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A blog dedicated to the interesting, scandalous, useful and cutting edge in the world of men’s style, fashion and grooming.
Tall Story: Kimora Lee Simmons is as much a “corrections officer” as she is a “designer”. [The Newspaper]
Oui, Oui: Reports from Paris fashion week. [DNRNews]
Window Dressing: In Amsterdam, storefront prostitutes are being replaced by mannequins and some are noticing the difference. [London Times]
Dita Von Teese Wonderbra: Is all you need to know. [Vogue UK]
Fleet Afoot: One shoe in seven minutes. [A Suitable Wardrobe]
Almost There: Coming Soon is coming, soon. [Material Interest]
We applauded Daniel Day-Lewis’ Oscar win Sunday night as recognition for both a great actor and a great man of style, but also an excellent cobbler.
Everyone needs a hobby.
Roger, Wilco, Out: StyleDash thinks Jeff Tweedy needs a style intervention due to his SNL appearance in a nudie suit. Similarly, we think Style Dash needs a music intervention due to their apparent ignorance of the Flying Burrito Brothers (video). [StyleDash]
Team Colors: An interview with sideline style leader and coach of the 5-and-11 49ers, Mike Nolan. [HuffPo]
Housing Futures: Figuring that all the collapsing real estate market needs is a fresh blazer, “Fashion Futurist Geoffrey Beane” (say whaa?) is teaming up with Century 21 (not the store) to redesign their iconic gold jacket. [Business Wire]
For Absolute Beginners: Buying into Mod style. [ModCulture via Retro to Go]
Best Men: Engineered Garments brings home the inaugural GQ/CFDA Best New Menswear Designers in America award (oh, and $50,000). [Men.Style]
Leading Lights: Luring men toward a new shaving cream is much like luring mosquitos to a high-voltage death. [NYTimes]
Historical Threads: Classic American style parsed. [A Continuous Lean]
It’s Not Easy Being Green: Kermit the Frog gets his slimy, webbed hands on Terry Richardson—or is that the other way around? [Skidknee]
It’s hard to go wrong with English style, especially if you’re looking for a good pair of brogues.
We suggest Loake, a family-owned British marque that’s been hand-making shoes since 1880, and catching the eye of everyone up to the queen. They’re getting some recognition lately as they get ready to cross over to the States. Their catalog may not be varied, but it’s certainly broad, including our favorites the Norwich (pictured), the Chester 2 and the 290, if you’re in the mood for a beetle boot.
Easy Marc: Fake Marc Jacobs ads come from real jokers. [Forbes]
The Great Divide: H+M line Divided opens it’s first standalone store in the English-speaking world. No news yet on a US location. [Vogue UK]
Monarchist Republic: In other Brit boutique news, The Banana Republic opens it’s first store in England. No news yet on a US location. [Telegraph UK]
Vandalism: We might just have to break some windows and steal these new Raf Simons boots. [Hypebeast]
“From Caped Crusaders to Hoodies”: Sounds like Middle School to us. No, seriously, read on. [WSJ]
Board Liar: Some clever jasper was fronting like he was a board member of the Gucci Group. Why didn’t we think of that? Might have had something to do with 20 years of hard time. [DNRNews]
Fred’s Flair: Are you properly dressed for Fred Rogers Sweater Day? [Huffington Post]
Fashion Police: India has banned “Fashion Television” (which, frankly, we thought had been cancelled years ago). Next time you’re watching models traipsing down a runway on the tube, just remember how lucky you are to be an American. [MeriNews]
Chuck Rock: The collision of Converse and gabba-gabba-hey. [The Guardian]
Labor Pains: That BR sweater you’re wearing for casual Friday might have blood on it. [One World]
Along Came a Spider: We knew a kid in High School who drove an Alfa Romeo, which was so cool because it was as sexy as a Porsche but cost less than our used Saab SE. We don’t know what to think about this new one. [Luxist]
Deal Alert: Suit up for your next expedition at Freeman’s Sporting Club and then stop in for a cut and shave. Tell Van we sent you. [Racked]
Hairy Beast: Arctic Muskox is the new hotness, dontcha know. [A Suitable Wardrobe]
Outside The Lines: Martin Greenfield shares his craft with Band of Outsiders. [Men.Style]
Screen Shots: DJ/Designer Matt Creed professes his love for Gawker - meaning it’s only mere moments before they sully his good name. [VanityFair.com]
Leather can be a tough sell. After all, there are only so many ways to make a shoe, and you’ve got generations of European cobblers looking over your shoulder. The same goes for belts and most other accessories on the rack. So when we see someone pull it off, we figure they’ve earned a little recognition.
Gordon Rush has been around since 1998, but it’s only recently that his work has caught our eye. For instance, this belt that blends subtle texture and stitching with ostentatiously visible thread for a look that’s both formal and irreverent. Rush is all about multiculturalism, and he throws in a few self-consciously Asian touches in his line—like Kanji on the soles of shoes, which should lead to interesting footprints—but his heart is with craftsmanship.
Which, as it happens, is just what we’re after.
As we enter the rainy season, it’s worth considering the options for a well-shod gentleman on a rainy day.
Galoshes, naturally, are out of the question. While it can be quirky and striking on a young enough woman, the solid rubber boot has always been overkill. The naked shoe, on the other hand, is just asking for it.
That’s why we’re glad we ran across Swims, a lightweight slip-on that will cover those crucial bottom three inches of shoe most vulnerable to soaking. Slip a few into the bottom of your briefcase and you may be able to make it through the season with your shoes fully intact.
Duty Free: Paul Smith takes off at Heathrow, unlike some. [Vogue UK]
Rabbit, Run: Furry chic makes its unsettling debut at Tokyo Fashion Week. [Boing Boing]
“Composition with Yellow, Blue, and Red”: Nike goes all Neo-plasticist on us with the Piet Mondrian Dunk Lows. [NikeSB.org]
Goose Steps: The Cut hashes out this whole Adidas-Puma-Third-Reich thing. [NYMag]
Repeat Performance: Daniel Craig, star of Lara Croft: Tomb Raider and some other stuff, wins GQ’s best-dressed award for the second year straight. [Vogue UK]
Signing Out: Portfolio’s fashion blogger Lauren Goldstein Crowe waves a “Peace the Fork Out” to the rest of the linkable world. [Portfolio]
Pig-malion: The classiest classy guy in the world of high class wants to play Henry Higgins to Ashley “The Governator” Dupré’s Eliza Doolittle, though we suspect she’s already had her elocution lessons if you know what we mean. No? Us either. [NY Daily News]
Big Top: David Coleman snuggles up to our favorite dandy fabulist and his long, thick hat. [NYTimes]
Freak Folk: Always on the hunt for a deep, sensitive mate, Natalie Portman is reportedly nuzzling up to Cripple Crow crooner Devandra Banhart. Yeah, we don’t know how we feel about this one either. We mean, he is wearing a woman’s jacket. [Egotastic]
Napoleon Complex: Lil’, wee plutocrat Nic Sarkozy is kicking up a press dust storm in his fierce heels. [Shoeblogs]
What Would Moz Do?: Dress like Morrissey and you’re set for life. [Style Salvage]
Spit and Polish: The geopolitics of the shoeshine. [NYT via On The Fly]
Throwing Sparks: Sharp dockside looks from Philip Sparks. [Philipsparks via Notcouture]
Blinded by the White: N.B. to African-American society partygoers - some photogs may require you use nametags. [Radar]
Environmental Hang Up: Going green starts at your dry cleaner. [Fox23]
Out of Africa: A brief history of the safari jacket. [Mercury News]
New Journalism: The Wall Street Journal is set to launch a new luxury magazine to compete with the Times’ glossy insert, T. Yes, yes - you’re right - they’re calling it WSJ. [Editor and Publisher]
Luxury Hacks: Next time you’re in Moscow, flag down a Maybach. [Autopark]
Home, Jeeves: In other auto news, The Chauffeur magazine has named its “Car of the Year.” The Chauffeur magazine? We should really get our guy a subscription for his birthday. [Autoblog]
Foxy Boxing: Adriana Lima, Doutzen Kroes and, sigh, Karolina Kurkova have been practicing the sweet science at a local gym. We kind of like the fact that they could beat the snot out of us. [Observer]
“Women Love You in Pink Shirts”: We have personal, experiential evidence that this is true. [Just a Guy Thing]
Barney and Friends: The appearences of Michel Gondry, Timo and Panama-hat wearing ping-pong champs at Matthew Barney’s National Arts Club dinner add up to the first party report that actually made us jealous. [VF Daily]
One Step at a Time: Just like everything else there, shoemaking in Iraq is a study in tragedy and persistence. [IHT]
Neighborhood Watch: How could we have missed this one? Not only has our beloved Style Guy returned from the front with a new report on CBGB’s, but he also waxes nostalgic (in his own unsentimental way) about causing a minor riot with his “socialist-realist rock band.” Awesome. [GQ]
Acne Treatment: What? You still haven’t hit Acne? [Paper]
Banging the Gavel: With the recent sale of Carla Bruni nudes and the new offering of this Michael Comte Gisele shot, it’s clear that British auction houses are becoming the place for top-drawer spank fodder. [Vogue UK]
Penny Pusher: Every time blue-eyed, honey-blond men’s fashion blogger Amanda Brooks writes a tribute to a male dress staple, we fall a little harder. [Men’s Vogue]
More Cushion for the Pushin’: If you’re using padded underwear to get laid, there’s really nothing we, or anyone else, can do for you. [NYMag]
Supercops: English bobbies may soon have cool designer capes. Maybe it would be cooler if the government gave them firearms, but what can you do? [BBC]
Big Bubba: Bill Clinton uses big fat, dies to distract the eye from his big, fat mouth. [HuffPo]
Stupid is as Stupid Does: England’s premier scientific journal, The Sun reveals that the more educated a woman is, the harder it is to satisfy her sexually. Well, duh. [The Sun]
Preppy is as Preppy Does:Brooks Brothers debuts their Black Fleece collection. [Luxist]
Hump Day: You totally owe us for these Alessandra Ambrosio shots. [Hollywood Tuna]
NY-LON Suits: Paul Smith’s London bespoke team takes a field trip to Soho (sorry, our Soho). [WWD]
Sidelined:And thus ends an epic season for the NHL’s Dennis Rodman. [NYTimes]
Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man: The Lookbook captures a sculptural dresser. [NYMag]
Miley Who?: You might have noticed that we’re not covering a certain controversial photoshoot by a certain 15-year-old teen-pop star in a certain general-interest magazine. Really, we’ve got better things to do with our time. [Maxim]
Saddle Up: If you’re excited about Country-and-Western singer Tim McGraw’s new fragrance, you might be a redneck. [She Knows Best]
Surf and Turf: Put on your bib - these Nikes are best with melted butter. [Trash Bag Aesthetics]
Long, Strange Trip: Our beloved Keef gets the weepy video treatment. [FashionIndie]
Watching the Detectives: In the In the Criminal Justice System the people are represented by two separate, yet equally important groups. The police who investigate crime and the tailors who dress them. These are their stories. [New York Times]
The Wright Stuff: This Grandpa Simpson mash-up is about as close as we want to get to national politics these days. [VanityFair.com]
Abboud Face: Meet Joseph Abboud’s newest label, Black/Brown 1826. [DNR]
Sensible Shoes: Armand Limnander’s picks for socially acceptable sneakers. [The Moment]
The Gospel According to Paul: Loden Dager designer shares his theories on manhood. [Dejour]
Heresy!: Tim Gunn tears apart the new Polgymaist chic—not like he wasn’t going to hell anyways. [AOL]
Pabst Can Coffin: And now we can die. [HuffPo]
Wrinkle-Free Suits That Look Good: For real? For really real? [We Are The Market]
England’s Finest: We don’t know many of the names on Esquire UK’s best-dressed list. We do know, however, that David Beckham is not amoung them. [IndependentUK]
Tennis Anyone?: Crocodiles kill more people in Africa than any other animal. These Lacoste’s are killers too. [Hypebeast]
Greener Pastures: Like it or not, John Deere is the new hotness. [DNRNews]
Ink Blots: Your new touch-senitive tattoo will receive even more female attentions than that Tasmanian Devil piece on your bicep. [PSFK]
Pure Oscar Gold: There’s something about Fridays and Charilze Theron that just works. [Egotastic]
Bush Warrior: A Scottish pilot get’s top-brass approval for his handlebar mustache. Good to see there’s some progress in Afghanistan. [BBC]
Kick Up Some Dirt: Seeking a leather alternative to sneakers in these hot times? These boots are perfect for navigating the sand storms of Manhattan. [The Moment]
We Can’t Fix You: Aww, poor self-deifying mope rocker Chris Martin didn’t like the questions Radio 4 asked him. Bono never had to put up with this. [BBC]
Sweet Leaf: Hicky Freeman reopens, stoner iconography intact. [NYMag]
Fighting Over the Flow: Some sucka is suing the Jigga claiming he thieved his style. This may be the worst idea ever. [New Kerala]
Van Beirendonck’s Skeleton Suits At Pitti Uomo: Since it’s the weekend, we’ve got a joke for you. A skeleton walks into a bar and says to the bartender, “Give me a beer and a mop.” That has nothing to do with these wack suits. [Men.Style]
What Again?: Yeah we know, that’s two Kristen Bell links in two days. But in these shots she’s slugging booze for her new film. Is it wrong to think that’s hot? [Hollywood Tuna]
Purple Moccasins, Yay or Nay?: Our vote—Um…uh…can you get back to us on this? [Brandish]
Vivienne Westwood Couldn’t Sit Through Sex and the City: Finally, we have something in common. [NYMag]
Top of Their Class: Take a gander at the best graduate designs from the London College of Fashion [Selectism]
With designers grasping for ideas and movie tie-ins multiplying at an alarming rate, it was only a matter of time before something like this happened.
Still, we were hoping it would take longer.
After years of agitation from Neatorama, Nike is finally rolling out an “Air McFly” model of the kind predicted in Back to the Future Part II. To the cinematically uneducated, the sneaker looks like your usual 80s throwback—making it perfectly in tune with today’s style—but those in on the joke will recognize history in the making.
To play along, Nike has refrained from mentioning the shoe’s inspiration in any of the press materials. Perhaps they have a little shame left after all.
Picture Perfect: The only thing hipper and wackier than Adam Kimmel’s clothes are Ryan McGinley’s lookbook shots. [Selectism]
Newly Available: These starlets are all suddenly single. Have at it boyos. [Radar]
H&M is Pushing Menswear: Yes, but where to? [Fashion United]
Pull The Blinds: There’s something deeply creepy about Hussein Chalayan’s new T-shirt. [Men.Style]
Lanvain + Acne: Equals one very cool, very classy hightop. [Scotch and Plaid]
How to Get The Tom Brady Look: Giselle Bundchen not included. [Valet]
Squash is The New Golf: Yes! We can finally make good use of our super tight shorts! [Vanityfair.com]
Chic Rock: When we boot up Guitar Hero at home, we can only wish things like this happened. [Crave Online]
All Access Pass: Here’s your VIP badge for to the backstage loveliness at Victoria’s Secret. [Horny Oyster]
Holy C+ Batman!: A complete ranking of Batman’s best and worst gadgets—and you thought Bond liked his toys. [Wired]
Marching Orders: Nike teams up with the Army to create the fastest soldiers on earth. [PSFK]
The Shoe Hound’s Dog House: A brief profile of Leffot. [The Moment]
Let The Games Begin: Every one of these Olympic hotties deserves a medal. [Gawker]
Hot LOVA: A little bit “Mad Men,” a little bit Revenge of the Nerds—all good. [The Pipeline]
Check That: Real Mad Men wear plaid. [A Continuous Lean]
Olympic Sized Beauties: Rating a few Olympians not for their athletic prowess, but for their attraction. Any volunteers for sharing the news with the lowest rated? [Ask Men]
Summer Shoe-ing: With heat waves like this comes changes in your attire. Here’s a guide and appropriate, even appreciated, footwear. [A Suitable Wardrobe]
Artsy Fartsy: A new fashion draws its influence from different artistic movements. It’s almost as if fashion was an art itself. [Refinery 29]
Stimulus Checks Do Not Stimulate!: In stunning news, stimulus checks had little to no affect on the sluggish economy. Apparently, most consumers spent their tax rebates on food and “fuel.”[DNR]
“Brideshead” Loyalists Revolt!: It seems that remaking an “epic television event” inspires nothing but angst and rage. Perhaps, by now, Brideshead has been visited one too many times. [NY Times]
Although you might not know it from the copy, advertising is spreading out. It’s not just television and print anymore; it’s viral stunts, sponsorships, naming rights, and product placement. The world is getting more media from more angles and advertising is coming along for the ride. Anything you can do, you can do for advertising. All you have to do is tack a logo on the end.
Given that, we’re happy to see videos like this. We’d never heard of Bowmore before, but they just showed us the perfect way to polish our shoes.
And that has to count for something.
via Dan Mendell/NYTThe Times has an unusually thoughtful piece by Justin Porter today about skateboarding shoes. Because the skateboarders tear up shoes so quickly, Porter says they tend for flashier, more disposable pairs, even if they aren’t much cheaper. That caught our eye as the opposite of workwear, where the need for durability means more rugged materials like denim, canvas and metal come into play.
Another point is that this makes skateboarders ripe for sponsorship—Porter refers to some skaters being “on flow,” meaning they get a steady stream of free shoes from a particular company—but we aren’t sure this makes their shoes more important. If anything, they’re so disposable that the kids don’t mind making them billboards.
And what good is a sponsorship if your shoes are being ripped to shreds?
Veja has been around a while, but the fair trade sneaker company (and favorite of Josh Spear) has finally graduated from Adidas knockoffs and produced something worth buying for non-charitable reasons.
Behold the Grid. The color is “moonrock” and the look is decidedly spaceman-inspired. It’s simple, stripped-down, and just offbeat enough to warrant a second look from whoever you happen to be meeting. And, naturally, it blends perfectly with the rest of your monochromatic ensemble.
And just because it’s French doesn’t mean you’ll have to pay shipping charges. Click through for a list of stateside locations»
We spotted Clae at the capsule show in July, but we thought we’d take a moment to examine the full set. The looks range from low-key loafers to Thriller-esque hightops, but the middle ground is where the real action is.
There’s nothing like a splash of asymmetry to liven up a shoe. For instance…
This washed-suede monk shoe comes from a N.D.C., a Belgian duo specializing in pre-treated brogues. We like the material well enough, but the asymmetrical buckle is what pushes this one over the top. A little continental flair like that can be enough to push an outfit into more memorable territory. As long as you’re willing to ditch the oxfords for a day or two, that is.
As you might know, we’re very impressed by cobblers, especially cobblers of the semi-ancient continental variety.
Edward Green has been plying their wares out of a Northampton shop for upwards of a century now, which is enough to impress us. They also work on an admirably small scale, churning out around 65 pairs of shoes a month.
And if you happen to be in the Northeast tomorrow or a few weeks from now, you can catch a trunk show, see the samples up close, and get a few pairs made-to-order.
…and the desert boots keep coming.
This latest one is from the west coast (where, coincidentally, there are actual deserts), via Seavees, previously our source for summer-colored sneakers.
The model (named 12/62, after December 1962) takes its cues from something they call “Desert Modernism.” There are a handful of architectural influences, including the Coachella Valley’s Maslon House, but we’re just glad to see leather laces on something that’s not a boat shoe.
This one’s our favorite so far…but we imagine we’ll see a few more before the year’s through.
In the wake of Palin’s shopping spree, we were glad to see Obama scoring points for having resoled his shoes along the campaign trail. Of course, the political blogs are spinning this as an example of Barry’s thrift, but we see it as the mark of a sartorially sensible gentleman. After all, if you liked a pair of shoes enough to wear them out in less than a year, you might as well hang onto them. And anyone with enough sense to buy welted shoes has our vote.
In other words, it’s just one of the many rewards of old world cobbling.
Now that your shoe collection is properly established, it may be time to start thinking about protection. After all, slush season is almost upon us.
Josh Spear suggests these galoshes, which have the distinct advantage of ending just above the ankle, meaning your pants are fair game, but you won’t be lugging around an unwieldy half-pound of rubber all day. Plus, they’re from our friends at Tretorn, so the extra touches like striped rubber souls are enough to give it a touch of style.
At least enough to keep your socks dry.
The Rise of the Machines: Uniqlo’s upcoming Times Square promotion will involve thermograph scanners, silver body suits and human-sized vending machines which will contain mimes. Pray for the future. [PSFK]
Everybody Loves Helen: Esquire confirms that Helen Mirren is awesome. [Esquire]
Biters 2, The Return: The esteemed Paul Smith appears to have lifted a flickr image for his latest two-hundred-dollar t-shirt. Alas, the follies of biters. [BlackBook]
Mesh and Lace: A comprehensive guide to shoe lacings. Someday, this will be huge, we promise. [A New Morning]
DC is usually a bit below our radar, but this shoe popped up by virtue of combining two of our favorite things: desert boots and mod culture.
Usually mod footwear consists of Beatle boots and the occasional sneaker, but Aaron Rose managed to bring the two together with a sly tartan lining and a red contrast stitch. And, of course, those thick, gummy soles that mean you won’t get too familiar with the pavement.
The Sartorialist tipped us off to the latest troubling fad among monk-shoed Italians: they’re leaving the straps dangling loose. Of course, we have nothing but love for monk shoes, but to our eyes, that loose strap is just waiting to end up in the mouth of a teething basset hound with a taste for fine leatherwork.
But of course, that doesn’t mean it’s going anywhere. Trends like this rarely follow the usual rules, and assuming the shoe fits well enough to stay on without the strap, there’s nothing to stop the Mediterranean youth from leaving their straps dangling for the better part of the decade.
Think of it as a backwards ballcap for the bespoke set.
Band of Outsiders returned to do another version of their successful Sperry Top-Siders revamp, and we have to say that they turned out pretty well.
They swap the treated leather for treated wool, making it a little less susceptible to dunking, and the deep green is more army than navy, but how many of those shoes ever see the top of a sailboat anyway? In this case, we don’t mind a little creative anachronism.
By now, you’ve probably heard about President Bush’s run-in with a shoe hurler, but you might not know that a Manhattan Transit Worker tried a similar stunt against the MTA’s chief exec.
Of course, MTA workers have to wade through some real junk on occasion, so instead of some wornout brogue, he was trying to hurl a size 10.5 Red Wing boot—a pretty good choice, as projectiles go. Unfortunately, the boot was so massive, the cops got to him before he could get it unlaced.
But at least he went out in style.
Collaborations between classic masters and younger brands are thick on the ground these days—yes, Moscot, we’re looking at you—but there aren’t many as well suited as Duckie Brown and Florsheim.
Duckie Brown has been mining Savile Row-style classicism for a while now, so it’s no surprise they finally brought some real cobblers on board. The real surprise here is the subtle shifts they bring in, like adding blues and greens to the leather-dyeing palate, matching the sole rubber to the color of the shoe, and putting out a whole line of cap-toes fastened with metal studs.
Best of all, they’re pricing the bulk of the line at $295, as a gesture to modern times.
It’s been a pretty good week for shoes: first Florsheim and now this.
Red Brick Soul is the latest project from Mark McNairy, offering clay-colored soles (just like the name promises), resoleable welts and surprisingly colorful leathers. The loafers aren’t bad, but our favorite are these half-buck, half-wingtips. The soles keep things from getting too formal, and the overall line of the shoe is comfortable stocky.
Even better, like the Florsheims, Mr. McNairy manages to keep the whole line under $550…no small feat given they’re being shipped over from England.
It’s hard to find a good cobbler this side of Florence…but maybe we just haven’t been looking hard enough.
Our old friends at Michael Andrews Bespoke are starting up an eponymous cobbling line, with 30 styles, 50 leathers and a fit molded to the unique shape of your hoof. It’s the kind of service that’s a lot easier to find in Savile Row and Hong Kong, but surprisingly thin on the ground in the states. It’s also a lot easier to find if you’re willing to drop a few thousand dollars, but this time around the damage is limited to six to eight hundred dollars, especially useful if you’re a banker with a new budget.
Chuck Taylors are so iconic at this point that they’ve overshadowed the original style they came from: the old-school basketball shoe.
When the sport was invented around the turn of the century, there was a rush of shoes with lots of ankle support, almost no arch, and a stripped-down canvas aesthetic. It’s hard to get ahold of them these days, but the fine folks at Winn Perry have gotten their hands on a recreation of one of the original models: the 1892 Colchester Rubber Co. Sneaker.
True to the time, it’s still just vulcanized rubber and canvas, but it should catch a lot more eyes than those Chucks.
The sneaker/oxford divide isn’t what it used to be. Take Generic Man, for example. They’re one of the best sources for streetwear-ready spaceman sneakers, which carry a decent price tag but run a little low on prestige. But that doesn’t mean they can’t take on something a little more upscale.
These cap-toes aren’t exactly Alden material—there’s still no substitute for a real cobbler—but as far as avant-garde formalwear goes, it’s hard to do much better. It may be patent leather on the toes, but that just adds to the synthetic vibe created by the clever double-front and strangely clinical powder blue.
There’s also a denim-colored version, but we’re guessing you’ll want to keep things neutral.
The plaided Sperry in Vegas got us thinking: it’s almost boat shoe weather again.
This one is a more weathered look than we’re used to from the usually summery brand, but it’s a good direction for them to go in. After all, the summer doesn’t last forever.
Condolences: Adriana Lima has eloped with Serbian basketballer Marko Jaric…even though he lacks our faculty with language and sartorial acumen. [The Cut]
Sole Music: A stroll through the world of British shoe aficionado Mr. Hare. [Style Salvage]
The World’s Best Press Release: “As Julie Henderson’s publicist, I’ve read some unflattering blogs calling her a ‘high fallutin’ call girl.’” [Men.Style]
Zombie Shoes: Another venerable shoe brand returns from the dead. [A Continuous Lean]
Some of our favorite shoes are the most lightweight—espadrilles and top-siders in particular—so it’s nice to know this particular shoe won’t be weighing us down too heavily.
Sweden’s Gram labels their shoes by weight, and they rarely reach above 500 grams. This one is the 366g, stitched together from denim and kept as light as possible at every stage in the process. We wouldn’t recommend wearing it under jeans (or getting it wet, for that matter), but don’t be surprised if your summer wanderings take you a little farther than usual.
The deck shoe is enough of a staple that it’s about time we started giving it a few twists. F-Troupe has a good idea with these Crepe Deck Boots, going after the leather lacing that sets the boots apart.
Adding a few extra loops is simple enough business, but it changes it from the usual preppy standard into something a bit more rugged.
It was only a matter of time before the hobo look caught on.
This bit of Japanese hobo footwear comes from Russell Moccasin, who have finally embraced the “motley” look by patching together different leathers in the same shoe. It’s appropriate for any economic climate…but we’re guessing it goes with hoovervilles better than anything else in your closet.
The season for white canvas shoes is almost upon us, and luckily F-Troupe is fully prepared.
Of course, you’ll have to manage bringing it over from Paris (and navigating the European shoe sizing chart), but the flash of color in the laces and soles should make it worth your while. There are also blue, green, and purple versions, but we’re going with the one that matches our Thriller jacket.
