For my second pair of Allen Edmonds, I went with the rebellious little brother of the Strand, more commonly known as the Rogue.

On their website they call it an "oxford", but it is, in a technical sense, a "blucher", so I will refer to it as such.

I picked these up last January during the factory seconds sale, so I got them for about half price as normal, which is a pretty fantastic deal. To be honest I would have rather gotten the Strand or McAllister, but those were sold out in my size so this was the next best thing.

And, in retrospect, these were a good choice. Since they are indeed bluchers, they fit nicely into a formality gap that existed in my wardrobe, as I had my Park Aves to anchor the upper end of the formality spectrum and my desert boots to fill in the casual side. These rest nicely in the middle, equally comfortable with dress pants as they are with jeans and chinos.

Not pictured: Crocs. Just say no.

Description

The Rogue is very similar to the Strand in that they are both cap-toed and brogued, with some subtle differences. The most obvious being that it is indeed a blucher and not an oxford (indicated by the eyelet tab being stitched on to the upper, rather than the tongue being stitched underneath as in an oxford).

The Rogue features a different broguing pattern than the Strand, with alternating large and small holes, whereas the Strand mostly features medium and small holes in comparison.

It also features large triangular edges in the places where the cap-toe and heel are sewn onto the upper, adding to its casual persona.

Fashioned on the 201 last, this gives the shoe a slightly shorter appearance than shoes crafted on the 65 last (such as the Strand and Park Ave). For my foot, I think this works quite well, but definitely get sized for the right fit (even if you've already gotten sized for a pair of Allen Edmonds on a different last).

As with many other Allen Edmonds shoes, the Rogue is constructed with a full-grain calfskin leather upper that is goodyear welted onto a leather sole. This adds robustness to the shoes and also allows them to be recrafted, a valuable service offered by Allen Edmonds.

The Rogue is available in several colors, and I picked mine up in walnut, which is a really nice medium brown color. It's light enough to stand out and make a statement, but reserved enough that it still looks classy. In my opinion one should not get these in black, as black is a formal color that should be reserved for more formal shoes like the Park Ave oxford. For pretty much any brogued shoe I think you should branch out with one of the many shades of brown, it adds liveliness to an outfit.

In short, the Rogue is a less formal version of the Strand, which in my mind makes it perfect for business-casual attire, which accounts for 90% of the times I wear dress shoes. I think you could definitely still rock them with a suit for a more casual look than dress oxfords would provide.

Hobbies include stamp collecting and staring longingly into the sunset

Pros

• Construction: As with my Park Aves, these shoes are very well made and feel extremely solid, especially when compared to my cheaper dress shoes. To emphasize this, mine are "factory seconds", which basically means they were rejected by the quality assurance people at Allen Edmonds, and I only noticed one small blemish on the side stitching, showing that Allen Edmonds rejects are still better than 99% of the dress shoes you will see people wearing.
• Price: While still expensive by the standards of many, and while technically at the same price point of the Park Ave and Strand, these can usually be picked up on sale as I did. You just have to be patient and wait for deals to come around.
• Look/Design: As with most pairs of Allen Edmonds, these shoes are a pretty classic design that is not trendy and therefore will not go out of style in a year, which is good because they will hopefully last for much longer than that. While they are a bit edgier than some of the other similar shoes, they still offer a nice conservative look that is great for the office or a night out.

Cons

• Wrinkling: I've had the same problem (if you consider it a problem) with my Park Aves (although it has become less noticeable since I changed the way I shine them), but my shoes did wrinkle in the upper between the cap and the eyelets almost immediately after I first wore them. Now, as The Shoe Snob writes in this really informative post, wrinkling is not necessarily the sign of bad leather, and can in fact be a sign of good leather. It seems to have more to do with how the shoe fits in the upper area above the foot, and since my feet seem to be shallow I tend to have some room up there, which could be a reason my shoes tend to crease. In any case, I don't mind it too much. Do be sure to get a proper fitting, which I didn't really do since I bought these online, but the last is different so they may fit differently than some of the more traditional Allen Edmonds shoes.
• Shine (or lack thereof): I shine these using the same method as my Park Aves, but can never get these to have quite the luster of the Park Aves. This could just be because the Park Aves I have are black and therefore offer a higher contrast than medium brown, making a shine more noticeable, or it could just be that these shoes aren't meant to shine as much. Since the cap toe is mostly brogued, you shouldn't expect a high shine in that area anyway, since a fair amount of the surface is recessed. I can usually get a good shine on the heel, however.
• Comfort: As with my Park Aves (and pretty much any Allen Edmonds dress shoe), these shoes have a leather sole, which can feel uncomfortable if you are used to wearing shoes with padded soles. I've been meaning to add an insert to mine (which may have helped with the wrinkling problem had I done it sooner), but for the most part they get more comfortable the more you wear them and let them mold to your feet. Thicker socks help too.

Care Notes

As with any pair of calfskin full-grain leather shoes, these should be conditioned and shined regularly for maximum lifespan. How regularly depends on how often you wear them, how long you wear them, what sort of conditions you wear them in, and how lazy you are. If you wear them mostly to the office and don't get them wet or dirty, then shining once every 3-6 wears should be good enough. Since I wear mine once to twice a week this equates to shining once every 2-3 weeks. And remember, try not to wear them multiple days in a row, they need to rest. Use shoe trees, too.

My polishing method:

The way I condition and shine my shoes is based on videos I have watched from Real Men Real Style and The Shoe Snob. It's time consuming but I've gotten some pretty fantastic shines with it.

It goes something like this (let the shoes dry between each step, 5-20 minutes):

• Clean the shoes by brushing followed by gentle dabbing with a damp cloth (I also use a damp toothbrush to clean the area when the upper is stitched onto the sole)
• Condition the shoes with leather conditioner (I use the Allen Edmonds brand)
• Apply a shoe cream (I used a brand I got at the grocery store but it left a few streaks on the shoe so I'll probably go with the Allen Edmonds brand from now on)
• Apply polish (no water, single layer) (I use Allen Edmonds carnauba wax in brown for my walnut Rogues. They recommend using the neutral color polish for walnut, but in my experience the brown color matches the walnut exactly, so it works for me. May slightly darken the shoe over time, but I don't really care).
• Brush the shoes vigorously to remove excess polish and give a slight luster
• To the cap toe and heel, apply polish by first putting a drop of water on the desired area, followed by an aggressive polishing with a soft cloth (I use an old t-shirt). Repeat this step several times until a mirror shine forms (it helps to breathe heavily onto the shoe before applying polish, as this melts some of the wax and lets the polish sink in).
• Apply edge dressing to the outside of the sole (I frequently leave out this step because I'm lazy)

Conclusion

The Rogue is something of a dark horse shoe offered by Allen Edmonds, not getting quite as much love as the Park Ave or Strand, but it is definitely a contender for any wardrobe. As I said before, it fits a nice level of formality that makes it a versatile choice. They are a great way to class up a pair of jeans or chinos, or add some spice to conservative wool trousers. Definitely great as a second or third pair of dress shoes, once you have the more formal bases covered and are looking to add variety. I've had mine for about 9 months now and have worn them about twice a week on average with no complaints, so hopefully they will continue to last. I recommend getting an Allen Edmonds belt in the matching color of the shoe for a really sharp look.