Air Travel Shoes

On days when either a man's schedule or his sense of propriety require him to wear a jacket and necktie on a commercial air carrier, shoes can be an issue. Air travel shoes must slide off and on easily, so they are easy to remove at security, don for the walk to the gate, remove again for the flight, and then put on again before landing.

Regular ASW readers may recall that I like Belgian Shoes for long flights. Those unfortunately aren't meant for the street, so another form of shoe is required before after the flight. And that's when elastic sided slip-ons come into their own.

Elastic sided slip-ons, like the pictured Edward Green Kibworths, are appropriate with either suits or odd jackets. And, unlike other slip-ons, they are made on the same lasts as an oxford, so the fitting is the same. This is a significant advantage over other casual shoe models (casuals are notoriously quirky to fit) when the buyer is not able to try on the precise shoe he wants. And with hard to find shoes like these, that's often a challenge.

By this point I'm sure someone is muttering to themself that I should just wear a pair of regular loafers. And I may, when I'm on holiday or travelling in an odd jacket. But ordinary loafers, with or without tassels, aren't formal enough to pair with most suits, and that's when I pull out the elastic sided shoes.

Reader Questions

From Benedict
"The overcoat I inherited from my father, a full-length grey single-breasted, has finally collapsed under the weight of years. I am seeking a new, all-purpose overcoat, as i can only stretch to one this season, which would go as well with black tie as the odd jacket and trouser ensembles that make up most of my day-to-day wardrobe. Which style/colour do you think would work best? "

You're likely to get the most use from another full length oxford gray single breasted.

From Simon
"I am wearing a silk velvet smoking jacket to an evening event in the near future and I want to wear a cravat under my white shirt. What knot should I choose?

The tied ascot is worn under your open collar shirt so that an inch of silk fills the tie space. Instructions for tieing a an ascot/cravate are here.



From Joacim
"I got a new job today, starting Monday, and from what I understand everyone wears suits. I'm planning on wearing basic navy and charcoal suits, but what about business shoes? I really hate the combination navy and black, and that goes for shoes as well. Would it be totally wrong to wear brown oxfords, chelsea boots (or any other unlaced kind of dress shoe) with navy and grey suits?"

I also prefer brown shoes to black with navy suits but that shouldn't be your first concern. Wear black oxfords the first few days while you get the lay of the land. Your priority should be to establish yourself as a serious player. You can wear brown shoes for decades once you've done that but it's easy to get categorized as a light weight and hard to overcome that first impression.

It Never Really Went Away

A reader sent me this photo of himself wearing raspberry linen trousers with a white dinner jacket and Belgian Shoes, which reminds me of years ago when the guys I knew dressed like that. It's classic prep, an eastern thing that was diluted somewhere before it got to California via every chain clothing store.

The foundation of preppy dressing was originally an "I don't need to dress for success" style that generally related to preppy sports: casual wear for golf, polo, tennis, rugby, riding and sailing. There were no suits at the country club (the next step upwards in formality was the dinner jacket) and going to work after graduation usually required a completely different wardrobe. I envied the guys that went into publishing and could wear tweed to the office.

The classic prep undergraduate look was a pink, peach or yellow oxford cloth buttondown shirt worn over a polo shirt in a different, preferably clashing, pastel, a vibrant madras jacket (or a loud tweed plaid), Weejuns and khaki trousers. No socks.

The clothes that once signaled WASP membership are costume now. But raspberry linen trousers worn with a white dinner jacket somehow transcends Ralph Lauren.

Socks Around the House

On a Saturday evening, black suede Belgian Shoes, cream and black hoop striped socks and charcoal whipcord trousers. An ecru silk shirt and a dark green velvet smoking jacket are out of the picture.

Walk A Mile on These Soles

A day spent walking the streets of any city as a tourist calls for comfortable shoes. For seeing the sights, I like crepe soles on open laced shoes, so when I wore mine out a while ago I determined to replace them before this year's tourist travel.

My first stop was Edward Green, which doesn't offer crepe soles because, according to managing director Hilary Freeman, "crepe is sold in sheet form and we are left with material which becomes rigid before we are able to use it all." She prefers Dainite, and though I like that material as well I already have a pair. My goal was crepe.

I like crepe because it's soft and cushiony, and provides good traction on wet or dry concrete and bricks. There are a couple of downsides - natural crepe is plantation grown rubber and will become temporarily rigid if frozen or very soft if left in the heat. The cure for rigidity is a minute in a low oven and to fix softness, just sprinkle talcum powder on the soles.

My second stop was Gaziano & Girling, which it turns out does offer crepe. I'm hoping that my crepe soled Wells in chestnut pin grain arrive in time to walk around Glasgow this Fall.

Sources: Belgian Shoes

Strictly speaking, the Belgian Shoes web site does not offer online ordering and, for that, we apologize. In our defense, the web site is more convenient than the Manhattan store, which still maintains genteel hours of 9 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. for its one of a kind merchandise. It's worth the inconvenience, for Belgian Shoes are great house shoes and probably the best thing you can have on your feet for air travel.

Designed by Henri Bendel in the 1940's, Belgian Shoes are typically canvas affairs that you could pound to destruction in a few months of outdoor wear. But that is not their calling, for they are chic, comfortable and don't set off alarms at the gate. Mine accommodate the usual in-flight foot swelling with ease because there's no reason to remove them even during a sixteen hour marathon to the Far East.

Five different styles in various colors range from black velvet evening shoes to fuzzy faux leopard slippers. $325 a pair and worth every penny.