I've been meaning to write a few posts about this subject for a while, but now just getting around to it.
First, let me disclaim: I am a fashion nightmare, a style idiot, and a pop-culture moron. I make no claims that I'm hip on anything fashion related. I also don't really even need to dress well for work like a lot of folks who work in the finance/corporate world.
That said, I feel there are a few essential items every guy must have.
Shoes
I could put together a bunch of advice, quotes, etc. from people who know more about the subject than me, but trust me, if you work for a living, at some point, I don't care if you are a construction worker or an investment banker, people will look at your shoes.
If you have to wear something other than chucks or slip on vans at work, I'll begin with a nice pair of versatile shoes. Think about it. Shoes are like your mattress, you spend half of your life in them! For most guys, like myself, who don't own 20 pairs of shoes because well, I'm a guy, and I don't think THAT much about my wardrobe. I go for one-size-fits-all-type things.
Now, these could be different for different people. For instance, I wear khaki and/or jeans most of the time--so the shoes I wear most are shoes casual enough for jeans and dressy enough to wear with khaki and a shirt. I also don't actually like wearing sneakers (or tennis shoes for you weirdos who call them that) other than for running. My last pair of 'shoes' (that I wear at least 5 days a week) I've owned for 10 years. I think I paid ~200$ for them at Macy's, and have 1000's of miles on them in probably 10 different countries. Alas, I made a few youthful mistakes that when they finally gave up the ghost, I had to replace with a new pair of shoes. I'm hoping some getting a first job college grad will read this and not make the same mistakes I made.
First my mistakes:
- I bought a 'current trend' style, after 10 years, they were now out of style.
- I bought rubber soles that were not serviceable/replaceable by a cobbler.
I loved those shoes, but they had to go, the newspaper inside just wasn't filling the holes in the sole anymore. It was hard parting with them as we've been through a lot together. I couldn't stand to have that heartbreak with another pair of shoes again so I made a list of some requirements. I thought this through this time. At least I think I did. You tell me.
Requirements:
- Had to work with khaki and jeans, since that's what I wear most.
- Had to be brown/match (see above)
- Had to be a timeless and classic style--I wanted the style to be 'in', 50 years ago as well as 50 years from now.
- Leather, serviceable soles.
- Durable in all weather.
- Finally, made in the USA - Not because I'm a 'crazy made in the USA only nut', but I was a little upset that I couldn't find a pair of new Levi's made in the USA recently, so, for some reason, this was on my list. Perhaps I'll have chance that my 'American' classics won't go away if I support them more. (I can at least try)
My search (and believe me I searched, and searched) brought me to a few choices.
Allen Edmonds
Alden
They fit all of the above requirements. (note: A good cobbler and some bespoke/custom shoes made was an option, and I had thought about it, but with the above two options, I couldn't justify the cost compared to the above) Yes, they are still rather expensive (300-700$), but think about it, if my old shoes weren't out of style and had rubber soles, they would have lasted MUCH longer than 10 years. Investment.
You can find 20yr old Alden's on Ebay, and guess what? they still go for $200+ and are in fantastic shape! Believe me, I 'wanted' to go with used shoes, why buy new if there are perfectly good pair of used shoes out there? Well, my toes were hanging out of my shoes, and I couldn't wait around for my size to come up on Ebay. You know where else you can find them? Estate sales of dead rich people...
Between the two, I went with Alden, based purely on trying them on and finding them to be a little better quality and fit for me than the Allen Edmonds.
I went with long wingtips style, because it's timeless, classic and works with both jeans and khakis due to it being really casual.
I went with brown shell cordovan ('cigar' actually) because cordovan leather is durable and more waterproof than calf-skin. This almost doubled the price of the shoes though. For those who don't know Shell Cordovan is horse leather. I won't get into it, but you can read about it here.
