Dress Shoes

I love shoes. And I'm comfortable in my heterosexuality saying that. Like the wrist watch, shoes are one of the few opportunities for men to show off distinctive style when options are otherwise limited.

Let me first say this: I love all shoes. I love sneakers and I love dress shoes and I love casual shoes that fall somewhere in between, but....

A sneaker is a sneaker and a dress shoe is a dress shoe and ne'er the twain shall meet.

The only possible exception is the wearing of shiny new Chuck Taylors with a suit and tie. This is acceptable in certain well-selected instances.

And this post is about dress shoes.

What makes a true dress shoe?

1. It's made of either brown, black, or burgundy leather.
2. It has a cork and leather sole (maybe some rubber, but hopefully not)
3. 90% of the time it has laces. Buckles, straps, and loafers are generally not meant for formal business situations (but look great for dress down situations and business casual).

That's pretty much it. Some will tell you that loafers are okay dress shoes, some will tell you that pointy toes are too feminine, some will tell you that a squared off toe is too weird. These people are wrong. The shape of the shoe is pretty much up to you.

As with all men's style, it's not about brands and labels but about components and craftsmanship. I've found many a shoe for $40-$100 that are of quality comparable to designer shoes that cost $400+.

First, touch the leather. Good leather feels like leather, cheap leather feels like plastic. Is it soft? Does it flex well?

Next, check the soles. I dislike the trend in men's shoes of having enormous soles that extend significantly past the upper. It draws too much attention down when the shoe should be guiding the eye up. Check and see how the sole is attached. Ideally it should be sewn to the upper. Glue is acceptable only on inexpensive shoes that otherwise seem to be of good quality.

And then try them on. Walk around a bit. Dress shoes get a bad rap because most people start out wearing hand-me-downs from dad or cheap hard leather that results in blisters and chafing. The fact is, if your shoes fit so that they don't allow significant movement of the heel against the back of the shoe (this may necessitate a shoehorn) and the leather is soft enough, dress shoes can be as comfortable as sneakers.

So what kinds of dress shoes do you need? Simply put:

One brown pair, one black pair.

Within brown there are dark near-black browns all they way up to tan. All I can say is make sure that you have a comparably toned belt for each pair of brown shoes you have.

(There's also the burgundy-red tone known as "Cordovan." Pleasant, but not required.)

Fortunately there are infinite variations in styles and adornments for dress shoes: wingtips, brogues, bluchers, chisel-toe, pointy-toe, square toe, so that as your collection grows you can have many pairs of dress shoes that are distinctive.

And here's the thing, a well-made pair of shoes that are polished regularly and resoled when necessary can last forever. Rather than wearing one pair of shoes to death and replacing them, have three or four pairs to wear in rotation and you'll never need to replace anything, you just keep adding to the collection.

(The same holds true for sneakers.)

Where then does one buy dress shoes?

1. Nordstrom Rack. Ground zero for men's dress shoes at good prices. You'll have to dig around for your size and be patient, but you can find incredible deals on shoes. They won't be the cheapest, by they will be fairly priced.

2. Skechers. While known for sneakers and skate shoes, Skechers does make a significant collection of mens' dress shoes. Many of the Skechers Collection shoes are calfskin leather made in Italy, England, or Portugal at some of the same shoe factories that make $800 loafers. Priced reasonably well at a Skechers store, if you hit up a Skechers factory outlet you can often find these shoes for around $50.

3. Shoe Pavilion. Stores like these are giant clusterfucks, but if you know what to look for and are close enough to a Shoe Pavilion to go back frequently you can get excellent designer shoes for dirt cheap.

4. John Fluevog. Available online (www.fluevog.com) or at one of his retail outlets, Fluevog shoes offer distinctive style for moderate prices. While most new release dress shoes are $200+, his styles and collections are frequently changing so shoes are always on sale, especially if you wear a less common size. And because Fluevog only sells directly, the prices in general are much less than designer shoes of similar quality sold in department stores.

5. Anywhere. The great thing about shoes is that collections rotate through so quickly that some shoes are on sale at virtually every department store all the time. Know what you're looking for and be patient and you'll find the high-quality long-lasting shoes that you want for no more than $150, usually much much less.