Want to buy or sell something? Check the classifieds
  • The Fedora Lounge is supported in part by commission earning affiliate links sitewide. Please support us by using them. You may learn more here.

Recommendations for men's dress shoes?

navetsea

I'll Lock Up
Messages
6,826
Location
East Java
double monkstrap still works with leather jacket & jeans, my only formal shoes is wholecut made by local company, yet I very rarely wear it because it doesn't work with everyday style, so to me monkstrap or double monkstrap is the way to go
 

Tom71

Call Me a Cab
Messages
2,678
Location
Europe
Best advice: Go to a well-equipped shoestore, get some advice, try as many styles as possible.

As you can see reading this thread, there’s a huge variety of quality footwear in the dress segment.
I’ve been wearing formal shoes as my (literally) daily footwear for almost 30 years now, and there is little that is an absolute “no” for me these days (that would include split leather or glued soles).

They need to wear comfortable, age decently, and you need to like them enough to wear them for the next 10+ years.
 

GHT

I'll Lock Up
Messages
9,771
Location
New Forest
They need to wear comfortable, age decently, and you need to like them enough to wear them for the next 10+ years.
I would go along with that sensible advice. Colin Johnson ( https://www.colinjohnsonshoes.com/ ) made my dress shoes, and by dress shoes I define "dress" as the kind of shoe worn with dinner suit and bow tie.
They get worn whenever it's posh frock time and they always garner some comment. I love them.
posh frock.jpg
shoes 017.JPG
 
Last edited:

Aloysius

My Mail is Forwarded Here
Messages
3,931

Fifty150

Call Me a Cab
Messages
2,110
Location
The Barbary Coast
I'd say from a few hundred dollars to around $500 or $600.





It's all about timing. Allen Edmonds is having a sale. The same shoes are offered on their Shoe Bank website. Shoe Bank sells factory seconds, and clearance items. You can use a coupon to get an additional 25% off the sale price.











1730012356150.png
1730012829668.png








I was thinking about getting a nice pair of dress shoes, and wanted some suggestions on what shoes to get that fit my criteria.




Are you dressing in white tie or black tie? Will you be wearing tails, or a tuxedo?

Are you wearing business suits for a work environment? Are you wearing party clothes, like dressing up to go out dancing?




My personal preference is to wear boots. They make boots that look like "dress shoes".







1730014104110.png
IMG_20241027_015756210~2.jpg








I am an American. I like cowboy boots. Some of our US Presidents were known to wear cowboy boots. I wear cowboy boots with suits.







1730014855740.png







The X hates it that I wear cowboy boots. She is completely embarrassed that I wear cowboy boots with tails or a tux. In her world, it's perfectly normal to dress in white tie and black tie, and nobody wears cowboy boots. In my world, nobody knows what it means when an invitation says "formal", "semi formal", "black tie requested", etc. In my world, everyone has cowboy boots.





IMG_20241027_004514692~2.jpg







One of our compromises. She buys it, I wear it. She paid for these shoes, so that I have an option . I actually like them. They are a sneaker, but nobody could really tell . Someone would have to take a second look, and look close, to know that I am wearing sneakers with a dinner jacket.








1730016465156.png
IMG_20241027_001109903~2.jpg
 
Last edited:

Fifty150

Call Me a Cab
Messages
2,110
Location
The Barbary Coast
prices that are more reasonable and not designer prices



These set me back about $40. There are nights which involve a lot of alcohol. Bars. Night clubs. Extremely dirty dance floors. Even filthier bathrooms. A fight could break out. Spilled drinks, urine, vomit, blood...... I am not wearing expensive shoes.









IMG_20240821_120834631~2.jpg


IMG_20240821_131215334~4.jpg
IMG_20240822_112818288~2.jpg
 

Fifty150

Call Me a Cab
Messages
2,110
Location
The Barbary Coast
George Costanza turned his Timberland boots into perfectly passable "dress shoes" by spray-paining them black.





Most of the world does not live by rules of etiquette from 15th century England, We don't set our tables with fine China and silver, have High Tea, or observe any of the rules of dress.


I think we should all be able to wear whatever we want. For a lot of us, what we wear is dictated by budget. A lot of guys in the modern world don't actually own a suit. And most of the guys that I know would not be able to distinguish between a suit, or a sports coat and slacks. How many people actually have clothes for Morning Wear and Evening Wear?


Of course, my opinions are not credible, since I'm actually wearing cowboy boots with a dinner jacket. That's not just a lyric from a Country Western song. I did show up in boots, and ruined the black tie affair.





 
Messages
16,789
I think we should all be able to wear whatever we want.
That's the thing!

Because...
For a lot of us, what we wear is dictated by budget.
...and...
And most of the guys that I know would not be able to distinguish between a suit, or a sports coat and slacks.
...implies that we don't really wear what(ever) we want but rather what we have to.

That's my issue with the fashion of today which, for the first time since the time of man began, is actually bad.

And yet the hill that our cheap, ugly, badly made, toxic clothes we had no choice but to buy, is actually exactly what we want, is one that we're willing to die on.
 

scurvyfreedman

Familiar Face
Messages
60
These set me back about $40. There are nights which involve a lot of alcohol. Bars. Night clubs. Extremely dirty dance floors. Even filthier bathrooms. A fight could break out. Spilled drinks, urine, vomit, blood...... I am not wearing expensive shoes.









IMG_20240821_120834631~2.jpg


IMG_20240821_131215334~4.jpg
IMG_20240822_112818288~2.jpg
Patent leather is for semi-formal (black tie) and formal (white tie) dress. They absolutely should not have any brogueing.
 

Fifty150

Call Me a Cab
Messages
2,110
Location
The Barbary Coast
Allen Edmonds got me again with their "Rediscover America" sale. I couldn't resist. These boots are like the uniform duty boots that they issue at work. A single piece of leather for the vamp wraps around the entire foot. This is stronger. As opposed to shoes made up of small pieces of leather, glued and sewn together. I suppose that since it's black, I could polish it and wear it with a suit. It will just look like a shiny black shoe. It will not be "uncouth", which is what The X says when I wear Dr. Martens with a suit.











Screenshot 2024-10-25 22.12.11.png
 

Fifty150

Call Me a Cab
Messages
2,110
Location
The Barbary Coast
yet the hill that our cheap, ugly, badly made, toxic clothes we had no choice but to buy, is actually exactly what we want, is one that we're willing to die on




I did some work in the yard. Cooked some food for NFL Sunday viewing. Went to Costco. I had a ball cap, flannel shirt, hoodie, jeans, and cowboy boots. I am rarely in a shirt & tie, sports coat & slacks, suit, semi formal, or formal. I am the guy walking down the street with a coffee cup.
 

Edward

Bartender
Messages
25,066
Location
London, UK
Just buy a pair of trickers and don't over complicate things.Ffs it's a pair of shoes,

I do like Trickers, but their price is a killer... one day.

For black or dark brown Oxfords, I find Sanders more than do my job. https://www.silvermans.co.uk/products/sanders-officers-shoes These have a tiny crown somewhere, usually, but it's not visible unless you a] really look for it, and b] know to look for it. Not obvious military dress, but markedly cheaper than a lot of stuff that is.

I've had pretty good luck over the years finding Sanders on eBay in excellent used condition. Last year I bought a pair of their Braemar brogues for £25. Really solid, lovely shoes. Compare well to Trickers, and the better Grenson, Barker, Loakes. Limited in choice if you're buying the military ones (and as pricey as the other otherwise), but as good as any shoe at double the price when you're buying the milspec items.
 

Forum statistics

Threads
108,996
Messages
3,072,350
Members
54,039
Latest member
GloriaJama
Top