Perfect Hot Weather Summer Shoe - Everything You Need To Know About Loafers
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In today’s video, gentlemen, we’re talking about the perfect summer shoe.
First up, these shoes are versatile.
You can dress them up with a suit, you can dress them down with a pair of shorts.
These shoes come in a wide variety of materials, colors, and styles.
And, let’s talk timeless style.
This shoe has been in the closets of the world’s best-dressed men for over a hundred and fifty
years.
So, what shoe am I talking about?
Gentlemen, let me introduce you to the loafer.
So, by definition a loafer is a pair of shoes that will slip on and off without the use
of laces.
Notice here this pair of dress shoes has laces?
This is not a loafer.
Now, let’s talk about the materials used.
Most high quality loafers are going to be made from leather.
That being said, we’re also going to see suede out there.
Suede is a form of leather that shows more texture.
Now, I know a lot of guys avoid wearing suede because they’re worried it’s going to
get damaged.
It is more delicate than the other types of leather out there, but it’s still is a type
of leather and when treated and taken care of I think it’s a great addition to a man’s
wardrobe.
Now, gents, all the loafers you’re going to see in today’s video can be found over
at Jay Butler.
I’ve known about this company since it first started over five years ago.
My friend, Justin Jeffers is the founder.
He’s also a vlogger, a content creator.
Five years ago, he sent me a sample and I have to admit that I have worn these into
the ground, these have standed up to the test of time.
I’ve worn them every summer.
Now, one thing I love about Jay Butler’s shoes, when you look at the shoe right here,
you’re going to noticed that they have a basically a shorter vamp.
When you want a loafer that’s going to look and feel great during the summer, you want
to expose more the foot.
Another bit of history with the loafer is they come from two different schools.
They come from the moccasin and the dress shoes.
So, what’s great about Jay Butler is they took the best of both worlds.
So, they took the dress shoe design and they have it right here in the lower part of the
shoe which is great because if you’ve ever own just a pair of straight moccasins, you
have to be really careful, they’re going to wear out very quickly on the bottom.
So, I’ve been testing these, like I said I’ve got some of these older pairs that
they hold up when you wear them again and again.
This is exactly what you want.
But now, let’s talk about the upper.
This is where he took a lot of design from the moccasin and made them incredibly comfortable.
So, he went in there and they’ve got hand stitching in and around.
Very important, the only way to put these moccasins together and the stitching holds
up.
And when it comes to the classic styles, the classic looks, they’ve got you covered.
They wanted to make sure that you can get work horse loafers that you can dress up,
you can dress down, you can add a bit of flash to your outfit.
We’ve got an awesome discount code I’m linking to down in the description.
It is only going to be around guys for a couple of weeks.
This one will disappear.
Go check it out, guys.
Use that link, use that discount code and get an amazing deal on the loafers.
So, the first loafer style we’re going to talk about is the classic penny loafer made
popular over a hundred years ago.
It was originally called the wegian which a play on the word Norwegian hence where actually
it came from out of Europe, but it was made popular in the 1920s in the 1930s with students
in the United States.
And, the idea goes that you could put a penny in here, but what’s going to be the distinctive
feature is the strap of leather going right across.
Other construction details you want to look at for a quality loafer is to make sure that
you’ve one piece of leather that goes all the way around.
Why is that?
Because a large piece of leather to be used basically has to be unblemished, it’s going
to be a rare part of the skin of the hide and therefore it’s going to cost a higher
price.
Usually, the top manufacturers are going to be able to do that, other ones are going to
usually put pieces together.
Now, when you look right here at the upper, this is where you’re going to see the hand
stitching and you want to pay attention to the stitching.
You want to go in and make sure that the lines are straight, that the stitching isn’t all
over the place that they’re using a single stitch and that the stitching is close together.
So now, let’s talk about the materials.
Right here, we’ve got a full grain leather.
A full grain leather is going to be from the leather on the outside of the hide, it’s
going to be the most dense of the leather out there and if taken from the right part
of the hide, it can be soft, it can be supple.
But, the key thing to go with the full grain is it’s going to actually be able to pretty
good about resisting the elements.
Now, I talked about suede earlier, it is more delicate than full grain leather, but not
by a whole lot.
If you treat this, if you aren’t abusing your shoes, you’re going to find you’re
going to be able to get a decade’s wear out of a pair of shoes like this.
And, let’s talk about the style that something like this brings to your wardrobe whether
you go with olive green whether you go with a dark blue, this right here is going to level
up your entire look.
And now, let’s talk about the versatility being able to dress up dress down the shoes,
what I love about the penny loafers is this is a classic design that really doesn’t
draw a whole lot of attention to itself, so it can easily be dressed up dressed down.
Now, the lighter color of these shoes, they’re going to make it a bit more casual, but if
these were a dark brown if they were a black, you could easily dress these up with a suit.
Now, let’s talk about the bit loafer.
This one is going to grab a lot more attention and notice right here, we’ve got the silver
bit.
You’re also going to see it in gold, really depends on your preference.
I like to match metals to metals.
But, this one is made popular first in 1953, a guy named Gucci came out with this and he
started making it more popular and this has become a classic.
[0:04:54] If you’re a little bit bored or you’ve
already got a pair of, you know, of the penny loafers, then bring a pair of shoes like this,
you can dress them up this darker color right here.
And, again, we’ve got a nice solid leather, this right here can easily be dressed up,
you can even dress this down with a pair of shorts.
And, I have to bring this up because I love the whole perforated leather.
This right here is one of my summer style secrets is to bring in shoes that have great
looking style a classic design, but have the small holes that you don’t notice from a
distance, but you can tell when you’re wearing these on a hot day because they’re so much
cooler.
Next up, let’s talk about the moccasin style.
So, I know I said no laces, but in the moccasin in that history, those laces did actually
work.
Now, what you’re going to notice on moccasin loafers is that they actually don’t work.
The laces up here are for look are for design.
This is a very casual style.
You’re also going to notice that they have lacing in and around here.
Again, from a historical sense, moccasins actually were very functional, they use this
lacing to tie in around the foot so it stayed on you when you are running.
A moccasin sole will have just a leather bottom, so you could actually feel the ground that
you are touching on.
I appreciate that they actually have a more classic design here on the bottom.
Next up, let’s talk about the tassel loafer.
So, this was made popular in the 1920s.
Harry Truman was a big fan of these shoes.
What you’ll notice here is that tassel right on top, this is a very clean a very stylish
type of loafer.
This one you could easily dress up, it’s going to be much more formal than the moccasin
loafer.
Another loafer you’re going to see out there is the Wildsmith loafer.
Now, this loafer looks very similar to the penny loafer, but there are two distinctive
features that set it apart.
First, the Wildsmith loafer will have a narrower silhouette.
This is going to give it a more elegant and formal appearance.
The second feature is there’s going to be vertical stitching that’s going to split
the front of the toe box.
Next up, we’ve got the Belgian loafer created by a guy named Henri Bendel in 1954.
So, apparently he bought these factories they were hundreds of years old, he turned them
around and the Belgian loafer was one of their signature designs.
When you see a Belgian loafer, you’re going to be able to spot it because notice the bow
right there on the top front of the shoe.
Now, one of the interesting things about a classic Belgian loafer is it that bow is sewn
inside out to create a very fine seam.
All right, gents.
So, there you have it.
Let me know down in the comments what is your favorite style, which of these shoes will
you be rocking this summer.
And, again, if you want to learn more about Jay Butler, check out those amazing shoes.
I’m linking to them down in the description with the best discount code you’re going
to find out there which will not last long, guys, so use it or lose it.
I’m linking to it down in the description.
I have to admit, I love these olive green.
As you guys know I love olive green suede, I’ve got a jacket like this and I find that
it just works with so many of my outfits.
It looks great with shorts.
I’ve been rocking these all summer and, yeah, just a great look.
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