I thought about writing this piece as Mat and I recorded the latest podcast. Come on kids, you know you want to listen!
A guy walked past us in the craziest brogues I've seen in a long while. These were bright green - luminous green almost, I'm not kidding. Maybe even more bizarrely, they didn't match anything he wore. Red polo shirt, tan chinos. That's it.
Then again, what would they ever match? Maybe his luminous three piece suit was at the cleaners...
Anyway, it reminded me of the craze for 'different' brogues. Huge soles, colourful leather, crazy laces, although that Grenson-style stuff.
I'm fairly boring, so I avoided all that when it was really popular. I'm also not really much of a shoe man. I like them, wish I had more, but spend my days in trainers and occasionally a pair of tan Clarks' Frelan Walk I bought cheap at a Seven Dials pop-up last year.
I only have two other pairs: a battered pair of chocolate Grenson brogues and a solid pair of polished leather Loakes.
Oh, and a pair sent to me by a friend in Peru, which I've still not worn.
I love Loake shoes though. In a world that's gone mad for bright coloured leather and whisky bottles in the heels (I'm looking at you Oliver Sweeney ;-)), they've stuck with the classics. It's probably a good thing. One day that guy walking around the graveyard in luminous brogues will feel like a right fool!
Loake's price always surprises me too. Okay, they do the £200 plus pairs, but their Design range for well under £200 that - like some miserly old Dad - I can see nothing wrong with. Seriously, £150 for my pair and when we did a straw poll on Instagram last summer, everyone voted for mine over Mat's Grensons.
Sorry Mat!
Check out Mat's blog posts on the Loake factory and a proper Loake fitting for more info on the brand.
No comments:
Post a Comment