In honour of the
passing of James Van Doren, the founder/designer of Vans, I thought this week we would look at footwear.
There’s an old saying that the way to determine a man’s personal
style is through his shoes and his wristwatch. That may have been back
in the days that male style was unadorned, when men wore suits nearly
all the time, and jewellery and most accessories were verboten. Sinatra,
when asked why he didn’t wear jewellery, responded pithily “I know who
the fuck I am.”
Still, the shoes as expression of personal style truism holds up
today. Kicks rank high on the list of importance for any streetwear
afficianado, to the point that some liken them to an obsession. One need
only grab a copy of Sneaker Freaker, or wander through Flight Club, to
see the myriad models, colorways, and LEs that the childhood obsession
of the likes of Bobbito Garcia has spawned into a multi-billion dollar
industry worldwide.
Paradoxically, as trainers have become nigh ubiquitous on the
streets, and nearly as common in non-corporate work environments, the
so-called trad trend (for traditional) has taken to our shoe closets as
well.
Read the rest of the article after the jump.
While we all love the inevitable ‘Where’d you get those’ that a pair
of butter Dunks can provoke, a well-stocked shoe collection goes far
beyond a stack of SBs. It’s no coincidence that the first couple pairs
of mens shoes that Christian Louboutain released were a pair of outré
hightops, and a pair of tasselled loafers (aptly named Tassellissimo).
When you see cats rocking Sperry two-tones at the Alife Rivington
Club, and Kanye wearing a Chelsea Boot, it’s hard not to notice that a
sort of symbiosis has emerged. Kicks now live side-by-side, and
sometimes interchangably, with their glossier, dressier brethren.
As I mentioned last time round, the key tends to be context and
co-ordination. A pair of wingtips blends perfectly with dark denims,
dressed up or down. I myself have been known to wear hightops or Chucks
with a suit, depending on the event.
And in that vein, there’s several key pieces of footwear that every
man should own, alongside the inevitable stacks of AF1s. If you rarely
have occasion to wear a blue blazer, you probably won’t use oxfords or
brogues frequently, but there’s still plenty of ways to dress it up
while remaining low-key.
A good pair of driving mocassins can be worn with virtually anything,
from jeans and a hoodie to chinos. I once paired suede Tod’s drivers
with Acne skinnies and a CLOT x MADSAKI Alienegra hoodie, and it was a
bit dicey. I got compliments and scornful glances in equal amounts. In
the end it just served to remind me two key things about fashion. First,
personal taste is just that, personal. And second, with a little verve
just about anything can be carried off. Just look at Lapo Elkann.
Shoes are like any other piece of clothing. Mix it up. Floss your
Jordans with pride, and pair them with both casual and dressier options.
Grab a pair of boots and rock them with any and everything.
With that, I’m going to go dust off a few old classics. Until next week.
Text by
@quentincrispy
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