The brown Adelaide brogues in the photo came out of storage the other day for the first time since March. They and the boots have replaced the spectators, white bucks and tan shoes of summer in the active rotation.
The shade that most makers call chestnut is useful as a rough boundary between spring and fall shoe colors. In the sunshine of spring, chestnut tends to be as dark a brown as a man needs, with some exception granted to chocolate brown suede. And in the gloomier days of fall and winter, it fills the reverse role as the lightest shade in the closet. Generally, dark oak and espresso look better.
Autumn is here. Wear darker brown shoes.
Thursday, October 1, 2009
Darker Shoes for the Season
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11 comments:
Will,
I've read twice now that you wear boots in the fall. Since I haven't seen you wear jeans in ASL, I'd like to know how *you* wear boots for the fall. Which pants, length, etc.
seth
What do jeans have to do with it? Boots look great with suits or odd jackets.
For example:
http://asuitablewardrobe.dynend.com/2009/01/asw-winter-boot.html
and
http://asuitablewardrobe.dynend.com/2007/08/shining-shannons.html
When you put away your shoes for an extended length of time, is there anything special you do to care for them? I'm hoping to do some long-term traveling soon, and I'd like to ensure that my shoes are in good condition when I come back to them.
Will,
Love the socks. If you don't mind me asking, do you have a particular pair you really favor? I loved the "Socks with Clocks" post from a few days back.
Thanks!
Socks give a man freedom of expression when the rest of his clothes may need to be more conservative but I don't favor a particular pair.
Kaizen, if the shoes are put away with plenty of polish on them, they will stay moist enough for six months. I might worry about them if they were put away for significantly longer.
What might you add about the color of the trousers in the photo, as they seem to perhaps fix a boundary for the shoulder season? In other words, an inference I draw from this is that you would day it makes sense to use darker shoes but perhaps not yet, as the mood may strike, the charcoal or navy trousers for sunny fall days--but not the reverse as such darker trousers with lighter shoes such as a chestnut looks a bit off?
Good to see you're not proposing using off-the-shelf shoes trees Will.
I was upbraided by Trickers for using a pair;
"Why are you fighting with your feet at the same time as wasting your money? I was asked.
The fine people at Trickers recommended newspaper or "tissue if you need".
Think about it. If you're shoes aren't bespoke they are made on a common last.
When you 'break them in' you are shaping the leather to your feet. A common shoe tree simply undoes this.
A longer post than usual, but there you go.
Beautiful shoes. Wearing my AE Strands today, in dark brown. ;-)
Not yet affluent enough for bespoke shoes, I have always used shoe trees. I have some shoes nigh on twenty years old that still look good, due in part, I believe, to shoe trees.
I would rather fight my shoes (as it were) and have them look good than have very comfortable shoes that look like I swiped them from an elf.
It's what I love about Northampton craftsman (/people). They create exquisite products but retain a very pragmatic attitude to what they do.
Different strokes for different folks and all that.
Be that as it may Horatio, I will be sure to pass your advice onto the chaps at Trickers.
Who knows, it may help them last another 190 years.
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