A Dress A Day

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March 01, 2010

Another Loafer Roundup

Yes, I am still obsessed with penny loafers, so it's time for me to share another roundup of them with you.

In some very exciting loafer news, Bass has finally come out with a low-vamp penny loafer (the Brookfield). I wish they were an update (but not this one) on the classic cordovan Weejuns, a shoe I wore constantly from elementary school through high school, but you can't have everything. (The menfolks can have updated Weejuns this spring, though.)

What you can have is them in white, which I think is really cute for summer:

Bass White Brookfield Loafer

And being Bass, they come in wide widths, which I appreciate, and they have more padding than most of the other loafers I've seen. (You may have to search a bit for the white ones -- I see them intermittently on eBay.)

I like these Franco Sarto Ivy loafers too, but I'm not sold on the suede, and all the non-suede options are fake croc. I really, really hate fake croc (and real croc, for that matter).

Franco Sarto Ivy

I haven't had a chance to try these on (unlike the Brookfields) so I think the vamp may be too high.

These Via Spigas Olsins are super-cute:

Via Spiga Olsin

They're on the expensive side (~$100) but are on sale everywhere right now in random colors (including the dreaded croc) and a bright shiny orange.

(The Via Spigas, with that wonderful snipped-off 1960s toe, don't look so good on a wider foot, I'm sorry to say. If you have narrow feet, they will probably look fabulous.)

This KORS MICHAEL KORS Harper loafer is cute, except for the lug sole. (Why, Michael? Why?) And they're very expensive, at almost $200:

Kors Harper Loafer

Aldo has a loafer, too, in black, brown, and red (red's on sale!) but I don't like the trompe l'oeil nature of the penny slot (you see how picky I am?):

Aldo Loafer

These Aldo loafers are a little too 1990s for my taste, but maybe the 90s are coming back, now that we've nearly exhausted the 1980s revival?

Aldo Loafer

If you're out and about and see any other penny loafers, please drop me a link!

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25 Comments:

  • At Mar 1, 2010 6:11:00 AM, Anonymous Babett said…

    You have seen these, right?

    http://www.etsy.com/shop/darlingtonia?section_id=6549988


    If only they were less expensive!

     
  • At Mar 1, 2010 7:38:00 AM, Blogger Otherwise known as Jen said…

    I've always wondered why they are called penny loafers...you mean people actually used to slot pennies into the slit on the front band?

    Why?

    I'm intrigued.

     
  • At Mar 1, 2010 9:24:00 AM, Blogger Zoltar Panaflex said…

    Talbot's new catalog came out, complete with short sleeved sweater cardigans.

    Penny loafers usually have a copper penny in the front. I used to put wheat pennies in there instead. One time I put aluminum pennies in.

     
  • At Mar 1, 2010 9:49:00 AM, Blogger Packrat said…

    That last pair of loafers are very similar to a pair I had in about 1968. (I remember, because I loved them.) Classic never really goes out of style.

     
  • At Mar 1, 2010 10:25:00 AM, Blogger lucitebox said…

    I love loafers, too! I wore cordovan tasseled Weejuns in high school and for some reason my penny loafer of choice was a black Dexter. (I think they were cheaper.)

    I went to a fairly preppy school where the uniforms were repulsive, but I would break dress code in an effort to give my outfit a Facts Of Life vibe. The loafers conveniently seemed to fit that image and didn't break the code. My men's neckties, however, we not appreciated in the least.

    By my senior year, I liked to buy men's wingtips and loafers from the 60s. They lasted longer and looked more like the sort of shoe that Blair would never be caught dead wearing.

     
  • At Mar 1, 2010 11:03:00 AM, Blogger Zoltar Panaflex said…

    I should have mentioned my own experience with Weejun-love.

    I convinced my mother to buy me a pair of Bass Weejuns at the Nordstrom Place Two in 1981 - they cost $31.90 and my mother was not interested because of the "high price) but I wheedled and begged (not like me, so she caved) and I wore those puppies for over 10 years.

    They were hell to break in, but after that? They went everywhere, to Seattle, Boston, LA, anywhere I was.

    My feet went from 8M to 9M eventually and I kept my poor shoes in the wrong box and they got mold, so I had to throw them away.

    Lesson learned: Do NOT store anything leather in PLASTIC!

    Don't ask why I remember the price, I can't even remember my cell number.

    Erin, you prefer low-rise, I prefer high and NOBODY is doing that now, so I'm just miserable. There is a brand called Me Too that does cute loafers.

     
  • At Mar 1, 2010 11:47:00 AM, Anonymous Toby Wollin said…

    In my 'youth' I wore Sebago's and they are still in production - and look exactly the same:
    http://www.zappos.com/search/Shoes/filter/productTypeFacet/%22Shoes%22/gender/%22Womens%22/subCategoryFacet/%22Loafers%22/brandNameFacet/%22Sebago%22

     
  • At Mar 1, 2010 12:25:00 PM, Anonymous Anonymous said…

    I wore Weejuns all thru high school--they were very "in" and I just loved them (I graduated in 1967--yes, I'm THAT old!). I am sorry to learn this morning that they no longer come in AA, however, and I must have AA. Good luck to you in finding a style that fits--I have to have a high vamp.

    Gail D.

     
  • At Mar 1, 2010 12:43:00 PM, Blogger puncturedbicycle said…

    This post has been removed by the author.

     
  • At Mar 1, 2010 12:49:00 PM, Blogger puncturedbicycle said…

    Trompe l'oeil, hmmph.

    In the new world order, 'ornamental' (ie fake) zips, pockets, buttons and penny slots will be prohibited. That's a warning to those who need one - you know who you are.

     
  • At Mar 1, 2010 12:58:00 PM, Blogger Cel Petro said…

    Real penny slots. Lug--Ug. White!

    I don't wear penny loafers but I love looking at them on others. And, I have OPINIONS about them. Longed for a pair of gold lame loafers in 1965...

     
  • At Mar 1, 2010 1:00:00 PM, Anonymous Anonymous said…

    I like the lug soles on the one pair. They look tougher for when I'm walking to the bus stop downtown. Except I'm not liking the $200 price tag...

     
  • At Mar 1, 2010 1:33:00 PM, Blogger AngelaBeth said…

    WHERE is the link to the white ones? SO CUTE!

     
  • At Mar 1, 2010 1:38:00 PM, Blogger Erin said…

    Try here: http://is.gd/9tgda

     
  • At Mar 1, 2010 1:45:00 PM, Blogger Jennifer Murphy said…

    I so love penny loafers. I wore nothing but penny loafers all through college.

     
  • At Mar 1, 2010 5:38:00 PM, Blogger cpeep said…

    Bass has the white ones on their website for $69.

    https://bassshoes.harborghb.com/catalog/product-listing.cfm/category/Casuals/group/basswomens/start/13

     
  • At Mar 1, 2010 9:16:00 PM, Blogger kristine said…

    This has nothing to do with loafers, but I did just see an commercial for Target that mentioned they'll have fabrics and patterns by LIBERTY OF LONDON THIS SUMMER. Sorry for the allcaps. It's just too exciting.

     
  • At Mar 1, 2010 9:55:00 PM, Anonymous Amy said…

    kristine, I saw the Target commercial for the first time tonight and thought, "Who can I talk to about this to let them know how excited I am?" Nobody IRL would understand, so I came here to see if Erin mentioned it.

     
  • At Mar 2, 2010 9:22:00 AM, Anonymous dulcet said…

    I was saying to my husband that fashions don't have a "why" and that holds true for penny loafers. He promptly laughs and says that they were for the trolley, which used to cost a penny.

     
  • At Mar 2, 2010 9:29:00 AM, Blogger lise said…

    Let's have some Cake! Amazingly, that song was not on my ipod - it is now!

     
  • At Mar 2, 2010 2:32:00 PM, Blogger infodaisy said…

    Pennies for the trolley sounds right. The slots were practical, at least for emergency money. I go pretty far back but I couldn't remember what it was that cost just a penny. When I was in fourth grade my Mother relented and finally let me have my first non-oxford school shoes. They were wonderful, grey penny loafers. I didn't put pennies in the slots though. My mom had me put dimes in my shoes so I'd have money to make a phone call in an emergency. I remember my babysitter telling me that at her school different coins meant different things. I don't remember which was which, but something like nickels for "just looking' and dimes for "someone in mind" and quarters for "going steady". This was the mid fifties.

     
  • At Mar 2, 2010 3:30:00 PM, Anonymous phyllis said…

    $200 Michael Kors expensive? I saw $695 Manolo Blahnick loafers on Bergdorf Goodman's iPhone app. Now *that's* expensove!

     
  • At Mar 8, 2010 11:10:00 PM, Anonymous orata said…

    Merrell Plaza loafers are the most comfortable loafers you will ever wear. Honest. You can see a pair here:
    http://hesiraknits.blogspot.com/2008/11/so-i-was-at-department-store-today.html

     
  • At Mar 19, 2010 7:01:00 PM, Blogger RoseAG said…

    I have a pair of Nine West candy-apple red patent leather loafs in the same style as the Bass ones. They were maybe $45-55 at DWS.

    They are a nice pop with a lot of black/gray things.

    The low heel means I wear them all the time.

     
  • At Apr 3, 2010 4:00:00 PM, Anonymous anitaashland said…

    Today I found low vamp black American Eagle penny loafers at Payless today, totally unexpected. They were only $6! I don't normally by shoes at Payless but, thanks to you, I've wanted low vamp penny loafers for a long time and these are perfect.

     

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