Allen Edmonds...Never Heard Of Them

"Hey," I got the attention of my counterpart as he was about to take the stage at today's rehearsal. "Did you get a chance to try on those shoes I got at the D.I.?" For those unfamiliar with the D.I., it's a local thrift store operated by the Mormon Church.

"Yeah, I did," my counterpart said. "Those are Allen Edmonds."

"So? What are Allen Edmonds?" I asked.

And so began my education of Allen Edmonds shoes. The other night I spoke to the costumers for Babes in Toyland, the next show my daughter and I are doing. All but one of my scenes takes place in Toyland. The first scene, however, takes place in the public square (or public market--not quite sure...). The shoes I wear in Toyland would not be suitable for the first scene. The costumers said I could wear any dress shoes I wanted, as long as they were true to the time period. And when we visited the thrift store yesterday I thought I'd take a look at the men's shoes. I saw a pair of wingtips for $6 and they were in pretty good shape. The fact they fit so well was a bonus.

I brought them to today's rehearsal and shined them up before we went on. My counterpart had not brought any shoes for that first scene, but luckily, we both wear the same size shoe so I said he should at least try them on. If they fit, we can both wear them for that first scene. That's when he told me about the shoes.

"Allen Edmonds are good shoes," he said. "I've been gifted a few pairs of Allen Edmonds--they're like, three-hundred dollars new."

Um, I thought. Suddenly the shoes that were in pretty good shape looked fantastic. When I got home from a long day at the theater, I checked out Allen Edmonds shoes online. Most of their shoes new cost almost $400.

I've found many treasures at the D.I., but probably none worth so much. The funny thing is, I almost didn't buy them because they cost six bucks. It's a little high for a pair of shoes, I thought at the time.

Little did I know...