Japan and Germany. For the most part, aside from limited production spec shoes made for a few retailers like Alden of Carmel, Alden shoes are extremely conservative, both in design and last shape. The latter is frequently chunky and blob-like, particularly on the shell cordovan models. Alden makes both calfskin and shell cordovan shoes for Brooks Brothers, sold under the Brooks Brothers label.
Allen-Edmonds -- Allen-Edmonds is a much bigger company than Alden, and they're more willing to take risks and bring out new styles, some of which work and some of which are ugly, than is Alden. Their largeness is also the reason why they're easier to find and to find at a discount. I'm not going to get into the whole Alden vs. Allen-Edmonds debate except to say that I don't like Allen-Edmonds' use of 360-degree welting on all of their shoes and that I wish they didn't use uncovered insoles. There is no doubt that Allen-Edmonds makes good-quality shoes and that it would be difficult to go wrong spending $300 on a pair.
Johnston & Murphy -- I mention Johnston & Murphy here as a general lament about what has happened to US shoe companies. It used to be that J&M, Cole Haan, Stacey Adams (yes, Stacey Adams), Nettleton, and others joined with Alden and Allen-Edmonds to produce excellent welted footwear. One by one, all except Alden and Allen-Edmonds either shut down or shipped production overseas and went downmarket. J&M was the last holdout, but, alas, they couldn't resist forever. A few years ago, they shut down the factory in Tennessee and moved almost all production overseas (except for their Crown Aristocraft line, which continue to be made in the US; I can't say whether they are made in Tennessee or at another US facility). It's a shame, really. If you can find any of the NOS (New Old Stock) J&M Handmades around in your size, snap them up. They will never be made again.
