shoes for office
I am looking for some inspiration for a brown leather shoe silhouette I can wear in a (pretty relaxed) business casual office that also looks good in more casual outfits. Not looking for specific brand/model recs, just the type of shoe I can base my searches off. My restrictions are:
Not a tyrolean
Not a boat shoe/ranger moc etc
Not a loafer
At the moment I’m considering just getting brown 1461 docs but I was wondering if there is something more interesting out there?
18 Replies
Brown Derby. 1461 works. Brown (suede) trickers or similar chunky derby would work. Meermim did a Plain Toe Blucher that would work (edit: apparently discontinued but a plain toe blucher generally is an option).
You could also look at Norwegian Split Toes.
Paraboot Chambord or Arles, Solovair Gibson, Astorflex makes a bunch of stuff
Thanks!
Second Astorflex - their chukkas are great so I’d imagine the derbies are too.
If you want to wear it with casual outfits too I’d recommend a boot tbh
@cdfchopper You disagree that boots are (can be) relaxed business casual officewear, or just think it's not what OP wants?
I think the meermin plain toe is discontinued
OP literally asked for a "shoe silhouette" and is considering a brown 1461, so I'm not sure how boots fulfill that or are a better option to wear with "casual outfits too".
I just wouldn’t wear a derby/blucher with a casual outfit so I mentioned boots because I think they fit some of his metrics better than only non-boot options.
Why wouldn't you wear a derby or blucher with casual outfits, or are we imagining very different versions of "casual outfit" here?
Depending on the derby it might clash. But I feel like with office type clothes it should be fine
I live in a very casual environment, people think I’m dressing up if I wear anything with a collar, so wearing a derby or blucher casually kind of scares me.
Seems like that’s not the case in a lot of areas though
I mean the first option given in the thread are docs
I don’t think any of the other recommendations are like those though
To clarify, I did mean a shoe not a boot. The only reason why I said not a tyrolean or boat shoe is because I wanted to get some inspiration of other shoes I could wear a bit like those in a similar context. I’m in London where it is very normal to wear those kinds of shoes in a casual outfit
Thanks for the recs I have a lot to go off now!
Gotcha
So I know I bang on a lot about how life is easier when you align formality and intent across the whole getup. ie, don't wear a blazer with a t-shirt unless you really know what you're doing (and even then, some people will roll their eyes at you.) BUT. I think shoes are sort of ... much less noticed ... and much less understood or differentiated, and you have much more latitude. What I mean is, the average person I would suggest has no idea the difference between a blucher/derby and an oxford/balmoral shoe. "Black leather, looks classic, subtle but nice? Fancy. Brown? Less fancy." So in that vein, I suggest that a blucher/derby can be worn with "casual business casual" in general, though not necessarily with specific shoes (ie: not all derby/blucher shoes will work, but plenty will.)
Though there is the secondary problem of when a shoe is eyecatching, you may not be happy about it. Like for example, a spectator shoe is fairly casual, but super niche, because it is so eyecatching; you wouldn't just say "this is a fairly casual outfit so I'll throw these on." Similarly, some light brown and tan shoes might be casual, but too eyecatching for you to be happy, especially with heavy brogueing. Or maybe you're happy with how they look.
In any event, I'd definitely consider a derby in various styles. The obvious ones: darker browns, museum, burgundy, whether in calf, chromexcel, or shell, may be your speed. Options abound: plain toe, simple cap toe, perforated toe, medallion toe, short wing (and these rarely are un-brogued -- I think austerity wingtips are the name), long wing, etc. Also: suede (tobacco, snuff, possibly black), white or off-which bucks, may also work.
Thanks for the recs. In the last 4 hours I’ve seen a guy wearing an untucked Charles tirwhitt dress shirt (the kind you’re supposed to tuck) with black skinny jeans and garish running shoes and another guy wearing a hoodie with low rise slim chinos and those weird sneaker dress shoe hybrids. These are both senior people at a city law firm. The bar is so low that I think I can get away with quite a lot!