Allen Edmonds Manchester Loafer in Walnut, $7.99
The great thing about Allen Edmonds is that they rarely discontinue a successful shoe model and always have incredible quality. The Manchester is a part of their Timeless Classics collection and is still available here, for those of you entreated with acquiring the above shoe without the patience to thrift. Since they're made in the USA, you can all rest assured that your money is helping to keep honest Americans in business.
The tassel loafer is the perfect shoe. After being used on wall street in the 80's and 90's by the grown up Ivy crowd who popularized them in the 50's, they became a business staple, the tassel made it a more formal offering and a getaway from the oxford. Yet, their roots, both of the loafer in Norway in the 1930's and the tassel loafer at the hands of Paul Lukas and Alden in 1948 were in creating a more comfortable, less formal shoe. From informality to formality, the tassel loafer can walk it all. This hasn't escaped the eye of many current designers who are beginning to offer their own take on the classic jack-of-all-trades slip-on.
The tassel loafer is the perfect shoe. After being used on wall street in the 80's and 90's by the grown up Ivy crowd who popularized them in the 50's, they became a business staple, the tassel made it a more formal offering and a getaway from the oxford. Yet, their roots, both of the loafer in Norway in the 1930's and the tassel loafer at the hands of Paul Lukas and Alden in 1948 were in creating a more comfortable, less formal shoe. From informality to formality, the tassel loafer can walk it all. This hasn't escaped the eye of many current designers who are beginning to offer their own take on the classic jack-of-all-trades slip-on.
11 comments:
Congrats on the find! As you know I'm a huge supporter of Allen Edmonds, and I'm happy you were able to find a pair in such condition! Can't wait to see them with a full outfit.
7.99 what a deal. I'm sure you will love them. As I get older I started to like tassel loafers more and more. Enjoy them.
I can't believe my eyes. I need to move to your town.
How is it that such nice, hardly ever used shoes make it to thrift stores? Sweet Jesus. I can't get over this find of yours!
Thanks guys they were quite the find, I've already put them to good use. Scott I'll amend the post with a pic of a suitable outfit, one befitting it's history. Tony, it is rare to find these things, admittedly I do peruse the thrifts many times a week.
Then you deserve them for your perseverance!
Superb find. Those are beautiful shoes. I love tassel loafers and regularly wear them for business. In my own personal Shoe Pyramid, tassel loafers are right up there with brogues.
Very nice, casual look! Don't forget the pocket square!
LBT, I'm quickly starting to feel the same way, I've been wearing them at least three days a week since they were acquired.
Scott, I forwent the pocket square on purpose because I wanted to impart a traditional Ivy look. It wasn't very popular to wear a pocket square in the 50's and 60's, apparently it still had a reputation as a replacement for kleenex and was viewed as unhygenic. It didn't become popular again until later when silk usurped the normal cotton variety and remained solely a decorative piece.
Very clever. I like that you always have a particular "theme" behind your choices.
David ~ I've been wearing them since sometime in the mid- to late-1980s. Their versatility and pedigree make me keep coming back to them time and again. I think you were quite fortunate to find a walnut-coloured pair of these beauties, as only black and merlot seem to be available now.
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