MoneyWellSpent's Southern Trad Thread

[MoneyWellSpent]



I'm not sure how I feel about these. I don't much care for mixed metaphors.

In other words, you feel like they are a contradiction between two distinct styles, sorta like a "casual oxford" like so many of the things AE is cranking out these days?

I suppose I can see that point of view, and it hits me harder with some shoes than others. I kinda take it on a case by case basis. These don't strike me that way.

 

[Caustic Man]

I guess I just don't know what to make of them. I mean, loafers are casual to begin with, boat shoes even more so. Why an in-between for the two? I personally don't have a use for them, but that doesn't mean they are useless, of course!

 

[MoneyWellSpent]



I guess I just don't know what to make of them. I mean, loafers are casual to begin with, boat shoes even more so. Why an in-between for the two? I personally don't have a use for them, but that doesn't mean they are useless, of course!

Yeah, they fit my rotation really well for my warm weather months. I wear them on the weekends with shorts and no-show socks. I wear them to work with chinos on bad weather days, and they look a tad more "professional" than a standard boat shoe. Of course, the use of the word professional here is coming from a work environment similar to what you would find in Silicone Valley, so I'm certainly out dressing most colleagues. In a similar way of thinking, these just strike me as a small notch higher, and a subtle way of demonstrating that I didn't just run down to the local department store and grab a pair of Sperry's like everyone else. Not that there is anything wrong with that at all, of course, if they are the preference.

 

[Caustic Man]

Hmmm, you know how they would make more sense to me? Perhaps as an alternative to boat shoes rather than an in-between formality between boat shoes and loafers. I don't see them as any more formal (using the term "formal" feels wrong when talking about loafers

) than regular boat shoes but perhaps just an alternative style. It seems to me that your use of them makes perfect sense, though. In a very casual workplace always wearing true loafers might seem like a bit much.

 

[MoneyWellSpent]

I think that if I had gone with the traditional design of a boat shoe, I probably would go a bit upscale to something from Rancourt, Quoddy, or Oakstreet. That would be another great way of stepping away from the masses.

I didn't worry about that with these, since they were a design difference, so was able to stay at the Sperry/Sebago price point for a change. These are Sebago's.

Mind you, I'm not positive that I would buy them again, but I also haven't regretted them by any stretch.

 

[MoneyWellSpent]

One more clarification to the above... I don't have a strong need to stand out or differentiate myself through dress most of the time. I am under no illusion that I am somehow an "individual" by my wardrobe.

In this context, however, I felt a tad different. Where I live, boat shoes are on 80% of every person walking around, from ages 10 to 60, males and females alike (with the girls wearing the flashy pastel colored ones) so as someone who cares about clothing, they get a bit over done.

Something different was a breath of fresh air when I came across these.

 

[Caustic Man]

^^^ I completely understand this. I don't feel the need to "be different" all the time either, but sometimes you just gotta. It usually happens with shoes with me too.

 

[smittycl]

K-Swiss is my go-to casual shoe. Billy Reid (Southern non-Trad designer from Florence, AL) has many good choices. Also have Allen Edmonds' (sadly discontinued) Peyton's in Walnut, Brown and Black. Leather tennis shoes basically. Gave up on the boat shoes a while ago for some reason I can't seem to articulate.

 

[An Acute Style]



I find that the boat shoe/penny loafer hybrids are a fantastic way to depart from the herd of southerners wearing their boat shoes, in a quiet, subtle, and tasteful way.

Also, if you can get it, the tone on tone sole is more versatile than the equivalent models with a contrasting white sole.

I hate hybrid shoes. Yuck.

 

[Caustic Man]



Ooh, ow. I really don't like those. Lol

 

[smittycl]

To each his own as the saying goes! Much easier to walk in than boat shoes for me. They pair very well with jeans or casual pants. I must be in the minority as AE dropped them several years ago.

 

[Caustic Man]

They certainly are not what I would call a classic shoe. Like you say though, to each their own.

 

[MoneyWellSpent]



I hate hybrid shoes. Yuck.

 

[smittycl]

E Peyton in action! All linen for a Friday night out on the town. (Promise I won't clog up your Southern Trad forum anymore unless I go full Tom Wolfe). Had to give my favorite casual shoe a shout-out.

 

[Caustic Man]

Clog it! There are so few tradists that we need more people to post fits. This is OUR thread!