There are twenty-three pair of shoes and slippers in the collection of English author Nick Foulkes (photographed for a Japanese magazine several years ago), and more than half of them are slip-on casuals. Including the horse-bit slip-ons in colored suede (I can't imagine where he can wear those around London).
If I compare Foulke's collection with my recommended shoe wardrobe, the choices are a bit more dandified. Instead of two pair of black oxfords he's got a pair of black half boots and a pair of brogues, which are another way to get through the week. Instead of two pair of brown oxfords he has another pair of half boots and another pair of brogues. His monkstraps are black, and he wears brown chukkas instead of bluchers. And then he's got all those slip-ons in addition to the basics.
I will admit to a bit of envy of the Edward Green Montpelliers in brown crocodile (front row, second from the left), but if I had a pair I'd never wear them.
Thursday, November 29, 2007
Nick Foulkes' Shoes
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4 comments:
I am surprised he has only 23 pair. I would expect more. Let's be honest about it, there are some atrocious choices amongst the shoes on display, including the brightly-coloured loafers. And are those cowboy boots in the back? Good Lord.
23 pairs is only one short of the two dozen said to have been owned by the Duke of Windsor (quoted by Will in his shoe recommendations). Living in London as I do, one does see very occasionally the brightly coloured loafers in the photo (normally on a Sunday in Kensington). This is a phenomenon that non-English people just don't get. Of course the English are conservative, but once in a while we like to mix it up. Indeed, sometimes you can be spotted as non-English by the extreme conservative taste that a non-Englishman think is typical of the English. Will's last post on the shirt as centrepiece is a classic example. That pink gingham check is soooo English, that a non-Englishman would never wear it; just as Foulkes can get away with those loafers because a non-Englishman would never dream of wearing them...
I like the shoe/sock combo he is wearing. I thought he would have more "normal" shoes. But it is always a pleasure to look at him.
i do love the colors though, they are uplifting with whimsy and loveliness. mood enhancing!
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