Winter footwear in a formal context

[Anikolov1]

Dear all,

I am looking for your advice and perspective on the following.

I work in a very formal environment and everyday I wear a suit and 3 seasons of the year I wear black cap toe oxfords.

However, when the winter arrives, oxfords are not an option in my climate both for warmth and for grip when walking. I tend to wear boots, they are formal G&G in either a hatchgrain or highland grain leather with proper rubber soles for snow. They are definitely not as formal as my oxfords and do clash slightly with the formality of a worsted suit.

Of late I have been thinking of bringing a few pairs of oxfords to my cabinet (I have a large private office with a wardrobe and storage) to change my boots after I go to work. The only resistance I have towards this is that it is “trying too hard”.

I would love to hear your input on this. Would you think it’s a big deal? I am trying to get an outside opinion and not only the voice in my own head where this is an actual problem.

Best,
A

[couch]

Since I work at a university, my thoughts will definitely be an outside opinion, as it is not a very formal environment. But consider that a principal consideration in any environment is to feel as comfortable and confident as possible in that context. I'd think both physical and psychological comfort would be relevant. For grip while traveling, I'm sure you've considered something like Yaktrax that can be (carefully) worn over oxfords. They are lightweight, easily removed, and take little storage space. But they offer no protection against cold or water entering the shoes. So sealed boots are no doubt the most comfortable during travel.

What I hear in your post is psychological discomfort at wearing boots in the office. One (perhaps costly) compromise would be to get dressy black calf boots with storm welted soles and studded rubber soles from G&G, and wear them at the office on cold sloppy days. I think Manton used to do something like this. You don't say, but I'm interpreting your "hatch grain or highland grain" as being some shade of brown.

But I don't see why changing footwear would be "trying too hard." Professional women have been changing footwear for decades (often trainers to pumps). They more often carry the dress shoes back and forth in a large purse or tote, but you have discreet storage in your office. If you are not going to be going outside frequently during the workday, why not wear the oxfords that make you feel comfortable and confident among your colleagues? (You don't say how your colleagues handle this issue—perhaps some clues there?)

The semiotics of the issue are highly context dependent anyway. In a former life I found myself taking a year-long chemistry course at night at Harvard. The professor was a senior faculty member, an old-time Cambridge man and former head of a Harvard research lab, who in the winter taught in a three-piece brown tweed suit and L.L. Bean duck boots. For a native Texan like me, that looked like trying too hard. But it was a badge of membership in a certain class. He was also the guy who did the first-night baby demo on electrolysis using a battery, copper foil, a clear liquid, and a silver-colored 3-quart metal bowl—a bowl, he said, that needed to be a good conductor of electricity but chemically inert.

Like solid platinum.

Cheers,
Couch

[Scot]

I suppose it depends on the severity of the weather but I find these work quite well as a sturdy outdoor shoe that is acceptable in a more formal setting -

https://trickers.com/collections/countr ... otch-grain

Tricker's is definitely the place for this sort of thing.

However, I also keep a pair of smart black shoes in the office for the few days when there is really no alternative to hiking boots!

[Melcombe]

I suppose it depends on the severity of the weather but I find these work quite well as a sturdy outdoor shoe that is acceptable in a more formal setting -

https://trickers.com/collections/countr ... otch-grain

Tricker's is definitely the place for this sort of thing.

However, I also keep a pair of smart black shoes in the office for the few days when there is really no alternative to hiking boots!

Agreed.

I had Trickers' forerunner of this style which had a double leather sole - colloquially known as "Rifle Regiment" brogues (being part of RR uniform). I found that with repeated polishing, the zug grain smoothed out in parts and took on a really attractive lustre and the shoes were certainly formal enough for work. On the last re-soling I had commando soles applied and found them to be even more practical yet still smart.

They have only lately been overtaken on my shoe rack by a pair of Church's 'Grafton' brogues with a Dainite sole - very hardwearing & weatherproof - & possibly a margin more formal.

[Anikolov1]

.

What I hear in your post is psychological discomfort at wearing boots in the office. One (perhaps costly) compromise would be to get dressy black calf boots with storm welted soles and studded rubber soles from G&G, and wear them at the office on cold sloppy days. I think Manton used to do something like this. You don't say, but I'm interpreting your "hatch grain or highland grain" as being some shade of brown.
quote]

That was my thinking which is why I got myself two pairs of black GG boots with storm welts and rubber soles - one studed, one commando. But nevertheless they are less formal than black captoe oxfords.

On the question whether it’s just me or colleagues, I am 100% certain that this dilemma is 100% me, probably no one has noticed or would care.

I don’t believe the rubber covers for shoes works in the context where you are walking through snow and mud (it’s a bit sad that a European capital in the city center does have snow and mud in the winter). It would certainly get to the socks and feel much colder due to the lower nature of the show itself.

I wanted to hear from your side whether I was doing such an unthinkable faux pas that it would seem ridiculous.

[Noble Savage]

Very common in New England. Nothing trying too hard about it.

[Noble Savage]

The semiotics of the issue are highly context dependent anyway. In a former life I found myself taking a year-long chemistry course at night at Harvard. The professor was a senior faculty member, an old-time Cambridge man and former head of a Harvard research lab, who in the winter taught in a three-piece brown tweed suit and L.L. Bean duck boots. For a native Texan like me, that looked like trying too hard. But it was a badge of membership in a certain class.

That's not trying too hard. That's not trying enough and being sloppy and lazy about dress, which is par for the course for science professors. Changing out of your duck boots into normal shoes is what's commonly done in New England.

[Concordia]

Not everywhere by everyone. There are kids who get used to living in duck boots in school, and never outgrow the habit. They are not so uncomfortable that this is implausible.

[couch]

That's not trying too hard. That's not trying enough and being sloppy and lazy about dress, which is par for the course for science professors. Changing out of your duck boots into normal shoes is what's commonly done in New England.

Changing is certainly common in NE. But this science professor was hardly sloppy and lazy, Think John Houseman in "The Paper Chase." Certainly there was some old Ivy "stealth wealth" attitude, which was my point. After all, he didn't really need to do the demo with a 3-quart solid platinum bowl (avg. 1980 value $600+ per troy ounce or roughly $10K) or call our attention to the fact. The theatrical "oh by the way" manner in which that fact was delivered as he exited the lecture hall was clearly intended (and understood by most) as a "welcome to Harvard" moment. I was quite entertained by it. Texas has its own versions of that sort of thing. No doubt the duck boots were practical on a messy evening, but by leaving them on I'm pretty sure he was also dressing a part. If you were born or assimilated into the role it wouldn't be trying too hard, but for someone from a different culture, as I was, it would look like a considered statement. Had I worn an identical outfit as a 25-year-old, I would, by this professor or his social peers, probably have been judged either lazy and sloppy or "all hat and no cattle," as my grandfather would have said.

[alden]

I had Edward Green make up a few pairs of boots for this situation: brown brogue boots and black cap toe both with subtle rubber soles.

Boot by The London Lounge, on Flickr

Boot by The London Lounge, on Flickr

You can still order EG boots with your chosen last, size and details...it's a great option. Wearing a suit its very hard to tell they are boots.

[Concordia]

You could do thin city rubber soles, or Ridgeway, which give good lift off the pavement without collection so much gravel as the commando style.

Make sure to use Pure Polish cream with water-resistance around the welt!

[Noble Savage]

https://www.instagram.com/p/Bfu8KfXgJht/