Loake

Pros

• My older Meermins are a bit more roomy imo and so are my UK boots from Loake, Herring and Aero.
• if you have the time to go to some of the northampton shoemakers’ factory stores (loake, trickers, cheaney, etc.) you can get lucky and score a deal
• Loake all in all is a great manufacturer and their staff, at least in their London stores, are the best and most helpful out of all of the Northampton makers.
• I'd advise going to a Loake shop in person. In Dublin at least, they're real professionals who will go to great lengths to make sure you're buying the correct shoe for you.
• Look at Loake and Cheaney, and possibly Barker as well.

Cons

• Loake did a lot of private label and collaborations with US and UK department stores from what I’ve seen, and their less expensive lines from those weren’t the best quality compared to other heritage UK shoemakers.
• These shoes are without a question far superior to Loake, which isn’t surprising considering they cost about half as much and include UK labor costs.
• I’ve looked into brands like Alden (too pricey), Allen Edmonds (iffy on quality control lately), Grant Stone (seems solid but debating if it’s the best option), and a few others like Loake and Yanko and Meermin (concerned about long-term...