Alden’s history is a tale of persistence—of keeping at it and finding your niche. Charles Alden founded his shoe company in the 1884, when New England was the center of a booming American footwear industry. In the middle of the 19th century, the number of shoes made per capita in New England was five times the national average—cheaper transportation and factory manufacturing drove demand for consumer goods, like shoes, that previously might have been made by hand, locally. Americans wanted shoes like those Alden made—welted, leather shoes made to consistent standards.

The boom coincided with the invention of the Goodyear welt in 1869. Now considered a relatively painstaking, almost artisanal process, the Goodyear welt was initially a huge technological leap over hand-sewing shoe uppers to soles. Goodyear welts are sturdy and relatively waterproof; they also enable relatively straightforward replacement of a shoe’s sole once the leather wears out. Building a shoe with this process also has some aesthetic effects: a sole attached in this way will stick out at least a little bit; it can’t be trimmed ultra-close to the contour of the upper. Such construction is one of the reasons American shoes have a reputation as “gunboats”—solid and sturdy to the point of bulky.

Alden weathered the ups and downs of the American consumer economy in the first half of the 20th century much the same way as other American manufacturers. They survived the Great Depression, and made military boots when World War II made the military the market. As other manufacturers shuttered, though, Alden persevered. They made orthopedic footwear; they made police motorcycle boots. They continued to make high-quality business shoes. One by one, the makers of American shoes offshored their work (look at a pair of 50-year-old Florsheims—they’re amazing) and largely sacrificed quality in order to meet shoppers’ demand for lower (or at least, not growing) prices. Alden did not; Alden stayed in New England.

In the 2000s, when interest in brands with long histories and classic style picked up, Alden had plenty of both. And the brand wasn’t handcuffed to a particular style of shoe—Alden makes loafers, off-duty shoes, real dress shoes and boots. With over a hundred years of manufacturing experience, they were flexible with materials and designs—soft suede, classic calf and the tough, uniquely patinated horse rump leather known as shell cordovan. This flexibility made Alden a good candidate for small-run special make-ups for specific stores and designers, creating a demand congruent to the burgeoning sneakerhead market for specific, hard-to-find shoes. Soon, in addition to being found in sort of dusty, trad-leaning men’s shops, Aldens could be ordered from J.Crew or found alongside Common Projects at Need Supply.

Alden is an example of the make leading the aesthetic, rather than design determining how something is made.

All Alden shoes are made using that age-old Goodyear welt. You will always see a stitched strip of leather at the top outer edge of the sole on a pair of Aldens (there are variations—sometimes the stitching goes around the whole shoe and sometimes it stops at the front edge of the heel; and some Aldens have a reverse storm welt, which puts even more leather where the sole meets the upper). The welt seems like a small, shoe-nerd detail but it separates Aldens from shoes with other constructions, like Blake-stitched shoes or cheaper cemented shoes.

The company uses a number of lasts, the three-dimensional models on which an upper is shaped. Some are sleeker than others, some are broader or fuller. Overall Alden has a reputation for bulkier lasts, which have the added benefits of comfort (more room for your foot) and an overall larger silhouette (for that American-vs-European flavor), which is one of the reasons Alden is considered very versatile. Alden fans wear them with suits, with cuffed Levis redlines or with baggy Yohji Yamamoto trousers—they look at home with a lot of vibes.

405 Workboot (aka, the “Indy Boot”): So nicknamed because the design—a contrast-thread moccasin stitched, 5-eyelet-plus-speedhooks boot—was worn by Harrison Ford in the Indiana Jones movies. You can’t buy Indiana Jones’s intelligence, courage (or unquenchable thirst for other cultures’ artifacts) or even Ford’s earth-toned sex appeal, but you can buy his Alden boots.

Leisure Handsewn Loafer (aka LHS): A weejun/Penny loafer but for grownups, the Leisure Handsewn Loafer is the pinnacle of casual trad footwear. Purists want them in color shell cordovan (the 986 model), which will age with wear from oxblood with purple tones to a rich red brown.

Plain Toe Blucher: Among the most versatile classic shoe designs is the unadorned Plain Toe Blucher. Without stitching and broguing, it’s just a no-nonsense, well proportioned shoe. In brown, it’s a country walker, good with tan corduroys or indigo denim. In black it looks great with more modern, minimal fabrics.

Unlined Chukka: The American, more heavy-duty equivalent of a desert boot, the ankle height Unlined Chukka is a slightly more eccentric version of the Plain Toe Blucher; with a variety of colors and materials, this style has versatility that spans from weekend comfort, to dressy-casual.

Longwing Blucher: Alden makes a great version of the bog stomper-turned-American business shoe, the brogued wingtip. Alden’s broad welt and stocky last are good matches for the design. We also like Alden’s take on the ram’s head medallion (the decorative punching on the toe). Keep an eye out for the Alden-made Thom Browne/Brooks Brothers Black Fleece versions, which (in this writer’s opinion) look better than Browne’s main line shoes.

All shoe lasts fit a little different—that’s why you can be an 11 in Rick Owens Dunks but an 11.5 in adidas Sambas. Many a pair of Aldens has been ordered and returned because it didn’t fit quite right. Fortunately, Alden retailers and fans have built a wealth of information on how to size Alden’s shoes. According to Alden of Carmel:

Leydon: Narrower—wear your normal U.S. size

Plaza: Longer—narrower--wear your normal U.S. size

Aberdeen: Longer—narrower—wear your normal U.S. size

Grant: Slightly larger—wear normal size or size down half

Tremont: Fits large, size down half

Barrie: Fits large, size down half

Trubalance: Fits large, size down half

(Conventional wisdom also says to size down half for any styles using the Van last)

Alden of San Diego also has a handy chart that shows Alden lasts relative to one another, with sizing advice.