Square-toed shoes

[F4iryder14]

I am in the minority here, but I personally like the look of squared toed shoes. I don't like them quite as sharply squared as the ones that were pictured, but I like them nonetheless. I don't wear them for formal or business occasions, I have a pair of wingtips for that, but I find that for clubbing or bars and such that they are a good look. And both pairs that I own have been complimented on by the past couple girls I've dated, so they can't be all that bad...

Kevin

 

[A Harris]

The low end of the market is always a ways behind - that is where you are going to find these styles still, in the $75-$150 price point. I guess if you tool up to mass produce a style, you might as well milk it for as long as you can. Pretty soon now they'll pick up on the ultra-pointy shoes and then sell them until long after the top brands have moved on to something else.

It's always better to stick to fairly classic styles. This still gives you a lot of room for choice - say, as narrow as the Vass U last, which is a dead ringer for slim benchmades I've seen in 80+ year old pictures, or as square as some Mantellassi. Very different shapes, but both will still be wearable for longer than the shoes will last.

 

[bengal-stripe]

The low end of the market is always a ways behind - that is where you are going to find these styles still, in the $75-$150 price point. I guess if you tool up to mass produce a style, you might as well milk it for as long as you can. Pretty soon now they'll pick up on the ultra-pointy shoes and then sell them until long after the top brands have moved on to something else.

As a manufacturer, if you change the shape of the shoe, you need a new set of lasts, which will cost you a considerable sum of money.

Why not milk them as long as there are people who are are willing to buy them. When sales drop off, they will change.

 

[T4phage]

Ohhh... those horrible sqaure shoes.. I was guilty of that sin, I had a pair of Prada's a few years back, square toe apron front oxfords. The nastiest thing made: uncomfortable, uncompromising (to your foot), what was I thinking ... Wore it about 6 times (to the constant derision of my wife

) and got rid of it.

 

[marc37]

l really like the square toes. l agree with Harris that the square toe are mainly upper-bottom end shoes, however not all shoes are. l have a couple of dozen good year welted and blake constructed square toes that are very good quality. (They still look new). l have grown tired of square toes now. They started going out of fashion 12 months ago. l now wear alot of traditional shaped shoes: especially chiselled. Alot of people still wear them though. l don't understand your dislike of square toes one little bit. l like them with wide jeans. l have several pairs that almost look exactly like the shoe in the ebay picture (alot better quality though: good year welted). l like a shoe with a very chunky high heal; not all but some. l remember at my peak time [as a fashionista; round toes were frowned upon and seen as ugly and nerdy]. l [as a result of this board], try to be less fashion orientated and more traditional. Some of my fashionista friends are cringing and think l am getting old and past it. Maybe l am. l remember looking at pictures from the 1920's; nearly all the men had square and chiselled toe shoes.

 

[justlurkingthanks]

I blame Steve Madden for popularizing the platypus shoe. I think he deserved jail for that more than any financial indiscretion.

 

[Phil]

I could be wrong, but I really find it hard to beleive that anyone wore a pair of shoes that looked like that in the 1920s. I love looking at old photos, but I really dont think ive ever seen a pair like that. However, I would love to be proved wrong.

 

[T4phage]

I could be wrong, but I really find it hard to beleive that anyone wore a pair of shoes that looked like that in the 1920s. Â I love looking at old photos, but I really dont think ive ever seen a pair like that. Â However, I would love to be proved wrong.

Same here, I haven't seen that type toe in old archived photos. I have no clue what marc37 is talking about (which is about 99% of the time

)

 

[johnnynorman3]

Like I said before, there is a difference between a shoe that has a squared toe at the tip, and one whose entire bottom sole is a giant square. The former can be quite dashing (see the Santonis that are up for sale in the Buying/Selling forum). But these Ebay ones are just grotesque.

But, so many people still think the square toed like those look better. Case in point -- my 23 year old brother. He is a definite "fashionista" who would rather be wearing Armani Exchange than Borrelli. I'm hoping to god that he doesn't wear a duck billed shoe as my best man at my wedding -- I think it would clash with the quite beautiful Corneliani suit he picked up while visiting me in Boston.

 

[marc37]

l have tried to post a picture from an old RACV magazine in the 1920's, but it didn't turn out - too dark. (RACV = a car magazine. They have had old photo's in their publications of people and cars from the 1920's recently).

 

[color_reporter]

I wouldn't call people who wear Armani Exchange fashionistas; they deserve better than that.

Anyway I was also once guilty of wearing square-toed shoes. It seems when young people try to distance themselves from the older generation they often commit the mistake of choosing something ridiculous just because it's different. No offense to anyone but to many 20-somethings Allen Edmonds are not exactly "hip." And many of them don't have financial resource to buy truely fahsionable high end shoes, so they regrettably go to Kenneth Cole or Banana Republic..

 

[LabelKing]

I wouldn't call people who wear Armani Exchange fashionistas; they deserve better than that.

Quite true.

Armani Exchange is for "style conscious" teens, and young adults.

 

[johnnynorman3]

I wouldn't call people who wear Armani Exchange fashionistas; they deserve better than that.

Anyway I was also once guilty of wearing square-toed shoes. It seems when young people try to distance themselves from the older generation they often commit the mistake of choosing something ridiculous just because it's different. No offense to anyone but to many 20-somethings Allen Edmonds are not exactly "hip." And many of them don't have financial resource to buy truely fahsionable high end shoes, so they regrettably go to Kenneth Cole or Banana Republic..

By "fashionista" I wasn't intending to be derogatory.

I second the "AE isn't hip" thing. The Aldens I just picked up from Brooks Brothers -- I certainly wouldn't wear them to a chic restaurant. They are for suiting. You are also right that there is a dearth of those "in between" shoes from high end makers. I do opt for Banana Republic for such shoes, as I think that on sale they can sometimes be very good value (there is some good quality there at times, but not always), and they have some nice styling as well. To lump Banana in with Kenneth Cole is, I think, a mistake.

 

[Brian SD]

Are EG Stowes considered "hip?" Because I oh so dearly want to be hip, and I lust after those shoes daily.

I, myself, am guilty of having a pair of clunky square-toed Kenneth Coles. *Sigh*, thankfully I've changed since that disaster of a $75 investment.

 

[johnnynorman3]

I think EGs are very stylish, but how can they be considered "hip"? Those that employ the word hip don't even know what EGs are.

I find them very cool, though I just don't see how you could wear EGs with, say, a pair of jeans. But I could definitely see how you could wear them to a chic restaurant/bar, etc.