Brooks Brothers Cedar Shoe Valet Kit – $96.00 ($128)
Currently 25% off as part of the Brooks Brothers Semi Annual sale. Includes the cedar valet, two horsehair brushes, two horsehair daubers, two polishing cloths, plus black and brown shoe cream.
The Brooks Brothers Cedar Shoe Valet is a pricey purchase at $128, but does the current sale price of $96 bring this kit into the realm of possibility? Let’s break it down.
The most notable feature of the kit is the valet, itself. It’s larger than most on the market, and is able to store not only the kit that it came with, but also all of my other shoe care products. The importance of a large valet can’t be overstated here. If you care enough to spend $96+ on a shoe valet, you will probably also be adding more polishes, waxes, and conditioners to your collection. Thankfully, the valet has little trouble fitting it all…
The Extras, not included with the Valet: Justin mink oil, Fiebing’s edge dressing in black & brown
I do have one gripe, but it’s a small one. The valet is sturdy, but it wobbles. I eyeballed it at one or possibly two millimeters. The construction is solid, but for someone trying to use it over a hard surface, this could get irritating in a hurry. However, I expect I will be using it over a towel (for traction and cleanliness) so it won’t be a problem for me. I don’t know if this is a common problem, but none of the eight reviewers on the Brooks Brothers website seemed to have the same issue.
The best part of the kit is the brushes. They’re the largest I’ve come across. While most brushes on the market are in the 6 inch to 7 inch range, the Brooks Brothers brushes weigh in at a whopping 8 inches. The black brush is 2.5 inches wide while the brown brush is 3 inches wide – just the right size for my medium sized-hands. They have arched backs to help them fit the contour of your hand, and they have a channel along either side that makes gripping them a simple matter. If you have small hands, though, they may be uncomfortable.
The daubers are daubers. There’s really not much to be said about them other than they appear to be made to the same high standards as the brushes. Not everyone uses daubers so they’re a bit of a luxury item, but this is a luxury kit. What’s so wrong with treating yourself, right?
The kit also comes with black and dark brown shoe cream. Truth be told, I haven’t had a chance to test them yet. However, they are the two most basic colors so they’re the perfect jumping-off point for someone who’s starting their shoe care kit from scratch. Each jar is about the size of a Meltonian jar and has the same consistency.
At the full price of $128, the Brooks Brothers Cedar Shoe Valet is probably priced higher than most of us here would pay. It’s still a splurge at $96, but it’s a viable splurge. When you look at the cost of high-end horsehair brushes and valets sold separately, they come in pretty close to or above the $100 mark. Plus the Brooks Brothers valet is still the largest on the market (that I’m aware of) with plenty of room to grow. I feel comfortable recommending this shoe valet to anyone starting from scratch. It sure beats the shoebox I kept everything in before.
Roving style reporter Alan S. is an active member on Threads, and you might remember him from such posts as The Great Double Monk Resurrection Experiment.
I think this is a great investment and one that can last you quite some time. I still remember using my dad’s valet box that he still has and even when I was a kid it was old. Great post.
I got a kiwi kit on ebay for $24. The differences are no daubers, only one horse hair brush, the brand of polish, and the BB valet looks a little nicer. My valet does not wobble. Do you really care how the box looks? $72 will buy you lots of extra polishes and creams.
This is a little disingenuous. Those Kiwi kits typically retail for $50 so you must have gotten a deal. As you said, though… ebay.
The Kiwi kits are also smaller. One of the highlights of the BB valet is it’s size. By my rough estimations, even when you remove the foot, the BB valet is 140 cubic inches larger than the Kiwi kit. Since I can’t highlight in the comments, let me repeat that… The BB valet is 140 cubic inches larger than the Kiwi. What good is $72 worth of extra polishes and creams that won’t fit into the valet? I guess you can keep them in a shoebox next to the valet.
The brushes on the BB valet are also larger. This may be personal preference, but for people with medium to large hands, the BB brushes should be easier to work with. They’re also extremely well made. I don’t know enough about the Kiwis to compare them on quality, though, so I’ll leave it at that.
The reason that the BB valet in the review exhibits a wobble is because the BB valet is footed whereas the Kiwi valets are not. This gets the BB valet higher off the ground, making it a little easier to actually use. As is mentioned in the review, though, nobody else has exhibited those issues. It’s likely that nobody else would have those issues, but exchanging it is easy enough for anyone that does. But if you wanted you could easily lop the legs off the BB valet, making it look more like the Kiwi valet, thereby removing the wobble along with some utility.
So for people with just a few shoe care supplies and no expectations of growing the set too far, a Kiwi valet is a fine alternative (at $50, not $24). But it’s not the end-all-be-all and everything else is just a waste of money. You can compare based on price when you’re comparing apples to apples
BTW, the reason for having two brushes is so you don’t have to use the black brush on your non-black shoes, thereby cross-contaminating them. It’s your kit, but I would recommend looking into a second brush.
Potentially stupid and slightly unrelated question: Should you use brown or neutral polish on brown shoes? Does it depend on the shade of brown? I have a pair of light brown boat shoes that I polish with neutral, but for darker brown shoes should I use a darker polish?
Your choice: the question isn’t what you should use, it’s what you want to have when you’re done.
A neutral polish works just fine, but it won’t slow the fading of the original leather dye. Using a polish that matches your shoes perfectly will help the color stay fresh. Both will shine up nice (or stay matte if you buff only lightly — I don’t know many people who like a high shine on their boat shoes).
You can use a dark brown polish on a light brown shoe (particularly if it’s a cream rather than a wax) for a nice patinating effect. Repeated uses of the darker polish will soon darken the leather — though not uniformly. Some people like the effect. There are many who occasionally polish their #8 shell cordovan shoes with black polish to mute the red spectrum in the burgundy finish and give the color some depth. My opinion is that it looks very nice.
If you look into it, you’ll find that there’s a wide range of polish colors — one to match practically every shoe leather. Whether you choose one to match your leather precisely or decide to alter the tone by mixing and matching is entirely up to you. There’s no “right way” to do it.
If only I wore leather shoes more often. My work generally leads me to wear fashion sneakers and suede. Leather is too formal and the only casual leather I own is a CDB in Beeswax, which shouldn’t be polished.
I hunted around for a bit before just buying my shoe care products primarily from Allen Edmonds and Rancourt. AE sells a solid quality (larger) horse hair brush and a metal shoe horn for $10. Edge dressing for a few bucks. Has some of the best prices and solid quality on suede care products as well (sealant, eraser, brush). It all goes on sale from time to time too, and can be picked up for a song.
Rancourt sells daubers ($4) and Venetian shoe cream ($6) the cheapest I’ve ever seen them sold.
In the end I think it’s better to assemble a shoe kit yourself, based on your needs and the shoes you actually own, rather than go with one of these pre-assembled kits. Take the shoe cream…black is probably safe, but there are a lot of shades of brown. And what if you picked up Walnut, Bourbon, Chili, etc? Best to go with a neutral creme or one in that specific shade, if you can.
Counter Point: My carefully (and frugally) assembled kit is missing that sweet, sweet cedar box. I could totally go for one of those. I’m just not sure it’s worth $70 to me.
Now go home and get your @#$% shine box!
Agreed on the AE accessories. If you’re foregoing the valet, the AE tools are very affordable and appear to be high quality. I believe they’re made by an AE subsidiary company called Woodlore that specializes in cedar closet accessories (shoe trees, hangers, etc.). It’s all American made, and receives high marks.
Alan, this is suh-weeeeeet! I have a couple vintage Esquire Valets like this one:
http://img3.etsystatic.com/000/0/6600005/il_fullxfull.325038383.jpg
… and another similar one (no-name/markings), which opens on the side, as opposed to the front. Found them while out thrifting, for $10 each (and less). I like the vintage look and feel of them, but I must say I sure wish they were cedar like that BB beaut you have there. Ah well… maybe someday I’ll splurge on one, along with a nice cedar clothing valet too (I have a vintage ’68 one of those too, but again… not cedar).
Nice review, bud!
Alan: the BB website lists the dimensions as 12 x 11 x 8.5 are these true dimensions for your kit? Does that include the legs?
It would be a solid investment at either price point if you ask me. One I am going to make come Monday(read:payday).
I started with my grandfathers valet, that was handed down to my dad and then before he passed last year he gave to me, then believe it or not my ex-wife tossed it when I moved out earlier this year! Soooo It’s time to invest in something I can give my little guy when he hits that age, he’s only two now do I’ve some years to add to it and give it some character.
I can double check my measurements, but if it’s not spot on, it’s very close. Those numbers do include the legs.
If you’re less price conscious (and it sounds like you may be), you might also want to look at this valet. It’s about the same size as the BB valet, but the dovetailed joints should give it some added rigity for the long haul. It comes empty, but the suggestion above for AE brushes is a good one.
http://www.emocs.com/detail.php?itemID=100CLH
If you’re seriously hardcore, you can have them install a cast iron footrest on top to replace the wooden one.
http://www.emocs.com/detail.php?itemID=26499
That’s a grand total of $120 for an empty box, but if you’re looking for 50+ years out of it, then it may be something to consider.
O man that box has seriously got me debating which one now. I love the detail the dovetails give and the cast iron foot rest is plain cool!
Thanks for the dilemma you’ve created now! (I kid!) Seriously thanks for the suggestions.
UPDATE: I finally got home and measured. The 11 and 8.5 dimensions are accurate. The 12″ dimension (height) is difficult to gauge because I can’t lay the tape measure over the longest part, but it seems pretty accurate.
I’m in the same boat as you. I spent the AE gift card they sent me with my recrafted shoes on creams, brushes and daubers. I also have some bits and pieces that were my Dad’s (including a lovely brass shoe horn).
I keep an eye on Ebay for a box, or there’s places like this: http://www.cedar-box.com/cedar-boxes.php