In Review: The New Spier and Mackay Goodyear Welted Shoes

Spier & Mackay Goodyear Welted Shoes – $248 – $298

You’ve got to hand it to Spier & Mackay. Their hustle is unparalleled when it comes to being a growing brand making great quality yet very accessibly priced menswear. And this newest venture, a foray into Goodyear welted shoes, is another metaphorical feather in their already very feathery, also metaphorical, cap.

The entire line. $248 – $298. Three styles. All Goodyear Welted.

These things come in at two price points. The $248 line is made from leathers sourced from Portugal and Italy. The $298 line uses Box Calf from the German supplier Weinheimer. All lines are Goodyear welted in Portugal.

These $298 medallion cap toes are built around a last that Spier & Mackay developed with that Portuguese shoemaker. It’s a sleek, soft chisel that was designed to look elegant with their suits. And to me, they nailed it. Will some super conservative types turn their noses up at that slightly elongated profile and soft chisel? Sure. But these are far from ultra-trendy arrowhead shaped shoes.

Last is a custom job for Spier & Mackay. Sleek with a soft chisel toe.

The leather for the $298 models really is something. Upon first picking them up, I was thinking the leather was maybe going to feel stiff on your feet. Trying them on alleviated that concern. They’ll need a bit of break in time, but not much. Box calf is supposed to be a little firm, but it also molds to your foot pretty quickly, providing a custom fit.

Sleek without being over elongated or pointy.

Fit seems about half a size large. A 10.5 D fit my normally 10.5 D feet decent out of the box, but there was a bit of heel slippage. Not a TON. Some. Spier does suggest going half a size down. In terms of comfort and cushioning, they were much, much more forgiving than say, a pair of Meermins. The leather insole and cork footbead (which also will mold to your foot over time) felt nice. Not running shoe soft, but certainly not rigid and unforgiving.

Soft chisel toe.

All the cutting and sewing is nice and even. No sloppiness here. And that long, lean toe with the Medallion, plus the serrated edges (but no other broguing) is real sexy. I thought that the serrated edge of the tongue might be uncomfortable against the top of my foot, but it’s not. It’s soft enough.

Both the $248 and the $298 lines are Goodyear welted. 

I hate to gush, but these shoes are another really fine debut from Spier & Mackay, which is becoming a bit of a pattern for them. Only bummer is that while outbound shipping is free, you’re on the hook to pay for any returns. Whoops. That’s not quite right. As long as it’s your first purchase from the combined realms of suits/sportcoats/shoes? Spier will pick up the return charges. More info here.

Enter here to win a pair of these upgraded box calf Medallion Toe dress shoes from Spier & Mackay. Sadly, just standard D widths for now. Deadline for entry is 11:59 PM ET on 11/1/18. One entry per person. Huge thanks to Spier & Mackay for providing a pair of their new premium dress shoes for giveaway!

UPDATE: Congrats to P. Dionne who won the drawing for these new shoes from Spier and Mackay!