Shoe Of The Day

I don't know who these are by but I think that they are a great pair of spectators. You don't don't see them too often in the burgundy/white pairing but I think that out of classic colors: black, brown and burgundy, all paired with white, this combo is the best of the bunch. Of course, I am still waiting to see someone pull out some crazy color combination like gray/blue or black/yellow. But I am starting to think that it might just have to be me who creates something so daring and bold if I ever really want to see it done. I could always try to pitch the idea to Paul Smith. If anyone would be keen on the idea, it would be him!

Why Are A Pair Of Nice Shoes So Important?

Look, I know that not everyone is rich or may not care about fashion nor dressing up etc. but having a nice pair of shoes is a must in being a respectable man in this world. Luckily for most, times have changed because many years ago, you were nothing if you did not dress up properly and look and act like a well spoken, clean and respectable individual. These days you have people wearing tennis shoes with their suits, flip flops with their jeans and shoes that were once white and clean, now brown and having holes in them. What have we come to? Do we no longer care? Is everybody trying to make their own statement: I am free to be who I want to be, do what I want to do? Great!! So am I, but at least I can clean up, maintain my property and look like I have some decency to care about my appearance, not in an egotistical way but in a manner that exudes respect to others.

Top Shoes: Gaziano & Girling

Left Shoe: Stefano Bemer

Right Shoe: a.Testoni

Unfortunately we live in a judgmental world where every second of everyday people are judging others by their appearances before they are even able to meet them. I can’t lie, I also do it and I am sure that you do too!! They say that an interview is greatly affected within the first ten seconds of you entering the room. That means that your outfit has a huge part of that decision as I am sure your smile, handshake and greeting do too. The appearance of who you are is decided in how you look. And I can guarantee that a crappy pair of shoes will be noticed instantly, which in turn will speak wonders about you!! “This kid did not wear nice shoes to the interview, must not care much about the job nor be very responsible.” I would be willing to bet an infinite amount of money that this statement has crossed the mind of many interviewers. Yet why do so many people choose to buy terrible shoes? Are you cheap? Do you not care? What is it? Maybe you just have not been educated? Well then welcome to the classroom!!

Left Shoes: Unknown (I think Kenneth Cole Reaction)

Right Shoes: Edward Green

It is easy to tell the difference between what is nice and what is not! I understand that many people in society are lacking in common sense but come on, you can easily understand the difference in what has quality and is elegant versus what is crap as well as plain ugly by looking at the two shoes above. If you can’t then you need help. Let’s put it this way, the majority of people know and respect Italians for their excellent abilities to look like a million bucks even when they are going to the grocery store and I can tell you from experience that not one Italian in all of Italy would ever even think about wearing that sad thing posing as a shoe on the left. While I can go on and on with the bashing, let me get back to the educating. We need a nice pair of shoes just like we need to all own a suit, because it serves!!! There are many brands that offer very decent shoes in the $300 range. But that is just the bottom of the barrel. If you are spending anything less on your dress shoes, you are cheating yourself. Cheap shoes don’t look good nor do they last long. You end up spending more in the long run and looking like a bum in the meantime. If you truly can’t afford to spend that much then learn about good brands and go scour Nordstrom Rack or wait until shoes go down to 50% off during the half-yearly sale at Nordstrom.

Left Shoes: George Cleverley

Right Shoes: Foster & Son

Shoes command the most respect in an outfit, they are the easiest thing to spot if the quality is low. Take it from me; I get compliments all the time on my cheap ass, low quality H&M suits. Nobody ever believes me when they ask where I got my suit from and I tell them H&M. I fool them all!!! But in a shoe, you can tell right away between some piece of crap shoe with shitty ass leather versus something that is well made with high quality leather. It is so evident. So just realize that when you are buying that crappy pair of shoes because it is cheaper, you are fooling yourself because everybody and their momma can see that if you are not poor, then you must be cheap, have no style or are just plain uneducated. Do yourself a favor and next time you go to get new shoes, make it a nice pair. Trust me, when you get more compliments, you will feel better about your decision!!

Shoe Of The Day

This has to be the coolest pair of buck's that I have ever seen. On Leather Soul's website it says that these are chocolate nubuck but they look way more like gray to me (at least in this picture), which is what I love about them. The shoes are by Edward Green and a pair like this would be one of those shoes that you could wear with the majority of things in your wardrobe. It's versatility is undeniable and the cut is right-on, with next to perfect. If only way more brands offered smart shoes like these, we would all be better dressed individuals!!

Del Toro Shoes

There are always misconceptions in fashion where it is said that certain articles of clothing/shoes/accessories should or should not be worn, or should only be worn here or there or then and not now. This is all bullshit!! You should wear what the hell you want, when you want and however you want to so long as you do it well, look presentable and maintain confidence. Rules are meant to be broken. Look at how many people wear white after Labor Day. So in this writing, I will hopefully help you to bring yourself to break some more rules which brings me to the subject at hand: velvet house slippers by Del Toro.


As quoted by Del Toro, "The history of the company is exciting. It was created in 2007 by the three students who wanted to smoke their senior cigars in the boarding school slippers, and now, from Kent to Lawrenceville to New York to Las Vegas to Palm Beach, Del Toro Shoes are on the rise. Del Toro made the Prince Albert style slippers available faster and cheaper, keeping the quality standards up to the highest level. Handcrafted in Spain, these shoes are a unique fashion statement, an unusual gift option and a staple for a groom and his groomsmen. Del Toros can be made to fit your style with a personalized color selection. There are options of added embroidery, school emblems, custom designs or just a printless, classic loafer."

www.deltoroshoes.com

Apparently, when these three young gentleman wanted to have some house slippers to smoke their cigars in, they researched how to obtain some and found that the turn around time was almost one year with a price ticket of $900. That sounds absurd to me!! So what they did was create readily available options price tagged from $165-$185 as well as custom options for $265 with a four month wait. This is amazing!! I love to hear about stories of young people in the fashion industry who find problems in the market and then instead of just putting up with them they actually go and do something about it. In this case, they took it to the highest level and created a company that filled the void. How great is that!!!













Now let's talk about how to break these rules and utilize this style of shoe in an everyday wardrobe. Velvet house slippers are considered by many to be something that you put to use when you want to dress up in your home but don't want to wear regular shoes nor slippers. If you are really fancy you can accompany them with a nice velour jacket and you will have a great Hugh Hefner look going on. This look is cool and great but it is not the only way to use these shoes. Depending on how bold you are, these shoes can go from wearing with shorts all the way to throwing them on with a suit. Obviously, if you put them with shorts, you need to be somewhat nicely dressed, up above. For example, don't wear them with a pair of cargo shorts and a t-shirt or you will look like an idiot. Get a nice pair of shorts and maybe a button up or a nice shirt/polo and put them on and you will have a great alternative to flip flops and a t-shirt for a warm day while still being able to stay cool and not overdressed. To wear them with jeans or casual pants is even easier, it really doesn't take much explanation. Treat them like any other shoe. The great thing about these shoes is that they are cut low, allowing you to have fun with your socks and wear something that stands out and adds a little bit of character to your outfit.




















To dress them up is also very simple and it looks great. I love pairing them with jeans and a sport coat, it's a easy and it's a great look! Now, they are not the most dressiest of shoes unless done with an elongated cut, much like a Ferragamo would and in black. So if you are going to wear them in colors other than black, realize that if paired with a suit it can give a little bit more of a casual look to your outfit. Nonetheless, they look great dressed up, just don't wear them to an interview!!




















On Del Toro's website you can see all of the options that they provide and the prices that correlate to each style. You can purchase directly through them and like I said before, they come at a great price for a well built, comfortable shoe. At $165, you can't beat it and if you don't have something like this, it is definitely a nice addition to your wardrobe. You would think that they are hard to wear, but after this article I know that you will see just how easy it really is!! The blue and red velour options are a must have!!

www.deltoroshoes.com

Shoe Of The Day

While these shoes, by St. Crispin, are not necessarily anything out of the ordinary, what struck me as unique was the fact that the bands across the vamp area are part of the rest of the upper leather and not a separate piece like you would usually find in the average slip-on with a band. The only thing that I can gather on how it was constructed is that on the other end, that you cannot see, the band must be attached by stitching because it would not be possible to have that just be one piece of leather without any other seam beside the heel connection. Nonetheless, the shoe is great! It has a great color, a great style and would be a great addition to any man's wardrobe!

Monk Straps

Why don't you ever see anyone wear monk strap shoes? I really can't figure it out. You hardly ever see them for sale at stores and even more rarely see them being worn. I feel like they are going into extinction. But why?? Are you afraid to wear them? Do you like them? In my encounters with them and bringing them out to customers on the sales floor I feel like they are the leper of shoes, the thing that everyone wants to stay away from! It makes no sense to me, because in my mind they are such a bad-ass shoe!






















Shoes At Very Top (Orange): Sutor Mantellassi
Clockwise From Top Left: Anthony Delos; Dimitri Bottier: Edward Green; Bontoni

What kills me about me writing this though is that I currently don't own one and I am feeling like such a big hypocrite writing these things. I used to own one but during my last two years of hiatus, I had to get rid of many things that weren't absolutely necessary. I recycled them, however, to my friend to keep the style living and set out on a quest to get one as soon as possible. What was great though, was that the same friend whom I gave them to also gave me something: a monk strap upper just waiting for me to turn it into a shoe. That being, the next pair of shoes that I make for myself will be a beige suede monk strap (only a tad darker than the one above by Dimitri) with a button and necessary hole as the fastener. Might be hard to imagine but you can bet that as soon as I go back to Europe (ETA Sept.) and make that shoe, I will post pictures immediately!!!




















All Shoes Above By: John Lobb

Two companies seem to be keeping them alive though: John Lobb and Stefano Bemer. As you can tell by the pictures above and below, both companies have very unique and different styles yet it is clearly obvious that John Lobb's specialty is the double monk strap while Stefano Bemer's is the single monk strap. Not to say that both companies don't make beautiful shoes in the contrary design but it seems as their preferences lie clearly in the photos as well as in their websites. It's good to see that shoemakers are still making them even when it doesn't seem that many people are wearing them. Yet, while I think about it, maybe it is just boring-ass Americans who don't wear them because I now remember seeing them relatively often on the feet of men in Italy. Can't say that I see too many of them in England but I would not be surprised if they were more prevalent in France. Nevertheless they are still dwindling in sitings and it needs to turn around.


























All Shoes Above By: Stefano Bemer

I hear so many men talk about how monk straps aren't dressy enough for work and this and that, but I think that it is all a load of bullshit and they either really don't like them, don't know how to wear them or are just plain pansies who are afraid to change from their norm! Whatever the case, its crap!! Monk straps are dressy enough to wear with the finest of suits and look great in work attire. In my opinion, a very nice monk strap is one of the most elegant shoes available second only to a beautiful wholecut oxford. People, get your shit together, as I will when I make my pair, and get yourself a nice beautiful monk strap shoe!!!!












Left Shoe: Koji Suzuki
Right Shoe: Santoni

Shoe Of The Day

First off, I just want to apologize for the long absence without a proper article but planning a wedding, getting married and taking a short honeymoon takes up much of your free time. I promise that I will post one of Tuesday! To kind of drag on this wedding shoe stuff I thought that I would post something that satisfies both the classic man who wants to wear black, shiny shoes as well as the modern man who wants to try something different. These shoes by Dimitri Bottier have the feel of what French royalty used to wear back in the 1700 or 1800's. I love the added touch of the fabric across the vamp as well as along the edge of the mouth of the shoe. Details like this always set a shoe apart for me, taking it from average to amazing! This pair, I would have worn for my wedding!

My Wedding Shoes

Well, the professional photos may take a while to finish so I thought that I would take a couple myself to just show all of you what I decided to wear for my wedding. Enjoy!

In case you were wondering....

Shoes: My own make
Suit: H&M
Watch: Nixon
Tie: Robert Talbot
Shirt: Primark

Shoe Of The Day

I am a sucker for Ferragamo and it's because of great shoes like these that they seem to always keep my interest. The uniqueness of velour always adds a touch of brilliance to that which seems to lack in being just a plain calfskin. The shoe above would be just another black driving loafer had it not been made with velour. But with the velour it is something completely different. There is a different feel to it, different things that it can be used for such as more elegant occasions, fancier outfits but at the same time would look great with the right pair of jeans. It is a great material that should be used more in the shoe industry. A velour post will be coming soon so be on the look out! Wait until you see my pair of Ferragamo velour shoes, they are wild!