24 November 2010

The Man in the Crocodile Loafers

When I rang my old chums at Paul Stuart in New York City to order a pair of crocodile loafers and told the girl on the other end to make it snappy, I did not expect to receive the shoes the very next day. But that is exactly what happened. Connections matter. Crocodile loafers, as you know, are widely considered the mark of a bounder or a cad. How appropriate, you may conclude. This is the popular view, I guess, disseminated by pompous bourgeois i-gents on the interweb fora, as shallow and silly as it is. So be it. But I suppose there is a little truth in the view. Crocodile loafers, as you are no doubt aware, are also known as the signature footwear of hard-drinking handsome chaps with no definable function in life apart from being charming, looking smart, and exercising a propensity for getting up to no good. So we must proceed with caution here. With that in mind pairing crocodile loafers with houndstooth tweed coat and trousers with knife-edge crease might be a gesture too far. But they are perfectly acceptable with a damp tweed coat, battered pair of brown worsted trousers, and old OCBD with frayed collar. You might even add an Hermès belt with a large 'H' buckle if you are the kind of man who would do such a thing and expect to get away with it. Crocodile loafers from Paul Stuart provide a touch of cavalier flair to an otherwise typical uniform.

7 comments:

  1. "cavalier flair" sums you up nicely, don't you think?

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  2. I own a pair! Well done my friend.

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  3. Admiral, you're really rather stylish.

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  4. When it comes right down to it, everybody loves a cad. And rather wants to be one, too. Wear with pride, I say!

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  5. You have obviously decided to devote the balance of your life to giving Hooray Henrys a bad name.

    (Better late than never.)

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  6. Ooh, even I don't own crocodile shoes, I'm green with envy.

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  7. The cool thing about many exotic leathers such as croc or austrich is that they age very well and become very smooth and supple- if you either combine them with a well cut business suit or a 'ratty' fogey outfit, they ought to look great!

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