The Case for Dress Shoes with Casual Clothing
In the last year or so I’ve been leaning more towards casual clothing than before. Jeans instead of trousers as the main thing, knitwear instead of shirts, loafers instead of laced shoes and - recently - work or chore coats instead of tailored jackets. I know that my preferences change over time, but I’ve been contemplating how to still retain some sort of subtle elegance when dressing more casually. Here are my thoughts.
A starting point could perhaps be to look at the different elements in an outfit. Four main elements appear: Jacket, bottoms, top, footwear. To keep this exercise a little simpler, I will leave out outerwear and accessories (which would be an entire post in itself).
So four elements. Which elements can be varied and in what way without giving up some sort of subtle elegance? So far my conclusion is this: The shoes are the key element.
Try this thought experiment: For jacket a dark navy tailored jacket with some structure in the fabric and patch pockets. Not a worsted suit jacket. An OCBD shirt underneath, classic colours and pattern - light blue or white - plain or striped. Sand or beige chinos in a medium heavy cotton which holds nicely. On the feet: Brown suede loafers - pennies or tassels.
Now, this outfit is a pretty basic #menswear outfit - channeling the Ivy connotations. Perhaps you could call it page one in the casual, but still well-dressed playbook.
Then change the loafers for trainers. This look is widely sported - at least I see it a lot here in Copenhagen. There is nothing wrong with it, and I want to emphasise that I’m not here to point fingers. Wear what you like and what you find appropriate for your walk of life. But I wouldn’t feel comfortable in a tailored jacket and trainers.
On the other hand I would have no trouble wearing a chore jacket, crew neck knit and jeans with the beforementioned brown suede loafers. Trainers would probably be a default for many, which makes sense: Every main element of the outfit is obviously casual. It’s just not for me.
I like the idea of a - just a little - more formal shoe. While traditionalists will tell us that loafers actually are very casual shoes, I think that most people I meet in a normal day would consider it way more formal than a trainer.
It would be a stretch to call these thoughts a touch of unique personality - indeed this is probably what a lot of you lovely readers already wear, and this point was also mentioned years ago on Permanent Style. But that doesn’t make it less of a nice touch of subtle elegance. Just a little, nothing flashy - the way I prefer it.
You're right that loafers are only casual in a traditional sense, but that sense is still relevant. They still feel more casual than, say, oxfords, which would look bad with this kind of outfit.
And it's fun to think of loafers in a casual light for the same reason it's fun to throw a sport jacket over a tee shirt in place of a blouson or other generic outer layer. Because that's consistent with the intended spirit of those items. I love it when people wear tailoring well, casually, and the same goes for loafers.