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The Oxford-Shoe-Worn-Casually Appreciation Thread

yorkshire pud

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Barker isn't that bad, but the next time I'm in your neck of the woods, I'm definitely wearing my C&Js.

But yes, oxfords with or without suits in Leeds, London, etc, from your recollection?

??
 

JohnMRobie

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My dad had an old MGB GT when I was a kid, and we used work on it along with my first car - an '86 Jeep (and by we I mean I handed him things).

I bought a 5 series in college (like a moron), and once I saw under the hood I realized I'd never probably work on my own car again.
8137F4C7-FBD0-441D-A3FD-C15B952A558B.jpeg
 

yorkshire pud

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Sorry @yorkshire pud I apologize for a bit of fun. Forgive the sarcasm, but I took your post as a literal response to mine. It seems you think I believe Holmes is real. Perhaps my post wasn't clear enough for you to gather that I posited that his character, while fictional, was based on then-current fashions. To help, I've copied what I wrote and bolded words that may help to clarify:


Perhaps I should have qualified that by inserting additional descriptive ***helper*** phrases, like

Please do let me know if my American translates into English.

At any rate, I'd like to direct your attention to the point of the post, ergo: Doyle was referencing fashions that were present at the time.

I was kidding ?
 

yorkshire pud

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For a country that doesn't wear loafers, lots of reputable British stores sell loafers.




Advertising them for sale and actually selling them are two entirely different things ?
 

dieworkwear

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Advertising them for sale and actually selling them are two entirely different things ?

Nearly all the sizes are sold out for these models, so presumably, some people are buying them.



 

smittycl

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Plenty of men around DC wear loafers with their suits. It's fairly common around here.
I do all the time. Also, they are more comfortable for my rode-hard-and-put-away-wet feet.
 

JFWR

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Nearly all the sizes are sold out for these models, so presumably, some people are buying them.




Why would anyone give the colour as "foul brown"? Raw sewage. Really?
 

yorkshire pud

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Nearly all the sizes are sold out for these models, so presumably, some people are buying them.




There are quite a few Americans living in the UK, I have three of them myself ?

Then you have the Mods/Skins/Suedeheads/Rude Boys/Soul Boys etc.?

Don't Forget the Seventy five year old future King's collection of slip ons ?
 

grc1

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Suppose we could ask @grc1 if he’s the only one wearing loafers around in London? With suits no less.

I can definitely say I’m not the ONLY one wearing loafers with a suit. London is a big place, after all :).

That said, if I had to say based on living and working on both sides of the pond (albeit in very specific urban corporate environments that can’t hope to reflect the population as a whole) for roughly equal time, I’d surmise that the baseline on this side is more skewed towards oxfords with suits than it is stateside, where suits with loafers I think are more the norm.

I surmise that, like French cuffs, oxford shoes in the US are seen as signifying that the wearer is more formal/dandified/pretentious, whereas here I think oxfords are probably the most neutral shoe you can wear and loafers do the signifying (that you’re connected with the Italian mob, or are trying to look like you are). Or, just as likely, I’m talking bollocks and who really gives a **** anyway (the obvious answer being the sod who started this thread lol).
 

UrbanComposition

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OK so can we get back to what this thread is all about? I still haven’t seen a good example of oxfords worn casually. Corporate dudes are encouraged to submit for teh lolz.
 

emptym

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Here's a nice, substantive argument we can sink our teeth into. Thanks for posting this out in the public.

First, my initial claim was only about laced dress shoes. So my argument was directed against the derby and the blucher. This is because loafer styles don't intersect with laced shoe styles barely at all. There aren't any kiltie oxfords or penny bluchers.

Second, I am not making the claim of just variability, but aesthetically pleasing variability. For instance, a long-wing oxford is a rare, but existent, style; however, I'd say it is also ugly as sin. The long-wing style doesn't go with the oxford style. A long-wing style goes best with the blucher.

My claim is that the aesthetically pleasing combinations are as followed (updated as I didn't consider all of them):

Oxfords: Adelaides, medallion toe, cap toes, quarter brogues, half brogues, full brogues, wholecuts.
Derbys: 3-eyelet plain toes, split-toed, full brogue (rustic styles especially).
Bluchers: Plain toed, long-wing.

In the "styles that I think look good involving laced shoes", I'd say the oxford has the most variability.

Now why do these styles look good to me? Well, two reasons mainly: 1. They strike me as aesthetically pleasing. 2. They have a tradition of being made in these styles.

Part of the reason that long-winged oxfords don't work is for reason number 2: there isn't a great tradition of it. Now why do I believe this to be the case? Because it's an aesthetic miss. It is not just that "it isn't done", but that "it isn't done because it looks bad." Just like virtually no good company makes bicycle-toed anything, because bicycle toes are ugly as sin. Ultimately then, reason #1 is the real reason, even if it can be cashed out in terms of tradition at times.

Now if we complicate matters more, we can get into different leather types, leather grains, etc. For instance, I think your claim is right that derbys can look good "elegant" or "frumpy" in a way an oxford can't. For instance, I don't think oxfords pull off "rustic" as well, with the specifics in mind that I think something like scotch grain doesn't work as well with oxfords.

If loafers are brought into the mix, then there might be a claim that they are more variable than oxfords, as all the major types are recognized as looking good in the right context, even though there is no real overlap in the styles.
Ah, I missed the part about them looking good to you. I think there's a lot of derbies/blutchers (same thing despite Gentleman's Gazette, which I think is the main source for people who want to distinguish them), that look good in general. But if we're just talking about which shoes we think look good personally, then I would be happy with just penny loafers (the Alden LHS) and george boots (by DWFII). George boots are high chukkas, and basically are derbies, I guess.

I think I've given away all of my true derbies (except a pair of shell boots), and the only derbies I like nowadays are wide, split-toes, like Vass Norwegers, and wholecut ptbs. But I don't own any. I do like oxfords and have a few pairs, but I only wear a suit once or twice a year, and even then I'll probably reach for the LHS in black or #8 shell, depending on the formality of the event. I've gone to funerals and even gave a convocation address in black shell LHS (sorry to both DWW and Stylewords). Venetian and wholecut loafers are the other type of shoe I wear pretty frequently. I'd like a pair of black balmoral boots for attending formalish events when I want to arrive by motorcycle or bicycle.

I didn't think there were such things as oxford longwings! But a quick google search reveals at least this pair of longwing adelaides, from an aptly named site.
My dad had an old MGB GT when I was a kid, and we used work on it along with my first car - an '86 Jeep (and by we I mean I handed him things).

I bought a 5 series in college (like a moron), and once I saw under the hood I realized I'd never probably work on my own car again.
My first car was a MGB. My two younger brothers and I pooled our money together and got it when I was 16. It's still at our parents' house. My dad didn't know much about car repair, but his best friend did, so I'd visit him whenever the car needed work, which was often.
 

JFWR

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Ah, I missed the part about them looking good to you. I think there's a lot of derbies/blutchers (same thing despite Gentleman's Gazette, which I think is the main source for people who want to distinguish them), that look good in general. But if we're just talking about which shoes we think look good personally, then I would be happy with just penny loafers (the Alden LHS) and george boots (by DWFII). George boots are high chukkas, and basically are derbies, I guess.

I think I've given away all of my true derbies (except a pair of shell boots), and the only derbies I like nowadays are wide, split-toes, like Vass Norwegers, and wholecut ptbs. But I don't own any. I do like oxfords and have a few pairs, but I only wear a suit once or twice a year, and even then I'll probably reach for the LHS in black or #8 shell, depending on the formality of the event. I've gone to funerals and even gave a convocation address in black shell LHS (sorry to both DWW and Stylewords). Venetian and wholecut loafers are the other type of shoe I wear pretty frequently. I'd like a pair of black balmoral boots for attending formalish events when I want to arrive by motorcycle or bicycle.

I didn't think there were such things as oxford longwings! But a quick google search reveals at least this pair of longwing adelaides, from an aptly named site.

My first car was a MGB. My two younger brothers and I pooled our money together and got it when I was 16. It's still at our parents' house. My dad didn't know much about car repair, but his best friend did, so I'd visit him whenever the car needed work, which was often.

The only pair I had known about before this one was an old Florsheim longwinged oxford a guy here on the Vintage thread posted. The balmoral-ish cut to those oxford longwings aren't bad, but I still think it's a pretty strange style.

If we do want to merge bluchers and derbies together - and I'm only speaking shoes here, not boots - then I'd say you still only have these styles that work the best:

Plain toed, 3 eyelet plain toe, split toe, long wing, and rustic full brogues.

That's still less than oxfords making nice adelaides, medallion toe, cap toes, quarter brogues, half brogues, full brogues, wholecuts.

About the only thing I would say is that I generally don't like grain leather for oxfords, but I think they look good in cordovan, reptile, and suede. So in that sense, I think in terms of "good styles", the oxford wins out in terms of variability.

The loafer, though, could conceivably have as much, or better, variability than the oxford depending on what you count and how you count it. I think it's a stretch to call the opera pump a loafer given that it is such a restricted shoe type, and I think the lazy man sits between being a laced shoe and a loafer, given that it is basically a "fake oxford" for people who don't like to tie their shoes (like Churchill).
 

acapaca

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OK so can we get back to what this thread is all about? I still haven’t seen a good example of oxfords worn casually. Corporate dudes are encouraged to submit for teh lolz.
You still haven't defined what you mean by 'casually'. Give us some guidance here.
 

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