In Review: Beckett Simonon Shoes

You’ve probably noticed that there are – and this is a conservative estimate – approximately one gazillion types of men’s shoes on the market.

And the quality of both their style and construction can vary wildly.

For guys interested in stepping up their shoe game (pun very much intended), this can be a big problem, especially since price is not a particularly good indicator of quality.

It’s way too easy to spend a fortune on luxury dress shoes that look good one minute but fall apart the next, and far too hard to figure out which ones are worth the investment and will actually hold up.

Unfortunately, you probably don’t have the time, money or closet space to try out dozens of different brands and put their shoes through the ringer.

So you’ll have to settle for the next best thing: hearing from someone who’s tried the shoes you’re interested in firsthand.

That’s where this post comes in.

I spent about a month walking around my neighborhood, office and everywhere in between so I could put together a thorough review of two different styles of Beckett Simonon shoes.

And after trying out both their Durant and Dean cap toe oxfords, I have a lot of thoughts that will help you decide if they’re up to snuff and worth your hard-earned cash.

Keep reading to check out full review of Beckett Simonon and find out if these shoes are worth shelling out for.

Full Disclosure:

This review came about because a Beckett Simonon rep reached out to ask if I would review their product.

As I always do when brands reach out, I told them I’d be happy to try it, but only if they were comfortable with me writing a thorough, honest and transparent review.

They agreed and sent me the shoes, and the opinions that follow are my own, as are the (lame) jokes, (random) asides and (grossly over used) parentheses.

Beckett Simonon Shoes Review

A Closer Look at the Overall Quality of their Dean and Durant Oxfords

Overview: Beckett Simonon

Founded by Nicholas Hurtado and Andres Nino, who were both born and raised in Bogota, Colombia, Beckett Simonon is a relatively young brand with a slightly different business model than similar brands like Allen Edmonds and other shoe companies.

Rather than design shoes without knowing if anyone’s going to buy them, incur a ton of overhead costs, and then pass those costs on to the customer in the form of high prices, Beckett uses a made to order business model.

(If you’ve ever bought a suit from Indochino then you’ll get the idea; they use a similar model.)

Essentially, you browse Beckett Simonon’s website and pick the style you want.

Once you place your order and specify your size, their shoemakers in Europe and South America begin the manufacturing process, and get to work making your specific pair, then ship it to you directly.

A big part of their pitch is that they’re able to deliver custom-made, high quality dress shoes to you at a much more reasonable price than most retailers, who have to pay the upfront costs associated with inventory, warehousing, etc.

The question is:

How high quality are we talking? And do Beckett Simonon’s shoes really deliver on what they promise?

Let’s take a look.

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Review Part 1:

Beckett Simonon Durant Review

Sharp Style

When the Durants first arrived, I brought them into my living room where my wife Michelle was sitting.

I pulled them out of the individual shoe bags they came in and held them up to the light so I could get a better look.

Michelle had been working on her laptop when I first took the shoes out, but when I held them up, I heard a single word emanate from the couch behind me:

“Wow!”

“Wow!” was right. Before I had even tried them on, I recognized that my newest shoes were almost certainly my most stylish.

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Visual Impact

In terms of visual impact, everything about these shoes makes them stand out:

The toe shape has a perfect, timeless style.

Pointed enough to look sophisticated and avoid the clunky “round” look, but not so pointy they look like something you’d see in the (presumably terrible) live action adaptation of Aladdin.

The broguing around the cap toe and the ankle adds a touch of ruggedness without going full wingtip and sacrificing some sophistication.

Another great thing is the color. My Durants came in a rich tan that was caramel colored and remarkably true to the photo on their website.

The leather outsole is sleek and the Blake stitch is a great detail that helps separate them from lower quality shoes.

Overall, they made a strong first impression. Of course, that was before I actually tried them on…

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Breaking ‘Em In

As with all leather dress shoes, I knew that I would have to wear the Durants a few times in order to break them in.

High quality leather is sturdier than the lower-cost alternatives you often find in cheaper (and let’s just be honest, lesser) shoes.

The good news is that, in the long run, this is a good thing: it’s not only the reason that high quality shoes look better, but also why they tend to last a lot longer.

But in the short term, it can be a real pain in the… well, foot.

This isn’t the first time I’ve experienced this problem with dress shoes, and as in the past, it was no longer a problem after the second day. But it’s worth flagging that for the first few days, there’s a little discomfort.

Fortunately, it’s pain worth going through.

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Personal Comfort

Once the Durants started adapting to the unique shape of my feet, they went from painful to downright pleasant.

After a week they started to feel so comfortable that they were almost like a second skin. (A leathery second skin that was for some reason held together by shoe laces, but a second skin nonetheless.)

They felt moulded to my feet in a way that was kind of surprising.

The only information I provided to the company was my shoe size, and when you’re ordering online it’s not uncommon to find that a given brand is either a half size too big or too small than your usual fit.

But the Durants fit true right out of the gate, and once they were fully worked in, they came to feel like they were custom-made for the unique contours of my feet.

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The Verdict

Can the Durants help you look sharp and stand out?

Hell yes.

Overall, I honestly can’t say enough about the Beckett Simonon Durants.

They look great, they’ve settled into a surprisingly high level of comfort, and the quality of the construction (combined with their durability thus far) makes me feel confident that they’ll continue to hold up for years to come.

I definitely recommend the Durants to anyone who’s interested, and will look to pick up another pair of Beckett Simonons next time I’m in the market for new shoes (or a new pair of dress boots …).

The Durants set a pretty high bar for style, so I was quite curious to see how the Deans would stack up.

Final Score of Beckett Simonon Durant Review:
4.7/5

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Review Part 2:

Beckett Simonon Dean Oxfords Review

Stylish and well made dress shoes are to the sharp dressed man what guns are to John Wick:

Absolutely necessary, and impossible to have too many of.

So after I reviewed Beckett’s Durant brogue oxfords, I was more than happy when they reached out again and asked me to try out another pair from their collection.

This time around I tried out their Dean oxfords, which are similar to the Durants in that they’re both cap-toed oxfords.

But the Deans have a sleeker style, in addition to a few other distinctions.

And while the results were in some ways similar to my experience with the Durants, there were some key differences that made wearing the Deans a unique experience.

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The Color

Introducing Beckett Simonon’s Bordeaux

The first and most obvious difference between the two pairs of shoes I tried was the color.

The Deans came in a gorgeous red-hued color that Beckett Simonon calls “Bordeaux,” invoking the famous wine region.

This color is also popularly called Oxblood, invoking a super gross reference to animal plasma. (So you can see why they went with “Bordeaux”…)

Whatever you call it, the color on these shoes is amazing, and immediately helps them (and me) stand out.

When I’m standing on the concrete grey subway platform amidst a sea of guys wearing boring black and brown leather goods, the Bordeaux beckons the eye like a lighthouse that’s dapper as hell.

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The Leather

A big part of the reason why the color looks so crisp is because the full grain calf leather upper is such high quality.

I’m not proud of this, but in the past I’ve worn cheap Oxblood shoes.

And because the leather wasn’t as good as it is on the Deans, after a few wears they started to take on a color that was less Oxblood and more nose-bleed.

Not a great look.

But the color on the Deans hasn’t wavered at all in the six weeks since I’ve been pounding the pavement with them.

In addition to maintaining their color, they’ve also proved remarkably durable for shoes that look this refined. They’re quite resistant to scrapes and scuffs, even after some fairly heavy wear.

So far I haven’t encountered any scuffs that couldn’t be cleared up with a quick pass of a disposable shoe wipe, which leaves them looking as good as new.

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The Toe Shape

The Deans have virtually the exact same toe cap as the Durants, which is a very, very good thing.

In my review of the Durants I noted that those shoes may very well have been the nicest pair I owned to that point, and the toe shape is a huge part of the reason why.

Like the Durants, the Deans have the same perfect balance between rounded and pointy, creating a silhouette that looks sophisticated and mature, but not stuffy.

As a result, both shoes offer stylish and versatility in equal measure:

You can pair them with jeans for a smart casual look, or with a suit for special occasions like a semi-formal wedding or (on a more somber note) a funeral.

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The Comfort

As with the Durants, the Deans took some breaking in.

My size nines fit me perfectly, but after the first day my feet were definitely a little sore.

This was expected, since the Durants had nearly the exact same effect, and pretty common for dress shoes.

As I continued to wear the shoes and move around in them, they began to mold to the shape of my foot, getting more comfortable with each wear.

Now I can comfortably wear them all day at work without thinking twice about it, no bandages necessary.

(I’ve had my eye on Beckett’s Gallagher boots for awhile and haven’t pulled the trigger, but I’ll be curious to see if a more casual boot is a little easier to break in.)

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The Sole

Another similarity the Deans bear to the Durants is the leather sole.

Leather soles are notoriously slippery, but offer a super-slick look that contributes to the shoe’s overall quality and refinement.

I forgot to properly score the Deans before I left the house for the first time, and noticed a bit of slide on the pavement.

But again, this isn’t unique to the Deans—any leather-soled shoes will have this issue.

And while that first wear was a little slidey, I’d still much rather have a sleek leather sole on my dress shoes than a chunky rubber sole.

Make sure you scruff yours properly before you go out for the first time. (Here’s a good video from YouTube Channel Glamrs by Purple that will show you how to do it.)

After a few wears, the concrete jungle will naturally scrape, scratch and score the bottom of them, making them much more resistant to slips and slides.

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The Verdict

Are the Deans worth shelling out for?

Absolutely.

The Deans have the same sleek toe shape and blake construction as the Durants, and the same level of craftsmanship that makes them a great deal at this price point.

But one of the nice things about the Deans is that, unlike the Durants, they don’t have any broguing, making them a slicker and more sophisticated option to wear with suits and dress pants.

Final Score of Beckett Simonon Dean Review:
4.4/5

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Beckett Simonon vs Meermin

Since first publishing my original Beckett Simonon review, I’ve had a few guys reach out to ask how Beckett’s shoes compare to Meermin, the Spanish shoe brand known for making shoes with a high-quality goodyear welt.

Unfortunately I don’t own any Meermins so I can’t speak from personal experience.

But after being asked about the Beckett Simonon vs Meermin comparison a couple of times, I decided to do a little digging to see what I could find.

The most helpful information I found came from reddit. (There’s a dangerous sentence if ever there was one.)

In a since-deleted post on the reddit thread r/goodyearwelt (yep – there’s an entire subreddit dedicated to goodyear welting), one redditor asked about whether to go with Beckett Simonon or Meermin for a pair of loafers.

The post is now gone, but I spent more time than I care to admit reading through the responses.

And it seems like the general consensus is that Meermin offers a slightly higher quality, but at a steeper price point.

Actually, the pricer is steeper in two ways:

Generally speaking, their shoes are more expensive, and the full-grain leather they use takes even longer to break in than the calfskin leather used by Becket Simonon.

Based on what I saw on reddit and other forums, it seems like Meermin is a great option for those who have both the money and the patience to invest in the highest quality full grain leather.

But for those who want high quality, but would prefer to spend less money and less time breaking in shoes, Beckett Simonon products are probably the better way to go.

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Other Beckett Simonon Reviews

One person’s experience is anecdotal, not scientific. And since Beckett reached out to me directly to offer some samples, I didn’t interact with their customer service team the way you would when placing a normal order.

So at this point you might (quite fairly) be wondering what other guys have to say about Beckett Simonon products.

Since Beckett doesn’t sell their shoes on big online retail stores like Walmart or Amazon, the single biggest depository of online reviews is their own website.

And – you’re not going to believe this – their website almost exclusively features positive reviews.

Fortunately, the fellas over at reddit – a group that’s not generally known for holding back criticism – have also weighed in.

In July of 2022 user u/ELONGATEDSNAIL asked ,”What do you think of beckett simonon?“

He posted the question in the r/Boots subreddit, so presumably he was specifically asking about Beckett Simonon boots, but the answers were revealing of the company’s overall customer satisfaction and quality control.

User u/theonlybuster said, “I purchased a pair for my wedding, well in advanced of course. I ordered the Monkstraps. They were SO comfortable and I got tons of compliments.”

He then went on to note that he later ordered a pair of leather sneakers and a pair of lace up boots, so it’s safe to say he was a fan.

Another user, u/daw204, was less impressed, though he had a pretty specific gripe:

“Personally I wasn’t too impressed with the 3 pairs that I ordered. They all had a strong chemical smell out of the box and yea I know that no one goes around sniffing their shoes but the smell was quite over powering.”

Personally I didn’t notice the chemical smell, and I imagine that it would fade fairly quickly once they’ve been out of the box for awhile, but as far as I can see he hasn’t followed up in the thread.

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Conclusion

Beckett Simonon makes a great pair of shoes for guys who want to look sharp

You won’t be shocked to learn that the conclusion is simple:

The Deans, like the Durants, are a high quality pair of dress shoes.

If you’re looking for a good everyday pair of dress shoes that you can wear with jeans, I suggest the Durants over the Deans.

But if you want a more dressed up pair that you can wear with suits or in business casual settings, I highly recommend picking up a pair of Deans.

They both look and feel like they should cost twice as much, providing great value for your money.

Overall Score from Beckett Simonon Shoes Review:
4.6/5

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FAQ

How long does it take to get shoes from Beckett Simonon?

Beckett Simonon’s shoes are made to order, so they take longer than other shoes to arrive. After you place an order through their website, it takes about 8 to 12 weeks for your shoes to arrive.

Where does Beckett Simonon ship from?

Beckett Simonon ships their products from Colombia, where their two founders were born. Producing their shoes in Colombia allows htem to maintain ethical production standards, provide fair wages, and offer competitive prices on premium products.

Is Beckett Simonon an American company?

Yep, Beckett Simonon is an American company, founded in the US and headquartered in Miami, Florida. But as mentioned above, both its founders were born and raisd in Colombia, which is where the company produces their shoes.

Who owns Beckett Simonon?

Beckett Simonon is owned by its co-founders, Nicholas Hurtado and Andres Niño.

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More Resources ↓

More Men’s Style Advice from Irreverent Gent:

• Thursday Boots Review: Is This the Perfect Dress Boot?
• The 8 Most Stylish Types of Shoes for Guys
• The (Absolute) Best Monk Strap Shoes for Men
• The 9 Most Stylish Men’s Casual Boots to Wear with Jeans 
• 17 of the Best Men’s Chukka Boots Available Online
• The 25 Best Mens Summer Shoes
• The (Absolute) Best Mens Fall Shoes 
• The Best Men’s White Sole Dress Shoes
• The Most Stylish Shoes to Wear with Chinos
• The (Absolute) Best Shoes to Wear Without Socks
• The Most Stylish Shoes for Men to Wear with Jeans
• The (Absolute) Best Cap Toe Oxford Dress Shoes for Men
• The 9 Most Stylish & Comfortable Dress Shoes That Feel Like Sneakers
• The 11 Best Warby Parker Sunglasses for Men
• The 21 Best Shoes to Wear with Shorts
• In-Depth Wolf and Shepherd Shoes Review
• The Absolute Best Shoes (& Shoe Colors) to Wear with Khakis
• The Best Italian Shoe Brands for Men
• The (Absolute) Best Men’s Casual Shoes

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