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Literally every shoe that I have bought in the past 10 years has been made in the USA: Allen Edmonds dress shoes, Red Wing (Heritage series) work boots, New Ba

Literally every shoe that I have bought in the past 10 years has been made in the USA: Allen Edmonds dress shoes, Red Wing (Heritage series) work boots, New Balance (USA 990 series) running shoes, Rainbow (USA series) flip-flops. These are all high quality, well made, durable products that cover all my needs and are a better value for me than cheap imported products.

SkyMarshal 5y ago
Indeed. I've been wearing a pair of Keen trail boots from their "American Built" line since ~2015, and they're still going strong.
acabal 5y ago
FYI Allen Edmonds no longer makes all of their shoes in the US; since 2006 parts of the shoe, and sometimes the whole shoe, are made in the Dominican Republic. They were also recently bought by a larger shoe conglomerate so IMHO the writing's on the wall for their MiUSA approach.
pkaye 5y ago
I really like the New Balance 990. I have the same opinion as you. It costs a bit more but it is well made and lasts much longer. I hope they continue to make it.
- Aloha 5y ago
  You might look at the shoes from SAS. They're also US made.
wyager 5y ago
There’s also a decent market for European-made shoes - I just picked up some leather/suede Spanish imports from J Fitzpatrick in NY at the per-pair price of a “high-end” Nike sneaker made of plastic in China. Solovair makes boots in the UK in the old doc martens facilities (doc martens are in Vietnam now IIRC).
- andreskytt 5y ago
  The doc has two product streams: uk-made and foreign. These appear to be completely different as the same size of the same model fits me when uk-made and is woeful when not.
folkhack 5y ago
> Rainbow (USA series) flip-flops I will never buy another pair of flip-flops. So comfortable and the durability is so good I'm only on my second pair after 15 years of very consistent use. I literally run the treads out. Breaking them in takes a solid month which is just getting your foot imprinted into the cork... but any initial discomfort is 100% worth it, and minimal in my experience. There's also a very good warranty but I haven't personally used it.
makeitdouble 5y ago
> These days, 99% of shoes sold in the U.S. are imported, many of them from China, Vietnam and Indonesia. So you’re part of that 1%, congratulations.
- Aloha 5y ago
  I buy clothing and shoes mostly made for "red" america - overalls, boots, outdoor wear, everything but shirts I'm usually able to find US Made. I'm a big guy, so outside of these categories, finding stuff in "size fat" is hard. Round House overalls and jeans, Oklahoma. (Really great quality, lightweight denim, great for hot weather.) Justin/Tony Lama boots, Fort Worth and El Paso, TX. Socks from Cabellas/Bass Pro. I go out of my way to buy American, but these goods don't cost much (if any) more than normal items.
  - makeitdouble 5y ago
    These are all nice and warm anecdotes, but the thrust of the article is how the vast majority of the US market shoes rely on external sources. Sure there are still people finding and loving US made shoes, there’s 1% of them according to the article, which in absolute number is a pretty big number of people (around 3 million people ?) All these 3 million people coming out of the woodwork to tell their stories feel a bit like explaining how much their town has a nice neighborhood when commenting on nationwide mass incarceration. Sure, good for them, but I’m not sure what we should take away from that.
    - Aloha 5y ago
      We don't make mass market shoes in the US anymore, they're all specialty products now. I'm trying to support US manufacturing where I can, but as far as I can tell, the choice to outsource was made to increase margins, not because of rising costs.
      - makeitdouble 5y ago
        As a mass market shoe consumer, I don't see local manufacturers competing on pure quality per se. Shoe making has already become a more technical field, and there are products that the Nikes of the world can make that local makers can't without relying on remote highly specialized factories. For instance some of Nike's flyknit series are way more comfortable, light and flexible that what local makers have to offer. It costs more churning through pairs, and going the built to order way adds to the cost, so it's not a cheap option. Margins might be huge for Nike, but I don't think they are much higher than for instance leather shoes retailed with 4 figure prices. Local makers will go for "hand crafted", "built to last" shoes, there are as you say specialty shoes, and some luxury level local brands keeping classic designs. But I don't see it as forgoing margins, and more going for niches that don't need huge R&D development for manufacturing at scale.
scoopertrooper 5y ago
> These are all high quality, well made, durable products that cover all my needs and are a better value for me than cheap imported products. This is an outdated stereotype. Asian manufacturers have well and truly moved up the value chain and currently produce many high quality products. Yes you can still buy cheap low quality shoes produced in Asia, but you can also buy extremely high quality durable shoes if you so desire.
- asguy 5y ago
  I’m interested: what’s a high quality durable shoe brand from Asia that you would recommend for a US buyer?
  - scoopertrooper 5y ago
    I'm not a shoe aficionado, but Blundstone seems to be a highly regarded brand, which outsources its production to various countries throughout Asia.
    - rlonstein 5y ago
      > Blundstone seems to be a highly regarded brand, which outsources its production to various countries throughout Asia. I live in my Blunnies, I wear them daily but the quality has varied on the 500's over time, generally for the worse. I bought a pair in Australia circa 2002. I had them resoled by NuShoe but eventually the leather and elastic panels wore out. The two pairs I currently have were made in Vietnam, both about ten years old. One pair had the sole crumble and disintegrate, the other is fine. On both the leather is holding up but the elastic panels are shot. My son had a pair of Super 550's made in China that lasted a year before the leather gave up on one toe and a leak formed at the welt. I intend to replace mine with Redwing Heritage Chelsea boots and see how they hold up. For what it's worth, John Fluevog shoe quality also went down when the manufacturing went from Vietnam to China. My first pair I bought in Canada (no idea of the origin) and ruined the leather, my second were from Vietnam and still look great after many years of light use, the third pair and only ones I ordered online were made in China and the quality is gone- the "angelic sole" is softer, the leather cracked, the stitching is poor, the insole was badly fitted and wore and the inner heel on one wore out. They look cool but I won't buy more.

SkyMarshal 5y ago

Indeed. I've been wearing a pair of Keen trail boots from their "American Built" line since ~2015, and they're still going strong.

acabal 5y ago

FYI Allen Edmonds no longer makes all of their shoes in the US; since 2006 parts of the shoe, and sometimes the whole shoe, are made in the Dominican Republic. They were also recently bought by a larger shoe conglomerate so IMHO the writing's on the wall for their MiUSA approach.

pkaye 5y ago

I really like the New Balance 990. I have the same opinion as you. It costs a bit more but it is well made and lasts much longer. I hope they continue to make it.

Aloha 5y ago
You might look at the shoes from SAS. They're also US made.

wyager 5y ago

There’s also a decent market for European-made shoes - I just picked up some leather/suede Spanish imports from J Fitzpatrick in NY at the per-pair price of a “high-end” Nike sneaker made of plastic in China. Solovair makes boots in the UK in the old doc martens facilities (doc martens are in Vietnam now IIRC).

andreskytt 5y ago
The doc has two product streams: uk-made and foreign. These appear to be completely different as the same size of the same model fits me when uk-made and is woeful when not.

folkhack 5y ago

> Rainbow (USA series) flip-flops I will never buy another pair of flip-flops. So comfortable and the durability is so good I'm only on my second pair after 15 years of very consistent use. I literally run the treads out. Breaking them in takes a solid month which is just getting your foot imprinted into the cork... but any initial discomfort is 100% worth it, and minimal in my experience. There's also a very good warranty but I haven't personally used it.

makeitdouble 5y ago

> These days, 99% of shoes sold in the U.S. are imported, many of them from China, Vietnam and Indonesia. So you’re part of that 1%, congratulations.

Aloha 5y ago
I buy clothing and shoes mostly made for "red" america - overalls, boots, outdoor wear, everything but shirts I'm usually able to find US Made. I'm a big guy, so outside of these categories, finding stuff in "size fat" is hard. Round House overalls and jeans, Oklahoma. (Really great quality, lightweight denim, great for hot weather.) Justin/Tony Lama boots, Fort Worth and El Paso, TX. Socks from Cabellas/Bass Pro. I go out of my way to buy American, but these goods don't cost much (if any) more than normal items.
- makeitdouble 5y ago
  These are all nice and warm anecdotes, but the thrust of the article is how the vast majority of the US market shoes rely on external sources. Sure there are still people finding and loving US made shoes, there’s 1% of them according to the article, which in absolute number is a pretty big number of people (around 3 million people ?) All these 3 million people coming out of the woodwork to tell their stories feel a bit like explaining how much their town has a nice neighborhood when commenting on nationwide mass incarceration. Sure, good for them, but I’m not sure what we should take away from that.
  - Aloha 5y ago
    We don't make mass market shoes in the US anymore, they're all specialty products now. I'm trying to support US manufacturing where I can, but as far as I can tell, the choice to outsource was made to increase margins, not because of rising costs.
    - makeitdouble 5y ago
      As a mass market shoe consumer, I don't see local manufacturers competing on pure quality per se. Shoe making has already become a more technical field, and there are products that the Nikes of the world can make that local makers can't without relying on remote highly specialized factories. For instance some of Nike's flyknit series are way more comfortable, light and flexible that what local makers have to offer. It costs more churning through pairs, and going the built to order way adds to the cost, so it's not a cheap option. Margins might be huge for Nike, but I don't think they are much higher than for instance leather shoes retailed with 4 figure prices. Local makers will go for "hand crafted", "built to last" shoes, there are as you say specialty shoes, and some luxury level local brands keeping classic designs. But I don't see it as forgoing margins, and more going for niches that don't need huge R&D development for manufacturing at scale.

scoopertrooper 5y ago

> These are all high quality, well made, durable products that cover all my needs and are a better value for me than cheap imported products. This is an outdated stereotype. Asian manufacturers have well and truly moved up the value chain and currently produce many high quality products. Yes you can still buy cheap low quality shoes produced in Asia, but you can also buy extremely high quality durable shoes if you so desire.

asguy 5y ago
I’m interested: what’s a high quality durable shoe brand from Asia that you would recommend for a US buyer?
- scoopertrooper 5y ago
  I'm not a shoe aficionado, but Blundstone seems to be a highly regarded brand, which outsources its production to various countries throughout Asia.
  - rlonstein 5y ago
    > Blundstone seems to be a highly regarded brand, which outsources its production to various countries throughout Asia. I live in my Blunnies, I wear them daily but the quality has varied on the 500's over time, generally for the worse. I bought a pair in Australia circa 2002. I had them resoled by NuShoe but eventually the leather and elastic panels wore out. The two pairs I currently have were made in Vietnam, both about ten years old. One pair had the sole crumble and disintegrate, the other is fine. On both the leather is holding up but the elastic panels are shot. My son had a pair of Super 550's made in China that lasted a year before the leather gave up on one toe and a leak formed at the welt. I intend to replace mine with Redwing Heritage Chelsea boots and see how they hold up. For what it's worth, John Fluevog shoe quality also went down when the manufacturing went from Vietnam to China. My first pair I bought in Canada (no idea of the origin) and ruined the leather, my second were from Vietnam and still look great after many years of light use, the third pair and only ones I ordered online were made in China and the quality is gone- the "angelic sole" is softer, the leather cracked, the stitching is poor, the insole was badly fitted and wore and the inner heel on one wore out. They look cool but I won't buy more.