The London Lounge

Hello,
I am an A level student who has only recently become interested in good clothes and probably have a few questions for you all. The first of which regards my shoe problem. At the moment I only own a few pairs of cheap and well worn trainers (All various dunlop tennis shoes as it happens) and I want to replace them with either some nicer trainers or some shoes. I don't really know what I want as long as they're practical, durable and not overly formal. Any suggestions?

Depends on what you mean by all of those terms. But these
http://www.pediwear.co.uk/detail.php?stock_ID=779

should be pretty durable if you take care of them. Designed not to be formal, but could do service with a jacket and tie if needed.

Or maybe you want something totally different---

Maybe a pair of boat shoes is satisfactory to your needs?
http://www.sperrytopsider.com/index.jsp
Or a nice pair of loafers. If price is an issue, Loake has some nice deals in their upper line, or even as seconds:
http://www.herringshoes.co.uk/
But the C&J mentioned is definitely a very niche shoe! Now I'm temted again.
Regards

Concordia wrote:Depends on what you mean by all of those terms. But these
http://www.pediwear.co.uk/detail.php?stock_ID=779

should be pretty durable if you take care of them. Designed not to be formal, but could do service with a jacket and tie if needed.

Or maybe you want something totally different---

I'm not fully sure what I meant by those terms, I have a tendency to be too vague. What I think I meant is that I want them to be comfortable and smart, but not looking totally out of place in college, and to last a long time even if I end up wearing them daily. I really like the shoes you pointed out but they might be a little on the expensive side, I doubt I could afford anything over £200.

The C&J Dainite-sole country shoes are indeed quite durable if cared for, and I find the simpler Grasmere style more versatile (both for various foot shapes and outfits):

http://www.pediwear.co.uk/detail.php?stock_ID=439

But they're over £200. Here's are two similar Trickers shoes in smoother leather but otherwise excellent quality for under £200 online, if they have your size (check out the other shoes here as well--the weak dollar is working in your favor on top of the discounts):

http://www.sierratradingpost.com/p/386, ... r-Men.html


http://www.sierratradingpost.com/p/386, ... r-Men.html

Good luck!

It is precisely for such a situation I wrote this gargantuan post over on SF:

http://www.styleforum.net/showthread.php?t=21179

Chelsea boots are wonderfully versatile. You can dress them up or down according to taste. The new Australian Prime Minister, Kevin Rudd wears nothing else with his suits. Yet you could wear them casually just as easily.

Interesting. I don't like elastic -- especially not in boots!* -- and hardly would hold Mr. Rudd as a model for dress, but I'm very tempted to try a pair of Williams's Chelsea boots. Is your "Forum special" still available, Sator?

RWS

*I never thought that I'd be more conservative than Sator. What's happening? -- RWS

The Forum Special is just a MTM order with a configuration to try to get the dressiest looking Chelsea boot possible. Brass screwed boots are something are of a rarity and add to the appeal, although Goodyear welted boots can also be ordered. Probably thanks to me, waiting times for MTM boots have also blown out to EG proportions. RMW has raised its prices a little and it will cost a fraction more than what the SF thread says. Even then I am as pleased as punch with my ones and consider them to be an excellent deal.

Chelsea boots have been around as dress boots for a very long time such as these ones from an 1896 catalogue:



Here are some even older ones:

Fantastic pics, Sator. Interesting to learn that Chelsea boots qualify as dress boots. So, button boots are not needed anymore.

Coming back to shoes fit for a student, consider Vans sneakers, or equivalent. They look less athletic than the typical Nike, Reebok, Adidas, etc. However, some of them come with cute-looking colour soles, e.g., green, red, blue, yellow. Without laces, they're easy to take off and put on. But of course they're too thin for Winter use.

HappyStroller wrote: Coming back to shoes fit for a student, consider Vans sneakers, or equivalent. They look less athletic than the typical Nike, Reebok, Adidas, etc. However, some of them come with cute-looking colour soles, e.g., green, red, blue, yellow. Without laces, they're easy to take off and put on. But of course they're too thin for Winter use.

As for vans styels you also have leather versions.
And lambskin with inside fur lining.
I think i saw some on yoox.
But for a sligtly mere derssed look i think id go for a rmw ...
Or simmilar wholecut, clean and simple.

I have a pair in order, and have slight urge for an austrich version to
We will see, once i have my first RMW's

I still have yet to buy any good shoes and am currently looking at chukka boots like these http://www.herringshoes.co.uk/product-i ... tedFitID=0 are these any good or will I just end up looking ridiculous?

Could be nice with corduroys or the equivalent. I'm thinking about finding something similar in suede.

I have a similar style of boot you just posted in black suede and i love them to death! I am a university student and they don't stick out and look overly pompous but they do stand out and separate you from the rest of the sneakers and the other rubbish running around.

For a young'un who wants a versatile pair of shoes I think it's well nigh impossible to beat traditional 'loafers'.

They can dress both up (it's permissible to wear them with anythign but the msot formal suit, IMO) and down (look great with jeans/cordurois).

Doc martens wear extremely well.

You'll still be wearing them in 30 years time if you take care of them. When you wear the sole out you can resole easily. You can dress them up and down.

Plus being on a college campus, you probably don't want to go too stuffy. Docs will fit in, but look very good.