The Breitling Watch Source Forums

Sounds familiar... just like when someone buys the first proper watch...

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Cheers from Switzerland,

Fred

oh, yes.
but wearing decent shoes from a fitting last is actually a true game changer, while a Swatch will functionally replace most of my watches well...
you'll end up owning a dozen - and, as Roff says, they WILL last a lifetime - haven't bought a pair of "street" shoes for more than a decade.
you'll even learn a new language; tourbillons and escapements become Full and Half Brogues, Longwings or Chukkas from Scotch Grain, Horse Front. Russia Leather, maybe even Carabao

Yep. Start with a simple brogue or captoe. Oxfords are fine too, if you want to throw a bit of swagger into the wardrobe.

One pair of black, one pair of brown, and as Roff stated a nice oxblood should do nicely.

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"I don't got the bright watch I got the right watch" -Jay Z

Well before all of that will be the learning of how to properly take care of the shoes I suppose... That's an art in its own right I take it...



The thing is, though I generally wear polos n'jeans to work now, a dark suit might become mandatory in the near future. This implies black as a color choice.

And I was thinking some brown/creme spectator shoes for the more leisurely moments.

Oxblood is nice and could lie in my future as well...

Oh, did the count just swell up to four pairs? I should probably be thinking about paying IKEA a visit as well if it continues like that.

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Cheers from Switzerland,

Fred

And the source of many an argument - cream vs. wax predominantly. Personally I use both cream to moisturise and nourish the leather and wax to protect and provide a higher shine. However, you will only need to do that after every few wearings, a quick brush after wearing will do in between.

On the vocabulary front, perhaps someone could just tell me if I'm terribly mistaken here:

I take it Oxford (stringy bit below the main leather) vs Derby (stringy bit coming from the heel and overlapping main leather) vs Saddle (stringy bit on top of all else) is how the main body of the shoe is sewn to the bit with the strings in it, whereas captoe, wingtip and longwing, as well as brogue (wingtip with perforations) and halfbrogue (captoe with perforations) would mainly determine the shape and size of the bit sewn onto a shoe's tip?

Would that be about accurate?

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Cheers from Switzerland,

Fred

Oooh, several things there.....

First off dark suit does not mean black shoes. I will wear black shoes with a black suit obviously, but otherwise only with a dark grey. Browns I will wear with anything though tend more to the oxblood on grey tone and brown with blues.

I love spectator shoes - I have a pair of AE Strawfuts that get more comments than any other shoes I own - these ones specifically:



Oxford vs. Derby refers to the way that the shoes are laced, see image below - Derby = open, Oxford = closed. Oxford is considered more formal.



Cap toe and wingtip refer to the design on the toe, longwing is a wingtip toe but with the wing piece extending the full length of the shoe rather than ending part way back.

Brogueing is the holes and pinking is the points, full brogue is a wingtip style brogue design but doesn't have to be on a wingtip shoe - you can have a cap toe full brogue. Half brogue is just the straight lines across the toe.

well summarized, though any dark grey lighter than anthracite does go well w/ oxblood.

Agreed, I don't think that I explained my logic very well, what I meant was that I would only wear black shoes with a black suit (always) and a dark grey suit (sometimes). Usually with a grey suit I will wear oxblood through light brown, with lighter suits giving more flexibility with the shoe colour. I know that some people don't like the idea of brown shoes with a grey suit, but personally I think that it can look good. Blue suits are very forgiving and I have even worn those spectators with a suit on occasions that I have had to wear a suit on a Friday.

Many thanks Roff, many things just cleared up a big bit in my head.

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Cheers from Switzerland,

Fred

I totally agree about the color matching--wearing brown or cordovan shoes with something like a navy blue suit looks VERY classy.

My "best" pair of shoes are definitely my Allen Edmonds. Love 'em, and they're my go-to shoes. However, I wish I could say that they're also my most comfortable dress shoes, but by far they are NOT. My most comfy are actually my Ecco's.

Roff, I love those shoes! Wish I had ready access to AE.

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Chris
Club Member #0070
2009 TT Chrono Evo w/Rose gold, blue face
2009 Airwolf w/black face, Co-Pilot module
2009 TT Lady Cockpit w/Mother-of-Pearl, Diamond face for the wife

You guys can keep your AE wingtips or whatever.. Ill stick with my Nikes and Adidas.

Now that I know which sizes I need in each of the lasts I tend to order online - there are no AE stores in Canada and multi-brand stores have a lousy selection and D width only. Not sure if it applies to Alaska, but for most of the US AE offers free return shipping so not much risk either. Those Strawfuts are on clearance at AE now - end of season I guess, for $100 off.

These Spectators are quite cool indeed. I have now made my first push into high end shoes and bought the pair of JM Westons I had in my scope. I went for black Derbys with no toecap. They have a beautifully simple and elegant line. These shoes are the most impressive shoes not only that I have ever owned, but that I've ever seen I guess. Everything down to the smell of the learher and wax is utterly perfect. And stupid though it may be I like that they are something really well made coming from France... That's less and less common these days and sortof nice.

I'm yet to come up with a place to try on AE shoes for pair no. 2, but I'll keep looking.

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Cheers from Switzerland,

Fred

Congratulations!

Go take a look at some shoes made of cordovan as well - they are amazing. Just leave the wallet at home