Customer Reviews Allen Edmonds Carlyle

First of all, it is a great shoe, love the fit and looks amazing. However, the quality control is a bit a of letdown. I got two pairs in a row that couldn't keep, not because they weren't great, but due to defects that should have been caught way before it even made it into a box. We are talking about notches cut out in obvious places. It's a pity, great looking shoe but without outgoing quality control it's difficult to recommend unless you have the patience to ship multiple pairs back and forth or you live near a store so you can examine them before purchasing.

This is probably unique to my pair only, but here's my review. Great looking shoes initially out of the box. Once I started looking closer, I noticed the sole edging was finished with many non-rounded edges. Heel has an odd angle which appears the grinding and refinishing wasn't completed. As I purchased the black pair, it's pretty odd to see brown leather showing from the top in between the laces. Kills the appearance of the shoe from the top. I want to love these and feel it's not a design flaws but rather just an absence of quality and attention to detail I'd come to expect from AE.

I have two pairs of Carlyle Oxfords, one bought about 4 years ago in Walnut, the other bought about 4 months ago in Chili. Love the Walnut ones -- beautiful color, classic style, and great laces. Probably could have done wo/the Chili, but sometimes it's nice to switch from black or brown. Other than the color, there are some noticeable difference b/t the pairs. One, the Chili is narrower than the Walnut. Two, the laces on the Chili pair are absurdly long. Unless I inadvertently bought them w/the optional Bozo package, there is no reason for the ridiculous length. All in all, a good pair of shoes that meets the AE standard I've come to expect over the past decade. Not identical fit to the same model from years past, but close enough. If you do buy them, though, be prepared to buy replacement laces unless you're part of the 3-ring show.

Great looking and extremely comfortable but I only slightly rubbed the toe against the bottom of a table and a peice of leather chipped off. Never had a shoe chip like this before.

I bought these in the burgundy, which is beautiful with nice variations that goes with just about anything. But the support is spare throughout the shoe, making them uncomfortable if you end up walking a lot. But these are dress shoes with a slim silhouette and aren't really designed for a lot of walking! If I were purchasing another pair of dress shoes, I don't think I'd buy these again before trying on a bunch of others to possibly find better fit/support, but I don't regret the purchase. They are understated and elegant.

Bought a pair of Carlyle bourbon which is a really unique color. Looks great and is very comfortable. However the shoes seem to scratch extremely easily and after wearing it 3 times the inner side of the heel has numerous ugly scratches already. The color of the scratch is drastically different from the original and I'm not sure where I can get the proper material to do the repair.

This is my third pair of these shoes and the color is CONSISTENTLY wrong. I hadn't even worn them until today because I keep returning them because the color is not what I'm shown both at the store and online. I want the red of the dark chili and I keep getting brown. That's one thing, but it's another that just walking to my car and into my office has already caused unsightly creasing and scuffing. Feel like I really wasted my money here and I'm not happy about it. Of course, because of all the creasing from 2 minutes of walking, I doubt I can even return the shoes.

I bought these shoes a couple of weeks ago. Look great, but after wearing one time the bottoms sustained damage and gouged/dented in heels from gentle walking outdoors.

This is a one time incident. I have purchased four pairs and have never had a problem.

The Carlyle shoes is really a beautiful shoe, and I love the oxblood finish on the plain toe. However, after one or two wears, the left shoes creased terribly. The right shoe has just about the proper creasing one would expect from a full-grain leather shoe with a plain toe, but the left shoe really sticks out like a broken thumb when they're worn together. I don't know if the quality of the leather is different for each shoe or if they were just poorly constructed. I am really disappointed because I have two other pairs of Allen Edmonds shoes and was looking forward to a quality plain-toe Oxford.

While the shoes I received are very comfortable, the attention to detail and quality controls are severely lacking. Along the opening of the shoes, by the heels, are several unnatural cuts in the leather (one 3/4 of an inch wide, the others v-shaped incisions) where the knife seems to have slipped. The leather along the opening seems uneven in general. Along the eyelets, a trail of stitching is also incomplete. Would suggest that AE pay closer attention to the details here.

Very stiff and uncomfortable shoes. Actually causes blisters on foot. Extremely disappointed as I own other Allen Edmonds shoes and have never experienced this before.

I have several pairs of Allen Edmonds and have loved all of them. These shoes were the first I am displeased with. The leather near the toe has been "chipping" off after only a few wears.

Background on my dress shoe use: I generally rotate 2-3 pairs of shoes each 5 day work week and use shoe trees whenever possible to ensure the longevity of my shoes. Living in Minneapolis, my dress shoes are rarely used outside as most use the skyways to walk around the city. I shine my shoes on a bi weekly basis at a local shoe store / airports. I purchased two pairs of leather soled Carlyle plain-toe oxfords to add to my weekly of rotation of shoes around July of 2015 and have encountered a few problems with the construction of the shoe since my purchase: 1. After around three uses, one of the pairs of shoes developed significant creasing. I spoke to an Allen Edmonds store representative and they said the creasing all depended on the leather used to craft the shoe and may not be consistent from pair to pair. 2. Around 4 months in, the laces tore while I was tying them. I have purchased another pair of Allen Edmonds laces and have not had problems since. 3. After working for about a year (start date was Sept. 2015) The leather soles have worn through and a hole has developed in the bottom of my right shoe in one pair and my left shoe in the other pair. I do prefer Allen Edmonds to most shoe brands and this may be an a bad batch, but I am disappointed with the longevity and quality of the construction of my purchase. I own other pairs of Allen Edmonds and have not encountered the same problem.

I am an Allen edmonds fan, have many pairs, BUT, I ordered these and was not wowed, something was amiss, not sure what it was exactly.The shoes had exposed leather around the heel and the toe on both seemed out of shape. Had to return this pair.

This is a beautiful shoe that convinced me to buy my first pair of "premium" shoes. But after three different attempts to get the shoe right, I'm now realizing that perhaps the expensive price is just due to higher labor costs of producing in the US rather than the meticulous craftmanship I was hoping for at this price. The first pair I bought in the store had a missing bubble in the burnishing, which in hindsight I should've just overlooked, but the sales associate was helpful and reserved me a different pair at another store in town. I went to the other store, where their two pairs both puckered out oddly on the inseam when I would step. One pair puckered out less, so the salesman sent that home with me to test for a while at home. I wasn't happy with the puckering (which I've never experienced with previous shoes and was less in a different color I tried) so I took these back to the store and they offered to ship a fresh pair to where I'm staying. The shoes arrived, and the pucker is still there, and I've come to accept it. But now I'm also seeing that the leather at the seam on the left side of both shoes is not even - it appears to bulge out slightly - while the right sides have an even seam. I'm exasperated at this point and don't want to show up in the store again, and at the same time I live overseas and am leaving town so just need to take this pair with me and bite the cost. But it doesn't appear that the price of these shoes matches the quality and attention to detail you would expect - I've never encountered these issues with shoes that are half this price.

I recently purchased the Carlyle from the Anniversary Sale and was not impressed with the quality. This is my 5th pair of Allen Edmonds shoes and this may be my last pair. When the shoe arrived it had no cap of leather that covers the top of the shoe opening where your ankle is located. All my other pairs of AE shoes had this cap sewn on. I decided to take it back to the AE store where they didn't have the model in the store for a comparison. The sales associate agreed that there should have been a leather cap sewn on to the shoe. He returned the defective shoe and had another one sent to me. I just received the 2nd pair yesterday and noticed it had the same issue. I'm not sure if I will return the shoe as it is a long drive to the nearest store and I may end up with the same issue. Also, the pictures on the website show the cap sewn on. This is not the quality I expected from such a renowned manufacturer.

AE has an instant classic with such a beautifully designed shoe. The primary beef here is that the shoe hurt beyond words on my first wear day. No one in the history of man was more grateful to take these shoes off at the end of the work day. I am taking my time in breaking these in, wearing them for a few hours at a time upon each engagement. I am thankful to report that they are coming around. Without a doubt this shoe has been the most challenging of all the many versions of the AE brand I haves purchased over the years. I am not the first one to complain about this shoe for comfort and just plain sub-standard quality. AE fix this!!!

Out of the box, deep scar on tongue. Not gonna bother returning as it's hard to see when worn, so please do not leave automated-preset response saying you are sorry and like to help with exchange/refund.

Was not the same color as in picture although fit is perfect

I bought these and was very disappointed when they arrived because they had an odd discoloration that made them look like they had tiger stripes. It was so bad that I couldn't keep them. I called and spoke to someone and all they said was each one is hand painted and they will always vary. That would be fine as long as they looked like the photos without stripes!

the color looks low quality and cheap, the leather quality is bad

I have high expectations on the shoes given AE's reputation. I was happy when I first received them, as they fit me quite well. Unfortunately, after wearing them only twice outside, I realized a stitch on the back of the left shoes has come off. I couldn't put it back so I can only cross my fingers it won't unravel in time. Obviously it is too late to return them as I have already worn them. The fact that the stitch has come off so soon may reflect the overall quality of this model. It should have been better constructed given the price.