Here’s an updated version of one of the most popular articles on Shoegazing. A comprehensive list with quality shoes for under €300 / $340, now with current prices almost 60 brands of mainly welted shoes from all over the world.

 

This article was first published in August 2015, and then updated with current prices and many new brands in June 2020.

The brands on the list have all or some of their shoes in the price range just at or below €300 including VAT (which is about $340), and the prices is for purchases in the brands own region (European brands have the European prices listed, American brands the American prices etc.).

 

Adelante, a very sympathetic shoe brand, which has a different approach where all shoes are Made to Order, which makes it possible to order in very wide widths etc., by craftsmen in Guatemala who has it as an extra job. Price from €210.
Andres Sendra, Spanish Sendra are well know for their boots, and a couple of years ago they also launched their own shoe range (they have been making shoes for several other brands for some time though). Nice finish on these Goodyear welted shoes, starting at €260.
Andrew Locke, an American brand whose shoes are made in Spain. Goodyear welted with closed channel stitching, cemented waists so can be made pretty slim, are found just at the €300 bar.
Barker, a classic British manufacturer. Has some models made of corrected grain leather in the lower lines which should be avoided, but a couple of ranges consists of is fine shoes starting at the €300 bar. Have their own online shop.
Berwick Shoes, Spanish brand housing in Almansa, the largest shoe region in Spain. Are growing each year (noticed by for example how their showroom at the shoe fair Micam has grown steadily in size and crowd), with Goodyear welted shoes starting at about €200.

Loafers from Spanish brand Berwick. Picture: Berwick Korea

Loafers from Spanish brand Berwick. Picture: Berwick Korea

Bexley, French budget brand which is on the verge of getting to be on this list. Quality is ok, not more, you get what you pay for. All shoes are priced at €149, even if they are Blake stitched or Goodyear welted, loafers or boots.
Bridlen, an interesting Indian brand, whose shoes are made the old school way with Goodyear welt stitched directly to the insole. Classic styles, solid make. Price around €250.
Brogues Makers, a Hong Kong based brand with a bit of a special business approach. All shoes are Made to Order, and for Goodyear welted hand painted shoes the price is €180 and then you can add different things like extra arch support, toe taps etc.
Broken Bird Bootmakers, Swedish brand with Spanish-made Goodyear welted shoes, offer both RTW and MTO, where you can scan your feet in a 3D scanner in their physical stores to find the best fitting last. Price from €300.
Charles Tyrwhitt, a British giant in affordable classic clothing, which also has a wide range of shoes. Mainly simpler made Goodyear welted shoes at about €200, and don’t fall for the sale thing, Charles Tyrwhitt always has a sale so this is the actual standard price.

Chevalier, from Indonesia, has been around for a while, they were quite in vogue among boot nerds a couple of years ago, although a bit calmer now. Good prices, good make, leather quality can vary a bit, and they also make a bunch of different shoe models. Start at about €200.
CNES, a Vietnamese brand who has got a lot of talk going after starting to introduce their shoes in Europe. A lot of bang for the buck, with several different ranges. Goodyear welted start at €240.
Crownhill Shoes, Spanish brand whose shoes are made in Almansa, a wide range of models, where they have one Goodyear welted entry line at €185 and then a finer range at €300.
Ed Et Al, a Singapore based brand which has grown quite large in it’s home country, and which also are looking to spread it wings further out in the world. Asian made welted shoes which nowadays mainly work with MTO, priced at €180.
Finsbury, one of several French brands on this list, popular in their home country with lots of their own stores. Finsbury has Goodyear welted shoes, priced starting below €220.

Fugashin, from Vietnam (with Japanese owners), nice looking mainly welted stuff often in vibrant colours and interesting make-ups. Prices from €240.
Gordon & Bros., German brand with Indian made shoes which just like Bexley is on the verge of whether it would be featured or not. Doesn’t have too many models, and look better than they are, but for those with a tight budget, it is still better random glued stuff from the shoe shop around the corner. Prices are for most models  €170, which are all Goodyear welted.
Grant Stone, a US brand with factory in China offering workwear boots and more casual shoes, which have grown a lot in popularity quite quickly. Goodyear welted starting at €230.
Grenson, English shoe manufacturer that nowadays focus on more casual models. That also goes for the G. Two range which is the only one priced below €300, with some perfectly fine shoes.
Hartt, from Canada with Goodyear welted shoes and boots made in Spain. Have both dressier as well as casual models in the line-up. Don’t be fooled by the constant sale thing, the prices that seem to be lowered is the standard RRP, and starts at €270.

Colorful Full brogues from Singapore based Ed Et Al. Picture: TravelOpa

Colourful full brogues from Singapore based Ed Et Al. Picture: TravelOpa

Herring Shoes, British webshop that have their own shoes made by for example Loake, Barker, Cheaney and Alfred Sargent. The cheapest lines are made in Asia and are so so, but there’s some ranges is great budget quality shoes made by the three firms mentioned above, priced a bit below €300.
Howard Yount, American clothing brand that also has a nice shoe collection made with Bologna construction, costing just at about €300.
J. FitzPatrick JF Line, entry level range from the American brand started by Justin “The Shoe Snob” FitzPatrick. Goodyear welted in Almansa, Spain, starting at €230.
Jack Erwin, an American brand with nicely priced Blake stitched and some Goodyear welted shoes, the former start at about €200. The standard range consists of the classics, and then some seasonal models that take out the turns a bit more. Made in Spain.
Jalan Sriwiyaja, a manufacturer from Indonesia, with the Japanese market being the most important for them. Makes hand welted shoes with machine stitched soles of leathers from the French tanneries Du Puy and D’Annonay, and retail starts at the moderate price of €280 for these (in Indonesia with domestic leathers starting price is €180).

John Doe, an American brand with shoes made in Mexico, really cheap Goodyear welted shoes which certainly aren’t refined in the make, but the price can still be attractive. Starts at €140.
Junkard, from Indonesia, focus on service boot styles, they have both RTW shop and MTO programme, and are considered excellent for the price, from €210.
Loake, well-established British manufacturer of classic Goodyear welted shoes, whose range 1880 is mainly to recommend in this price range. It’s priced from about €280.
Loding, French budget brand with nice finish for the money and with “continental lasts”, quite pointy that is, priced at about €160. The shoes are made in Portugal, some Blake stitched, some Goodyear welted.
Malfroid, French brand, Portugese-made shoes. Quite similar type of offerings to many other French brands in the lower-end price range of Goodyear welted shoes, also with patina service. Price from €285.

Mario Minardi, one of several Indonesian brands on this list, with quite slender a bit French feeling Goodyear welted shoes priced at around €210.
Mark Albert Boots, from the US with American made Goodyear welted workwear boots, whose stuff starts at €230 (what appears to be a sale price is the RRP).
Meermin, definitely the most hyped brand in the segment the past years. Spanish brand whose shoes are made in China. Two lines, Classic line is Goodyear welted and cost €170, Linea Maestro is hand welted at impressive €260. Known for being quite stiff and hard to break in. Also do a lot of so called Group MTO models.
Miles & Louie, a Mexican brand with casual Goodyear welted shoes. Not super refined, but should be decent. Cost from €100 when it’s domestic leathers, about 50% more when leather from American Horween.
Morjas, Swedish brand with well-designed Goodyear welted shoes made in Spain. Focus on a few classic models in many different leather choices (avoid the smooth leather though, since it’s plastic covered corrected grain leather). Priced from €230.

Meermin is one of the most talked about brands the last few years. Picture: Styleforum

Meermin is one of the most talked about brands the last few years. Maybe not the most comfortable, but surely good looking. Picture: Styleforum

Myrqvist, another Swedish brand, whose Goodyear welted shoes are made in Portugal. Focus on classic models, but also have a few more special make-ups. Priced around €220.
Onderhoud, Indonesian brand of fine hand welted boots. You order direct via contact on their Instagram, so a bit unorthodox, but impressive quality for the €230 they cost.
Orban’s, the latest brand launched Marcos Fernandez, with simply but well made welted shoes produced in Spain. Priced at only €160.
Otsuka, a Japanese brand with several different lines. Their cheaper welted ones cost from about €200 in Japan, and are nicely looking for that price point.
Parkhurst, American brand with boots made in the state of New York. Quite popular domestically since it’s low-priced American-made boots, starting from €270.

Patine, a Polish webshop, who have their own private label brand of Goodyear welted shoes made in Spain. Pretty good stuff for the price of €230.
Pediwear, British webshop which in recent years have launched their own shoe collections. The shoes are Asian made and Goodyear welted at prices below €200.
Prime Shoes, German brand with a pretty ugly website, but pretty good looking Goodyear welted shoes for prices below €300.
Prince Jorge, another French brand with affordable Spanish made shoes. Previously called Markowski and was a sister brand to Septieme Largeur, both founded by Marcos Fernandez who left Markowski in 2012. Since then the brand has seen sort of a revamp and changed name to Prince Jorge. With Goodyear welted shoes with full grain leather from €280.
Robinson’s, the Private Label brand of the Irish store Robinson’s Shoes. Made in the Barker factory in Northampton, solid British welted shoes starting at €290.

Sagara Bootmaker, one of the bigger Indonesian makers of hand welted boots and shoes, who also has a good website. They are starting at around €200.
Sanders, a classic British maker of entry-level Goodyear welted shoes, who nowadays also make a bunch of more casual styles and make-ups. Start from about €250.
Scotch Grain, one of the most successful Japanese-made Goodyear welted budget brands, who have a solid quality for the price, with focus on classic styles. Starts at about €250 in Japan
Septiéme Largeur, French = check, Spanish-made = check, Goodyear welted = check. A lot of bang for the buck with a bunch of different, often well executed, models and lasts, with prices starting off at €275. Also offer a patina service.
Shoepassion, German brand with a great website and a large selection of models. Quite well made Goodyear welted shoes with mostly full grain leather, made in Spain, placed in the range of €250.
Skolyx, Swedish brand, shoes made on Mallorca, well-renowned with budget Goodyear welted shoes with leathers from for example Du Puy and Annonay, leather board heel stiffeners etc. priced from €220. (Note, I’m employed by Skolyx).

Spier & Mackay, a Canadian clothing brand who have a quite nice range of Portugese-made Goodyear welted footwear. Prices at about €220.
Thomas George Collection, an Australian brand with shoes made by the Fugashin factory in Vietnam. Supposedly solid stuff with nice features like closed channel leather soles, which focus on classic Goodyear welted models. Price from about €220.
Thursday Boots, American brand with shoes made domestically and in Mexico and Europe, Goodyear welted workwear boots and mainly casual shoes. Quite popular in the US nowadays, not least thanks to their low prices starting at only about €160.
Txture, one of several highly interesting Indonesian brands, who make hand welted boots starting at only about €185, and who ship worldwide. Serious bang for the buck brand.
Union Imperial, a Japanese brand with three ranges who are all hand welted with machine stitched outsoles. The cheapest one is made in China and cost around €220, a midrange is partly made in China and partly in Japan which is priced about €300, and then a top line all Japanese made which cost more.

Velasca, an Italian brand that has grown big, used to do only Blake/Rapid stitched shoes (which you can resole the same way as Goodyear welted shoes), now most are only Blake stitched with bond welts (“fake” welts, though they are fully open with this), but has some Blake/Rapid models still in the line-up. Priced from €210.
Yanko, based on the Spanish island Mallorca, the brand was once a huge manufacturer, and the families who run Carmina and Meermin both worked here. Yanko had a rough period around year 2000, but have been built up again and has a good reputation. Prices at around €300. (Top picture show Yanko shoes.)

Large loafers collection from Skolyx. Picture: Skolyx

Large loafers collection from Skolyx. Picture: Skolyx

It’s always hard to feature all brands possible, and of course there are several missing here. Please feel free to tip about other brands in the comments field.