Shoes Basics

Tuesday, November 6, 2012

Shoes Basics

THE LACES

The rules for men's footwear may be less stringent, but it is an inescapable fact that a lace-up still looks better with a suit than a slip-on. The general rule is that the more eyelets the shoe has the more formal it is. Classic cap toes and wing tips should have at least five.

THE COLOR

Black will always be dressier than brown. If you're suiting up for a board meeting or a formal event, go with the former. If necessary., however, you can pair brown lace-ups with suits-especially navy or charcoal-as long as they're Scuff-free.

THE MATERIAL

Glossy leather is the fail-safe choice, but you should feel free to experiment with suede-starting with a pair of classic bucks and progressing to exotic materials like alligator and ostrich or the growing number of antiqued leathers. Note: Battered isn't the same as
distressed.

THE TOE

An elongated toe is unequivocally classier than a square. That doesn't mean all your lace-ups should be pointy-lots of elegant cap toes have squared-off tips but unless you're aiming for mid-nineties nostalgia, no shoes you wear should have a blunt, squared-off toe .

THE WELT

Well-made lace-ups should have a close welt- the seam where the upper meets the sole and creates the outer edge of the shoe. It should be visible, but it shouldn'textend so far past the edge of the shoe that it creates
a ledge.

THE SOLE

A thin sole is the hallmark of a cheap shoe-plus, it not only looks cut-rate, it wears out more quickly. Yours should be at least a quarter-of-an-inch thick and preferably leather, not rubber.

THE BROGUING

Traditionalists will tell you that the more broguing-decorative stitching and perforated and serrated edges-a shoe has·, the less dressy it is. But while it's true that heavily embellished bucks look better with sport jackets and tweed than with pinstripe suits, this rule is flexible.