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No Bluchers with a Business Suit

linux_pro

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Is it okay to wear a pair of slightly squared-off black wingtips with a charcoal pinstriped DB suit? I'm talking about shoes like these (and I am talking about in a business environment): http://www.francos.com/items/item.asp?sku5=29179 Thank you.
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LA Guy

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Manton

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Hmmm...for whatever it's worth, I just checked out the vintage illustrations in Flusser's Dressing the Man and did find some few examples of bluchers being paired with business suits. See pages 40, 54, 93, 96, 173.
P. 40: Clearly an illustration from the late 1940s "Bold Look". Â Also clear that Flusser is using that illustration as a cautionary: "Don't do this." P. 54: Looks like a pair of monks, which I noted were approved by Apparel Arts, even if they are against the rules. P. 93: Not clear to me that those are bluchers. P. 96: You got me; bluchers with a city suit, and it looks pretty good. Â But they are suede, which somehow works better. Â In my experience, suede make feet look smaller, all other things being equal. P. 173: Also an illustration used to convey a "Don't." message. Â Since the point is about socks, Flusser refrains from commenting on the shoes. Â I can't believe that he would approve of bluchers with such an obviously formal ensemble, but who knows.
Evidently, this "crime" has been perpetrated for quite some time.
Why is "crime" in quotes? Â Who are you quoting?
 

bengal-stripe

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What about something like these Berlutis:
dandy_g.jpg
Strictly speaking they are derbies/bluchers, but would anyone call them country? In a derby/blucher you can reduce the number of eyelets, so you increase the length of the vamp and make the shoe more elegant. You cannot do that with an oxford/balmoral. A two or three eyelet V-front is probably the most elegant of all shoe styles.
 

Manton

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but would anyone call them country?
Not me. Yet that's a clearly a non-traditional shoe. Nothing wrong with that. A great many of the shoes we call "classics" today began life in the 20s and 30s as distinctly non-traditional shoes. Perhaps the slim-cut town blucher will also achieve "classic" status some day. Perhaps it already has, and the world has passed me by. Wouldn't be the first time.
 

Will

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The three eyelet velt blucher, and presumeably Berluti's two eyelet version of same, is well matched to lighter weight suitings. The very conservative manager at Edward Green in London does not sniff at them when they are worn in town, unlike his attitude towards conventional bluchers.

Will
 

Manton

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The three eyelet velt blucher, and presumeably Berluti's two eyelet version of same, is well matched to lighter weight suitings. The very conservative manager at Edward Green in London does not sniff at them when they are worn in town, unlike his attitude towards conventional bluchers.
Good enough for me.  I hereby move that the rule be amended to allow two- or three-eyelet bluchers with town suits.  Anyone care to second the motion?
 

Sevcom

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Good enough for me.  I hereby move that the rule be amended to allow two- or three-eyelet bluchers with town suits.  Anyone care to second the motion?
I second the motion (if someone'll send me a pair of Lobb Perriers).
 

jcusey

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Good enough for me. I hereby move that the rule be amended to allow two- or three-eyelet bluchers with town suits. Anyone care to second the motion?
I will vote for the motion (assuming, of course, that someone fulfills sevcom's request for Perriers and thereby brings his conditional second into force) provided that it's amended to include green shoes as well.
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I agree with the proposition without amendment, but there are political realities to consider.
 

Manton

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I will vote for the motion ... provided that it's amended to include green shoes as well.
I hereby withdraw the motion. Â That's a bridge too far. Â Way too far.
 

jcusey

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I hereby withdraw the motion. That's a bridge too far. Way too far.
Well, shoot. I had no idea that Manton would go nuclear over something so minor. Given that he has, and in the hopes that he might be persuaded to reintroduce the motion, I withdraw by insistence on the green shoe amendment and give unconditional support to the original proposal.
 

JLibourel

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(JLibourel @ Feb. 19 2005,20:13) Hmmm...for whatever it's worth, I just checked out the vintage illustrations in Flusser's Dressing the Man and did find some few examples of bluchers being paired with business suits. See pages 40, 54, 93, 96, 173.
P. 40: Clearly an illustration from the late 1940s "Bold Look". Also clear that Flusser is using that illustration as a cautionary: "Don't do this." P. 54: Looks like a pair of monks, which I noted were approved by Apparel Arts, even if they are against the rules. P. 93: Not clear to me that those are bluchers. P. 96: You got me; bluchers with a city suit, and it looks pretty good. But they are suede, which somehow works better. In my experience, suede make feet look smaller, all other things being equal. P. 173: Also an illustration used to convey a "Don't." message. Since the point is about socks, Flusser refrains from commenting on the shoes. I can't believe that he would approve of bluchers with such an obviously formal ensemble, but who knows.
Evidently, this "crime" has been perpetrated for quite some time.
Why is "crime" in quotes? Who are you quoting?
Dear Manton, I respect and value your wisdom and knowledge too much to wish to seem too pettifogging over this matter. However: As to the illustration on p. 54, on closer scrutiny, I think you are right. I believe I can barely descry a buckle and tab on the right shoe. P. 93: If you look closely at the figure's left shoe, they've gotta be bluchers...or maybe I need a new eye exam
confused.gif
. p. 40: Flusser is talking about the coat length, not the shoes. In any event, if the illustrator and editor who originally published this did so approvingly, it does sanction the pairing of bluchers and a suit more than half-a-century ago...at least in the opinion of whoever published the image. p. 173: Huh? Where's the "Don't" message? The caption reads: "Patterned hose help integrate and enliven the top and bottom halves of his ensemble." I've made my living editing and writing for the past 30 years, and I don't see a "Don't" message in that. Admittedly, the bluchers are two-eylet, which seem to be cut some slack in this matter. "Crime" was put in quotes, not because I was quoting anyone but to denote skepticism--a common and accepted literary device, I believe.
 

Manton

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p. 173: Huh? Where's the "Don't" message? The caption reads: "Patterned hose help integrate and enliven the top and bottom halves of his ensemble." I've made my living editing and writing for the past 30 years, and I don't see a "Don't" message in that.
As I read the text, the illustration is used to show that solid socks are boring and should be avoided. Notice that the socks pictured in the illustration are solid navy, whereas in the accompanying text (to the left) Flusser recommends some form of pattern with the same ensemble.
 

JLibourel

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I had considered that as a possible interpretation, but on close examination, it did look to me as if there were some sort of design in the weave of the socks in the picture...or maybe I am just imagining things.
 

Manton

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There appears to be a seam or at most a self-clock. But no real pattern. I interpret the shoe-and-sock picture below the text as being Flusser's preferred option for the ensemble in question.
 

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