Men's shoes (and boots) were black for at least 2,000 years. The Roman senators wore them. Then, sometime after World War II, an Italian man whose name escapes me dedicated himself to popularizing brown, and he was followed by various Parisians who made shoes in every hue. Many of those were not fit for public consumption, but the fact remains that color in shoes is with us to stay. Indeed, George Glasgow of
G. J. Cleverley, who was kind enough to share today's photos of a newly made pair of definitely non-black de Rede slip-ons, tells me that they sold not a single pair of bespoke black in America outside of New York City last year.
Color in shoes is another outgrowth of the breakdown (or liberalization if you must) of the old London rules of dress and, traditionalist that I am, it is difficult for me to wrap my mind around every possibility. All shades of brown are fine of course, as are cream and dark red. But though I would not hold it against you I am not quite ready to adopt midnight blue or dark green for my own wardrobe. As for purple or bright yellow, they are entirely beyond the pale. Except I guess for drivers and casual shoes of that ilk.
Photos by John Park
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4 comments:
Are those the De Rede slipons you were looking for, or did you move on?
I'm sure there are reasons black and brown (and tan) have remained staple colours for a long time; beyond the idea that they reflect general conservatism in male dress.
Were the majority of shoes, especially in Victorian London, black because people eschewed colour or because black worked in many situations for many people?
If coloured shoes became common, clown shoes would appear boring.
Insecure clowns who are desperate for attention can wear orange and purple shoes, but any gentleman wiill abhor these abominations - even from Cleverley. Fortunately my own bookmaker in St James (who only sells bespoke shoes and never dabbles in ready-to-wear) would never propose such preposterousness. No brown in town - of course - I wonder what Charles Revson would have said about that...
I once wore a pair of dark mulberry suede shoes to the Central Criminal Court. Shoes in there are hidden from view by the benches. However, my opponent and I had to see the judge in chambers over an administrative difficulty and I still remember his quite startled look.
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