Summary.

At the retail price in the $300 range, Loake presents a solid, entry-level value for a made in England shoe and a company with a rich shoemaking heritage. Loake is a direct competitor to the US made brand Allen Edmonds. I would prefer to buy Loake over AE due to better attention to details, quality control, last shapes and maybe slightly better materials (specifically talking about the 1880 line). If you're looking to up your chukka boot game from Clark's desert boots, this is certainly one of the best options out there without breaking the bank, especially if you can find them on sale.

The downside to Loake thus far has been the ability to easily procure a pair to size correctly. But that seems to be changing as more and more US retailers start to carry the brand. Loake seems to have maintained their quality over the years while AE's quality has started to slip and who knows where AE's new corporate owner Caleres Inc. (publicly traded) will take the brand. Especially so with the departure of Paul Grangaard, Allen Edmonds longtime CEO who led AE through the great recession and has grown the company in the last several years.

Since Loake is a traditional company in nature, their designs have remained conservative as well. There just hasn't been much to get excited about from a material or design standpoint recently aside from the Angelsey model I mentioned earlier. They did recently introduce a green suede Pimlico (another chukka) model earlier this year which is nice to see since I'm a big fan of green suede. So maybe there is some hope in them rolling out new models and materials in the 1880 range.

What Loake lacks in creativity they make up for in pretty good consistency. Producing a relatively small amount of models and made of proven materials is a good recipe for ensuring better quality control.

So if you're looking for a conservative goodyear welted shoe, Loake surely fits the bill in the entry-level category. Made in England, with a rich history, Loake is a very good value. Even better if you can find them on sale.

This post will be updated once I've put some more miles on the shoes and will document how they wear over time on Instagram. I hope you enjoyed the Loake 1880 Line Kempton Chukka review!

Have any questions or suggestions for the review? Drop me a comment below after browsing the gallery!