Cordovan/ Alden/ Allen Edmonds

I like the dull shine of shell...it just draws some people in. I also like how it ripples instead of developing fine creases. I think fine creases are more likely to crack overtime than the shell ripples. I would pick either the full strap from Alden or the LHS over the Randolph. I have owned all 3, and the Aldens are much better aesthetically to my eye. The Randolph is clumsier and doesn't look as good after wear.

I'd like to make one more point, I'm wearing some black shell AE leeds (which I'd trade for Alden PTB's any day of the week, better aesthetically to me), and one day I noticed a scratch that I had made on the vamp from brushing against something hard. Today wearing them I'm noticing that the mark is almost impossible to see, I'm not sure calf would recover the same way, it's almost as if they've healed. The randolph is not an ugly shoe by any means and I think Crownship's pics are the best I've seen of that shoe, but having owned a pair in black shell, I just think the shape is less aesthetically proportioned than the alden, which has a small cutout in teh strap and a less bulbous toe.