Urban Deal

I almost never go into Urban Outfitters these days, though I shopped there semi-regularly back in the '80s. But I do look at their website from time to time, and I'm even more likely to do so when they are having a sale. Right now UO is having a pretty big sale, and these Eastland shoes caught my eye.

Anyone familiar with L.L. Bean's blucher mocs will recognize these as almost exactly the same shoe, except for being rendered in suede. Bean did this themselves for their Signature line, but I think they made a bad call in terms of the colors they offered: there was navy, a dark khaki, and an olive or loden green. The khaki was the closest to a "normal" shoe color, but looked a little weird with black soles. Navy shoes certainly have their fans, but I can't consider myself one of them. The green? Well, I kind of liked it, but I had no idea what I might wear them with.

These Eastlands also come in navy but it appears to be something between nubuck and regular leather, with a brick red sole borrowed from suede bucks. This is admittedly a sharp-looking shoe, and I bet there are people out there who would go for it. But the brown suede is what caught my eye. It looks enough like the original, but the suede gives it just enough of a twist. I can't speak to their quality—could be decent, could be not so good—but I have ordered a pair to find out for myself.

Both colors are currently on sale for $55 from an original price of $85; my calculator tells me that's 35% off. All orders of $50 ship free, and returns by mail are free as well, which is a simple and decent policy. Web purchases can also be returned to UO stores, so there's absolutely no risk to ordering a pair of these and trying them out. But sizes are starting to get thin (no more half sizes in either color, nothing smaller than 10 in the navy) so if you want 'em, act fast.