Sometimes the fashion world ruins things.
It happened to Chuck Taylors. It happened to the espadrille. And now, it’s happening to the slipper.
An
UrbanDaddy
Publication
SIGN UP FOR UPDATES
You'll know what we know.
Must Haves
“slippers”
Here’s a low-key alternative for those who aren’t ready for the full house shoe. These slippers come from Sweden’s Pia Wallén, and instead of suede and velvet, they sub in every industrial designer’s favorite material: raw felt.
We won’t sugarcoat it; they’re just a swath of wool glued to a patch of rubber. But if it’s just for puttering between your bed and the shower, that might be all you need. The gray is the Dieter Rams favorite (plus, it’ll match your MacBook), but there are also red and white versions if you feel like something flashier. If it’s still not flashy enough… there’s always the velvet slipper.
| ALL Object |
TAGS
|
ADVERTISEMENT
We love fall, but it has a few drawbacks. For instance, it may be too chilly to spend Sunday afternoon barefoot. It’s a shame…but nothing a well-chosen slipper can’t solve.
Specifically, the most decadent piece of footwear known to man: the house shoe. If you’re indulgent enough to pick one up, it’s likely to be the most comfortable item you own—for the simple fact that it will never venture outside your house.
And naturally, we’ve got a few favorites.
| ALL Good Idea |
TAGS
|
Here’s a new secret weapon for your weekender bag: a pair of leather slippers. This pair comes from Portegna—a Spanish leather company more accustomed to handbags and card holders—with a little design help from Monocle. It’s designed to sub in for the flimsy hotel slippers you usually find alongside your terrycloth bathrobe. But instead of cotton and cardboard, these are glove-soft leather—and the kind of thing you might actually want to wear around the house.
To add our two cents to the furious slipper debate currently raging through the blogoverse, we’d like to direct your attention to these deerskin mocs from Thurlow.
On the face of them, they don’t have a lot in common with the Hefner-esque velvet slipper they’re pondering at Esquire, except that they’re both handsome, well-made items that don’t quite qualify as shoes.
It’s as if you’re putting extremely beautiful bags around your feet. In the comfort of your own home—or perhaps your own yard—you’re free to indulge your eccentricity. But once you step into the social world, people might begin to wonder why you’re not wearing any shoes.
This sounds as if we’re knocking slippers, but we’re honestly not. They’re like tank tops: not bad in and of themselves, but likely to cause bad behavior. Approach with caution.
ADVERTISEMENT
The Body Shop: Jesse Thorn takes on the varieties of the human body, and reveals Alan Flusser’s deep, Randy Newman-esque antipathy for short people. [Put This On]
The Great Outdoors: Outerwear gets sharper with Nanamica’s latest batch. [A Continuous Lean]
Slip Sliding Away: Against the velvet slipper…and the half slipper that will let you squeak by. [Esquire]
The Battle of the Bulge: The story of the fugitive Whitey Bulger and a decade’s worth of close calls. [The Atlantic]
In the midst of our plaid-based bundling, it seems that we haven’t properly addressed our feet. To that end, we give you: the tartan evening slipper.
Paul Stuart’s Phineas Cole line, just released a new batch for the holidays, and we’re duly impressed. From solid flannels to regimental stripes to traditional tartans (our pick), they provide toasty protection from the most despicable of winter offenses, cold floors. Sure, an Italian-made leather sole might be a little bit of overkill for a shoe that’s never going to leave the house—but it’s the good kind of overkill.
And your robe will be glad to have company.
| ALL Labeled |
TAGS
|
These Kyoto-inspired slippers are the latest item in Monocle’s never-ending parade of desirable goods, and they got us thinking about exactly where the slipper falls in the modern domestic arsenal. Most western eyes probably see these as a good item for Sunday mornings—possibly to be paired with a bathrobe and a homemade Bloody Mary—but to Japanese eyes, they’re a good deal more versatile. Stop by a Japanese house, and you’ll find an array of these slippers at the entrance for padding around after you’ve taken off your street shoes. If you’re looking to institute a shoe-free household—and avoid bloggy repercussions—you could do a lot worse than picking up a half-dozen of these. At the very least, they’ll be handsomer than socks.
Ralph Lauren’s take on Americana has had a lightly ironic touch to it, but it’s been getting heavier in recent years.
Case in point: This latest pair of slippers, which tops off a handsome plaid pattern with a pair of playfully kitchy hunting figures. If it were just the gentleman with the long gun, we could take it in stride, but the sight of a Canadian Goose in mid-plummet was almost enough to make us laugh out loud. Which, for a pair of cozy Sunday slippers, is a pretty good quality to have.
| ALL Object |
TAGS
|
With the threat of winter already looming, it may be time to examine your footwear options. Galoshes are fine enough and by now you’re probably familiar with a few indestructible worker boots, but you may need something else to round out your options. Something a bit…puffier.
These Moncler slippers are a direct translation of their famous bubble coats into the world of footwear. That means they’re a little better suited for indoor lounging than outdoor trekking, but provided you don’t have more to do than fetch the paper, they should hold up just about perfectly.
And if you need to do a little trekking—you can always break out the boots.
Your portfolio may be down the tubes, but we implore you not to follow it. Keep your composure when all about you are losing theirs! Remain kempt in the face of unkemptness. Retain sartorial virtue.
And do not, under any circumstances, wear slippers you’ve cut from a sheet of velco-enhanced felt.
Please.
Velvet slippers have been venturing farther and farther outdoors lately. We’ve seen them come from sneaker companies and on the heels of a MOTH, but it’s always best to go to the source. And in this case, the source is England.
Shipton & Heneage’s only retail stores are across the sea (Paris and London, to be specific), but you can get these bespoke slippers well enough through the mail…even if that means you have to get measured stateside. They’ll even throw in the extra-British touch of sewing your family seal over the toes. (Judging by the two-headed eagle, this gentleman’s a Habsburg.)
We’re curious fellows here at Kempt, so we’re always up for a little rack-hunting.
To that end, we took a peek inside *In God We Trust*, a boutique split between New York’s SoHo and Williamsburg. Managed by designer Shana Tabor, the stores split their stock between the house label—mostly female, but with a few very tempting bags—and what Shana calls “like-minded brands.” The store and the label both project a kind of Newport bohemianism that comes off much easier than it sounds.
The trick, we suspect, is being selective.
