For those that have never heard of Harry’s of London, they are a brand that was created within the last decade aiming at trying to fuse real comfort with timeless style. From what I have gathered, loafers have really been their key focus, or at least what they have capitalized their success upon. I had always kept my eye out on them, as some of their pieces intrigued me and have been waiting to do an article on the blog until I saw something that really grabbed me. Well, it just so happened that as a shoe lover, and now finding myself for 5 hours each day in a place that sells loads of shoes, I tend to scour the Selfridges shoe floor once a week to see if there is anything new that grabs me that I can share with all of you. And curiously enough, these Harry’s loafers did grab me, particularly the tan pebble grain ones. Now many of you know that I can be quite a loafer fan, particularly one with braided tassel bits, so needless to say when I saw these and their new calf offerings, I was intrigued. While I personally still have a hard time justifying +�300 for a pair of rubber soled loafers, it’s good to see something different being designed, especially when it’s cool….
They do look very good – I like the scotch grain too, and the blue suede. The last shape looks appealing – classy, but also like it’s designed to have a foot in it!
But I agree, that’s a lot of money for a rubber-soled loafer. Will wait for the grain version of the J Fitzpatricks maybe….
Justin what’s your view on the quality of shoe? Would you wear a pair? When i had a look it’s pretty much flat soled shoe (with a negligible heel height), this gives it a informal look irrelevant of the rest of the styling of the shoe, looks a bit strange with tailored clothing IMO similar to wearing a driving loafer with a suit.
Their sizing is also bizarre (perhaps due to the width of the lasts they use) you need to size down 1/2 to 1 whole size which is fine to try on and do but doesn’t inspire confidence as if you can’t do this intelligently how on earth can you go about doing all the other technical things they claim to be doing properly?
They also seem to be charging very rich prices (some would less generously call it exorbitant) for a glued rubber soled factory made shoe @ �300 and up. They have no tenure like a c&j or Weston but want to charge in the same bracket for a shoe which looks like it shares more in common with a Nike trainer than a traditional shoe and therefore one would assume costs to be in a similar level to a trainer too? Some of their branding is a bit unpleasant for my taste with pictures online displaying other brands of shoes in a bin with stories saying that customers left them behind on buying their fantastic shoes (sounds a bit unbelievable to me and if they are making thisup makes me question their ethics in general).
Anand
I have the Downing loafers, they were pretty steep 295 is a lot in pretty much anyones money, I really liked the shape of them and was keen for some shoes that didn’t have leather soles. I don’t think they look quite as nice as the leather soled variety but they are honest with it and the coloured soles are a bit different. I have had them for just over a year now, they are still in pretty good condition, the soles have held up to a year of daily wear and abuse. I will be getting the same again. They are modern and comfortable without looking clunky and childish.
Alex B – indeed…..
Anand – answered via email…
Anon – Thanks for sharing!
-Justin