I recently went to Windsor to see the lovely castle there and for the train ride I decided to buy one of the men’s style magazines for the journey. Now, I used to be the most religious magazine buyer there was, not only did I not buy a subscription I stupidly paid full price for each mag, each month. That was until one day I realized that all I was reading was the same rubbish month after month and seeing the same crappy brands, that were clearly lining the pockets of the magazine. So I stopped reading them and only on a blue moon will I see what they are saying, mainly to laugh.
So, naturally my guard is up when it comes to shoes as it is important to me what is being said about them and the advice being given. So I came to the two pages that you are seeing in this post and was flabbergasted by the crap that I was not only seeing, but reading and the horrendous advice being offered. Those disgusting, chunky tassel loafers with commando like soles and a metal squares on the tassel were being suggested as a perfectly acceptable shoe to be worn for black tie formality events. My mouth dropped wide open at the audacity of their statement of being perfectly acceptable to tuxedo dress code. That is quite possibly the worst advice I have ever read. And it makes me think, who the hell is writing this and how are they qualified to give such bad advice? It would be insulting to wear these horrendous loafers to a black tie event.
And then the second picture. I mean the shoe is not overly bad. It’s not my style at all and the subject ‘chunky derbies’ is not overly horrible but to say that those shoes are acceptable with suits just blew my mind. I mean, sure if you like the Thom Browne look which to me is quite silly, but no respectable gentleman would wear chunky derbies like that with a suit. Hipsters sure, but they are hipsters. This is supposed to be magazine that represents an authority on men’s style, but all I see and read is the most ill advice and offerings ever. And it only seems to be getting worse. These are fashion mags parading as a style mag when their style advice is the furthest thing from advice at all, more like the opposite of advice. Read these mags to know what ‘NOT TO DO’!!
So how is it that these things stay afloat. Who actually believes this crap? I guess teenagers or pre 30’s. Either way, it’s appalling to read this stuff and hope that you all wise up to it and protest!!
The only way to combat it for me is to ignore the whole popular magazines stand.
Here in the German speaking world there is a great less known magazine called “Tweed”: it is a bi monthly magazine with a minimal amount of trashy commercials.
As for the chunky shoes being presented as acceptable shoes for a suit : few men, even those who wear quality suits, have proper shoes to match. maybe when celebrities (and tech companies CEO’s) will start wearing better shoes, the masses will adapt. .
With a heavy tweed suit you can certainly wear a pair of chunky ptb’s or brogues and look quite good IMHO, but those monstrosities should never be near a suit, or anything else for that matter.
Hi Justin,
Just read your latest missive whilst on the train to Windsor, I’m surprised that when you read the article, you didn’t throw up! I have no idea who writes this garbage, those appalling tassel shoes would be best sold in an Egyptian backstreet bazaar. As for the other chunky items and how they should be worn! Words fail me, just for a change. Carry on the great work Justin, hope to see you soon.
Best,
John
I also used to buy men style magazines; and then I realized that I was reading the same thing over and over. Maybe my diet will be restricted to 1 magazine per year to see what is happening in the fashion world and taking what I think is useful, maybe the 2%. This confirms that we need The Shoe Snob, Permanent Style, Put This On, Die Workwear (among others) and the continual stop on Style Forum.
Justin, please keep posting, thank you for shearing.
For black tie, a nicely polished black calf wholecut oxford would be *far* more appropriate than the pictured patent leather loafers.
Chunky derbies, especially in brown or tan, would be appropriate with a tweed suit in a casual English country ensemble. However, few people dress like this today (even the ivy league professor look dresses up the tweed suit a bit), and the pictured black and navy shoes are far from traditional. Thus they would look good with only a few suit ensembles, for example: a grey tweed suit and blue shirt and/or accessories. Of course, working with one specific outfit and working with suits in general are *very* different things.
Today, chunky derbies (whether shoes or boots) are best worn with jeans or other casual pants (chinos, cords, moleskins, etc.). This could be combined with pretty much anything from a t-shirt to a button down shirt, tie and sport coat, covering a wide range of casual and business casual outfits.