I am really loving adelaides these days and I think that many others are too. I see them often on social media and find myself nearly always attracted to them. The details about separating the facing as its own piece and not something that follows the line of the quarter, really makes it more appealing for me. I have a pair classic cap toe oxfords, but if I am going to be honest, they are really quite boring or maybe for me just outdated. I appreciate them on a classic and serious level but find that the updated adelaide oxford with a bit of brogueing, like the one shown here by Hiro Yanagimachi, is simply so much more interesting. It’s not a huge leap from the classic version but infinitely more appealing IMHO. Wonder if this will ever replace the classic cap toe oxford as the standard dress shoe? What say you?
Beautiful shoes indeed. Smart, sleek, impressive. And with that “je ne sais quoi” of the “adelaides”, yes… Will they replace the traditional cap toe? I’d like it!
Yet… Well, lately I’m starting to notice that even wearing espadrilles I turn out to be the most elegant man in the room… Pitiful.
After a simple pair of black quarter brogues from Alden to start my proper shoe collection about a decade ago, I fell in love with adelaides. I got a pair of C&J Westbourne in chestnut next. I keep them relatively light in color, so I needed something in middle/dark brown. So, the next shoes I bought were Alfred Sargent Blake model in oak as part of a GMTO. It’s an austerity brogue shortwing adelaide, which makes it somewhat unique. Finally, when I needed something in burgundy to fill out my lineup, I again got an adelaide – this time the Alfred Sargent Moore model. I own four pairs of oxfords and three of the four are adelaides.
Classic isn’t always boring. I do understand the adventurous needs of some people to wear more colours, fabrics and prints and I applaud them…. However, I started my collection approximately 5 years ago and looking back I seem to tend to the classic boring models for both formal and informal shoes. My prize Adelaides are a pair of Edward Greens dark oak Lichfields. Brilliant!