The Perfect Shoe For Spring 2012

I have always had a hard time balancing smart and casual. I either tend to want to wear a suit with dress shoes, or jeans with trainers...only being forced to do the whole in-between as I have to for work. Part of this problem is finding the right shoe to tie together the smart-casual look. That, I think, has been my biggest problem. Suede is usually a good balance as it can be smart, but also casual at the same time. Same thing with the loafer style. It's clean looking, simple and can look great with some smart jeans or nice, dress-casual trousers. But the icing on the cake, for me, in regards to this shoe presented, would have to be the crepe sole. It's texture, color and comfort give it that one-up when it comes to being 'dress casual.' A leather sole on it would make it too dressy looking, a dark rubber sole would be too boring, but the contrasted crepe gives it everything it needs in order to be fun, yet still maintain it's sharp look.

Funny enough, this model is a collaboration between Japanese clothing brand Deluxe, and English shoemakers Loake, a brand that I must say that I have not been too particularly fond of in the past. But these here give me a new respect for Loake and make me want to go search for them, and then buy them, as I believe that would get a lot of use out of me! But I have a feeling that they will be a hard find, which is probably for the best anyway, as I need to save up!

Pictures Courtesy Of: The Shoe Buff

It's All In The Detail

Picture Courtesy Of: Moda Image

One of my dear blog readers, who frequents London as business calls, just happen to pop in today for an updated chat on life, shoes and the future of my career. Because he happened to visit me in the flesh, I showed him the pictures (via my camera phone) that I have of my upcoming collection. The pictures show what is current with my prototype production, but we still have a month or so before they are complete. Nevertheless, he was able to get an idea of my collection to come and a feeling of how it differs from others while at the same time provides a feeling of familiarity: 'classics with a twist.'

We discussed that in a saturated market, where everything under the sun has already been done, the one thing that differentiates one another, is the minute detailing. That being, when I saw these loafers (above), by Aubercy, they immediately stood out to me. Granted, some people would not appreciate this. But for someone like me who has seen 10 million different pairs of shoes is his life and purposefully looks at them, this would have just been another loafer (of a trillion) in calf and suede, had it not that the red stitching. But because it does have this contrasted stitching, it no longer is one of a trillion, it becomes one of one (or maybe 2 or 3 etc). It stands out and makes me stop and say, "now there is something different, something worth pausing to give a double-take."

And this is what I hope to do for all of you. To give you something that stands out, not in an loud or ostentatious way, but in a way that is discreet yet noticeable. A way that says that you, the wearer, appreciate your shoes and the small details in life, the little ones that make us stand out from the crowd....