What do you consider reasonable? Even American-made dress shoes of good quality (AEs for example) start around $300. So naturally anything made overseas (England, Italy, etc) is going to be more expensive than that. You're simply not going to find well-made shoes much below that price, unless of course they're on sale. And you have to be very careful with "fashion" brands like Ferragamo, Gucci and the like, as many of their lower-end shoes (which are still $500+) are not made to last. I've said it before in another thread - only a fool would pay that kind of money for shoes that can't be re-soled. You might, however, look at shoes made in Spain. They're a bit less expensive and can often be found on sale for just a little more than AEs. Carmina and Meermin are the 2 biggest brands right now, but there are a number of smaller shoe-makers who contract the manufacturing of their shoes in Spain as well (J.FitzPatrick is one such shoemaker who also blogs as the Shoe Snob). I have a pair of black Carmina oxfords that I got on sale for just a little more than your average pair of AEs. They're equivalent in quality to AEs (maybe a bit nicer in the stitching), have Goodyear soles, but the design is a bit more European (sleeker). I really like them. Finally, I've been reading a lot of positive things about this new brand called Jack Erwin. Their shoe collection is small, but they're made of good materials, have Blake soles (similar to most Italian shoes) and are in the $200 range. The only issue is that you order the shoes directly from them, which means (1) you can't try them on first (although you can return them if they don't fit) and (2) you're at the mercy of their supply chain, which is apparently problematic right now as they keep running out of shoes. BTW, thought they're an American brnad, they're actually manufactured in Portugal. The thing about good shoes is that as long as you take care of them and resolve them as needed, they can last you for 20+ years. So they're worth the investment in the long run.
Goodyear soles FTW!!! Honestly, after going Goodyear and having the comfort that your shoes can be resoled, there's no going back.
Ended up buying two Allen Edmonds. A Walnut wingtip and a black cap toe, each for $180 (20% off on top of clearance. Only the wingtip came so far and it's fantastic.
I pretty much stick to Cole Haan for my work and casual shoes and each year buy a new pair od Diesel shoes for jeans. Many of the Cole Haans I have bought can be resoled. It is 60-70 to do that but it beats paying for whole shoes again. I recently bought a pair of Hugo Boss wingtips and they are great and look like they can be resoled. Oddly they are sized odd so instead of 10 I had to get a full size down.
Most shoes can be resoled. If you pay 350 for some shoes it makes more sense to have it resoled than if you pay 125. If you are easy on your leather and just wear out the soles, you have a nice little setup.
I got sick of constantly breaking "dress" shoes and got a pair of Red Wing brogue rangers (style 8126) in black and Alden 405s in brown. Cost a pretty penny but they'll be with me for decades and they look damn good. Bonus points that the 405s are the original "Indy Boots"
just got a pair of AE Sanfords on Ebay for $50, very similar to Strands Ebay is the way to go if you want nice shoes on a budget http://www.allenedmonds.com/aeonline/producti_SF6527_1_40000000001_-1_
