Nick Foulkes' Shoes

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.

Quotation: Count D'Orsay's Example

"I very much enjoyed learning about him, his contemporaries and his way of life. I must also confess to a little bit of what might be called method-writing: inspired by D'Orsay's example of scented gloves I have taken to dabbing my watchstraps with Caron's Coup de Fouet and I've even purchased a white buckskin greatcoat, of which I am sure the count would have approved."

- Last of the Dandies: The Scandalous Life and Escapades of Count D'Orsay by Nick Foulkes

Working Wardrobes

There are probably three stages of evolution for a professional wardrobe. I think of them as Starting Out, Mid-Career and I've Made It. and they apply to everyone that works in large organizations (there's a completely different track for men whose career depends on standing out, as exemplified by the photograph of English writer Nick Foulkes).

When someone is starting out, dressing for the position he wants instead of the position he has can be an important part of a career strategy. But it’s not simple dressing for success because it's disastrous to overdo it. Trying too hard is counterproductive -it does little good to be well dressed with a back full of arrows from alienated co-workers.

You'd think that dressing for the next level up would be unproductive but it works because surprisingly few people actually do it. Starting Out is when people need to start investing in a sound clothing foundation that will serve them for at least half of the rest of their lives (quality clothing lasts a surprisingly long time). Acquire tried and true basics that don't call attention to themselves so they can be worn repeatedly without anyone thinking "It must be Tuesday. Will's got that cream linen jacket on again." The strategy may sound boring but it's possible to be both well and appropriately dressed in many organizations while wearing nothing more than shirts, trousers and sweaters. It doesn't cost a fortune either.

Mid Career is just more of the same on a bigger playing field. In mid-career, people begin dealing with people from outside their organizations and their wardrobes need to accommodate meetings with people in different environments that may include bankers in London and factory managers in Shanghai as well as the folks they began their career with. This is the time when a man needs a wardrobe full of the equivalent of a gray pick and pick suit, blue end on end shirt, dark brown oxfords, a black grenadine necktie and a white linen handkerchief for his jacket's breast pocket.

Only when a man gets to I've Made It may he be free to really express himself with his dress where he earns a living. That may just mean he wears khakis and polos every day because it's what's appropriate when he's making artisanal goat cheese. It could mean he's the one guy in the company that comes in wearing a Savile Row suit and a bow tie. Whatever his style, it's unlikely that his tweeds are as brightly patterned as those of Mr. Foulkes.