TOMS Men's Brogue Oxford

[ SEE UPDATE BELOW ]SUMMARY[ i ] nice looking brogues with narrow throat requiring fully loosen laces for the foot to enter easily, and slightly loose laces when tying them; [ ii ] the synthetic white sole picks up and absorbs dirt, requiring systematic cleaning to avoid side sole stains, especially on the heel; [ iii ] synthetic sole develops side pits after (urban) normal use.REVIEWThe shoes were manufactured in China by Toms, a California-based company with an admirable history of supporting several humanitarian causes. Although they are described as lace-up brogues "with a classic Oxford design," these four-hole lacing shoes belong to the category Wingtip Derby brogues : the lacing top edges of the quarters are opened at the bottom (open lacing) and not closed (close lacing); there is a welt to join the shoe upper to the sole; and there is no beveling --that is, thinning towards the heel-- of the sole at the waist of the shoe (in fact there is thickening).The look is very nice, but after an almost 3-week period of (urban) normal use I have found some issues that have tempered any impulse of buying another pair before waiting to see how the shoes fare after several months of such use :1. The shoe throat (that is, the opening delimited by the joining of the vamp to the quarters of the shoe, which dictates the maximum girth allowed by the shoe) is narrower than that of my brogues from other brands. This requires the laces to be quite well loose for the foot to enter the shoe without much struggle. This is made more difficult by the criss-cross lacing the shoes; it improves when changing to a four-hole bar lacing.2. The design of the tongue makes it catch on the top (dorsum) of the entering foot, and the tongue slides in a little before jamming and often seizing the foot. This happens because the tongue's inner surface is not smooth but has irregularities (especially the protruding edge of its attachment to the vamp), which along with the two flat elastic bands joining the tongue to the insole grip the sock. Figure A shows the inner surface of the tongue and one of the bands (yellow arrow); the unraveled sewing thread was there when the shoes arrived.3. Once the foot is in the shoe, I need the laces loser than in my other brogues since otherwise there is uncomfortable pressure on the top of the foot after a while (I have normal feet); this seems to be due to the design geometry of the top part of the vamp and quarters. Be aware that the lacing edges of the shoe cannot be brought fully together by lacing, so they always leave a noticeable gap that is wider at the top than at the bottom.4. The synthetic EVA white sole absorbs dirt, especially at the rearmost part of the heels where the shoe first contacts the ground in walking. This rapidly forms dark grey stains, shown in Fig. B, that require frequent cleaning with water to avoid showing to the world one's degree of Chaplinesque out-toe walking. The sole is relatively soft and could benefit from a little bit more padding. I plan to use a micro-scrubber sponge cleaner to see if it cleans better.5. The wingtip scratches relatively easily. At least for the lighter color wingtips, a waterproof spray treatment is a must to avoid stains.Despite the good looks of the design, if the girth of your foot is at the bigger side of the Gaussian curve, or your patience for cleaning side stains on your soles is limited, these are probably not the right shoes for you.UPDATE May 20176. After a month and half of use, the absorption of dirt by the soles continues unabated, requiring frequent cleaning. Out of concern for the effects on the sole of chemicals in micro-scrubber sponge cleaners, I use slightly soapy water and a soft bristled hand/nail brush (its shape, similar to that of this, allows to use the nail brush without fear of going beyond the thickness of the sole).7. The side of the sole in the front part of the shoes has developed several small albeit noticeable pits (see Fig. C). This is worrisome since I do not recall hitting things with either shoe, at least with enough force to notice.

Very nice looking shoe; you can dress them up or dress them down. Fits nicely and shaped well to the contour of the foot. In the product photo, the show looks more of a solid black & the soles look like a darker mustard tan than they actually are. The shoes are more of a dark charcoal & its soles more just a light khaki color. I used to have the older version of this shoe for like 4+ years before the laces wore out and snapped (to be expected on a pair that old). But those ones had white soles. I actually like the tan better because although it looked good, the white soles were super hard to keep clean since they’re a gummy eraser-like rubber material. This version has tougher soles it seems, and the color will make dirt less noticeable.

I hope the shoes Tom's sends for the pair I bought are better quality than the ones they send me. The laces on these fell apart in just a few short weeks. The overall build is flimsy offering no support for your foot whatsoever. The orange trim around the sole is atrocious and the only thing anyone notices. I didn't realize how bad it was until they came in. The color matches almost nothing and this will now be my last pair of Tom's.

I liked the look of these shoes but I found the toebox to be poorly designed (too long, too narrow). I don't feel like I have particularly wide feet as I can wear most regular width shoes without issues but the toe box is quite narrow on these, to the point of being uncomfortable. Going a size up wasn't an option as there was already too much length.

Beware. I ordered 2 pairs. First pair was perfect and made in China. Ordered exactly the same pair in a different color 3 weeks later. Noticed right away the shoes were different. Second pair was made in Vietnam. Cheaper version and a lot lighter . Different shoe. I'll return it.

Initially, let me start with saying how much I love the look of these shoes. Great quality in material and workmanship. However, they are very narrow in the toe box. I usually wear inserts in my shoes for plantar fasciitis issues, and that is not possible with these shoes. Also, you won't be sneaking up on anyone wearing these because they squeak louder than any other shoe I have previously worn. But, they do look nice. Just wear some thin socks and headphones.

Great shoes and vegan friendly. Comfy like a sneaker and nice looking. I get lots of compliments on these. My only beef is that they wear out quickly - the tread/sole does that is. Uppers hold up like a champ.

they're great looking shoes, but the soles get real dirty and the quality of the fabric is definitely 'meh'. if you're wearing these once a week... you'll probably get more mileage out of them but they're not a great daily driver.