Loveable Brogues

Greetings loved ones. I come to you today to discuss a practicality. Now, i'm not sure if you've made the transition between Summer and Autumn as seamlessly as they do in the magazines, but I for one have a slight difficulty; although i'm swaddled in shearling, loved up with Lettermans and worked my aran back into the calendar, i have one veritable achiles heel...my feet. Now, surely some of you may be left scratching your noggins, thinking 'just put some shoes on man, be they canvas, converse or otherwise!' The thing is, i have had an unashamedly long love affair with loafers this summer - yes, some of every colour, some brown some white, some tassled to tickle your fancy. Arguably, although our triste is far from over and they still resonate on the pages of many a publication and highstreet podium, i just can't seem to wear them with socks. Admittedly, i'm a bare foot kinda guy. I tend to give slippers a miss [reminding me of the primary school pseudo-dictatorship of wearing slippers or PLIMSOLES indoors - who would have thought that whilst you sat picking your nose in year 4 or trying to master the recorder that such heinous monstrosities as black PLIMSOLES would be de rigeur in a few years time....oh fashion, how you tickle me...wait, where was i? oh yes, PLIMSOLES/slippers inside; why i had to abandon my tiny nikes or light-up shoes in favour of an 'indoor shoe' to sit on a mat that was probably covered in snot, vomit, plastecine and everything inbetween, i'll never understand] and i enjoy baring my sole for all to see [feet not really bothering me like they do some parties] Although many a jazzy sock remains on the market, it is only this week after seeing Woody's This is England black shoe-red-sock combo for the fourth time that i bit the bullet and indulged in a pair. To return to my love of loafers, the reason i've been so smitten with my summer footware is their resitance to socks! With chinos rolled up, loafers gave the proverbial finger to other footware, a brazen unison of leather meets skin. Blisters be damned!

That said, winter draws nearer. Unwilling to be cast with the same label as LA-via-devonshire-superpseudo-hippy Joss Stone [just put some SHOES on, woman!] i think i'm going to have to swallow my pride and literally put a sock in it. But how to do this, dear readers, without cheapening my beloved loafers? As i flicked through a few publications over Cheerios this morning, my prayers were answered by Mr. Paul Smith. Foot first and not a face in sight, behold the brogues!

Stunning aren't they? Sleek, elegant - everything their Oxford heritage embodies. The Miller range is pretty much a dream come true [apart from their horrific price tag, which, is in fact, a nightmare!] I have to admit, i have a bit of a softspot for loveable brogues, owning one pair in bowling-alley red, cream and black. From the H&M A/W 09 collection [at least, i assume so. They were tucked under a table, hidden from view and were so unlike anything i had ever seen in H&M before. Then again, one thing i love about the store is it's occasional surprise and ability to have an apple fall so far away from a tree. So magnificent were these particular beasts though that i still find myself casting my eyes on them every now and again to make sure they haven't disappeared in a tri-colour puff of air] Behold an arty blu-print of them below...




Magnifique! Now, i'm not sure whether this is simply through their status as dream brogues but just like my beloved loafers, i could wear them sans socks, yippee! [i'm not sure if this is particular to this lot of footware and so i wouldn't call it a general rule of thumb. Through sleuthing on Wikipedia, i see that the perforations so typical of brogues was originally to let out water when they were worn to trudge through bogs etc, however if they cut my feet to shreds, it's nice to know there's a flooding system in place for all that blood - efficient!] Regardless, as i gaze upon the lovely Paul Smith [and some slightly more affordable brogues papped at our Leeds Fair - see below] i would cover up my mankles [male ankles] and don a sock or two [preferably two] for these shoes. Besides, socks are exciting right? Bright ones, dark ones, striped ones [i draw the line at motif ones - they remind me of many a furrowed brow on Christmas day morning] There's a whole new world waiting to take place south of the ankle! Brogues [and socks] i salute you!

Vintagevulture overundout xVx