Proper dress shoes

ShowaJidai

Been here too long
Joined
Jul 4, 2017
Messages
993
Reaction score
2,330
What is with the recent fashion for elongated, pointy-toed dress shoes with suits?

Is this just, or mainly, a Japan or Asian thing? Or is this common in either the US or western Europe?

Maybe i'm just having a "get off my lawn" moment - which wouldn't be unusual. But what is the general feeling about these?

I see them everywhere in the general population - but around the office with my peers (international expats/exec's) I don't see them.

I find it hard enough trying to buy nice shoes for the office but when the current fashion runs towards a style that doesn't work for me I'm not sure what to do.
 
Last edited:
I feel you, @ShowaJidai.
See these guys in the office and at meetings outside, too. Maybe if I was 20 years younger, I might experiment with those shoes.
I prefer to stick with the classic styles — penny loafers, oxfords, brogues, derbys, chukkas and Chelsea boots — from established brands.
The only concession I’ve made with age are buying more comfortable iterations of those styles. That means synthetic and rubber-based soles, as well as modern insole cushioning.
 
...more comfortable iterations of those styles. That means synthetic and rubber-based soles, as well as modern insole cushioning.
I have pretty much given up on finding a pair of proper oxfords with a leather sole - even my old go-to Cole-Haan model has been changed to a synthetic sole.
 
I hear that one - I stick to classic cap toe Oxfords, and trying to find a new pair right now is painful. Every place I go to has noting but those elongated pieces of crap.

I'd sooner wear a pair of Doc Martens with my suit than those things.

Whenever I see them, all I can think of is this:

upload_2018-6-4_9-32-51.jpeg

Or if they're oxbloods.... this:

maxresdefault[1].jpg
 
Bingo!

I know how to spit-shine them to look like black chrome from heel to toe.

Same. And it's actually FASTER than the way most people are taught to polish a shoe.
 
  • Like
Reactions: rob040188
Are most people taught to polish their shoes?? :confused:o_O

-Ww

I can only go by my own upbringing... pops taught me the wrong way, the academy taught me the correct way.
 
Are most people taught to polish their shoes?? :confused:o_O

-Ww
I used to polish my dad’s shoes everyday :) it was one of my tasks. Had a nice collection of brown, black and transparent polish.
 
the academy taught me the correct way.
Agreed, one of my instructors (ranger, well at least our version of rangers) taught me to shine my black combat boots (utilities) and dress shoes (dress uniform) by melting a tin of black shoe polish with a lighter. and then spit shining them
 
Pointy shoes have two very important advantages in two very specific situations. They are excellent if you have to climb a chain link fence in a hurry. And they are excellent for killing a cockroach once you have him in the corner. Based on this, I highly recommend pointy shoes to those of you who live in dumps and who are likely to be detained in some sort of minimum security facility. You know who you are. @MikeH @Frenchy
 
who are likely to be detained in some sort of minimum security facility. You know who you are.

Fuck that. If they ever get me they know me well enough to use only maximum security facilities.
 
Pointy shoes have two very important advantages in two very specific situations.
Actually, there was a historic reason for pointy-toed shoes. They make is easier to get your foot in a stirrup when mounting a horse. Something I have no need for and I doubt that I've met anybody recently with that requirement.
 
They make is easier to get your foot in a stirrup when mounting a horse.

Makes me wonder if they would be useful when mounting a beach whale too? Just asking, no reason.
 
  • Like
Reactions: ShowaJidai
Makes me wonder if they would be useful when mounting a beach whale too? Just asking, no reason.
Who are you? Moby Dick?
(you know who Moby Dick was? - the guy who had a burning desire to harpoon a white whale!)
 
  • Like
Reactions: MikeH
RM Williams chelsea boots - all day, every day. Nothing they don’t go with. The pointy toe stuff is awful....
 
  • Like
Reactions: ShowaJidai
Who are you? Moby Dick?

No, he is younger than I am. They got the story in the book a bit mixed up though, it was me who had the white harpoon I was hunting the whales with.
 
Pointy shoes have two very important advantages in two very specific situations. They are excellent if you have to climb a chain link fence in a hurry. And they are excellent for killing a cockroach once you have him in the corner. Based on this, I highly recommend pointy shoes to those of you who live in dumps and who are likely to be detained in some sort of minimum security facility. You know who you are. @MikeH @Frenchy

I hate office shoes generally speaking. My feet have a weird thick shape anyway so all of them hurt even weeks after buying them. Pointy, not pointy, doesnt matter. If I could work barefoot life would finally have some kind of meaning. Also I kill cockroaches by eating them, no need for shoes! :D