Give 'Em Enough Rope

The rope soled espadrilles I ordered have arrived, and I have to admit, I love 'em. They are certainly a new Summer favorite:

I'd like to go on a rant telling Toms to go to hell, but I suppose I should thank them for even putting the idea in my mind that a proper espadrille may in fact be a necessity for the well dressed man in Summer.

The real thing, made in Spain, in the village of La Rioja according to the website.

They came in an envelope, not even one week after I ordered them. No right or left, just two identical shoes. After only two wears, though, my feet are already making impressions in the jute soles. So comfortable. First wearing was for an afternoon at the playground, second was with shorts and an un-ironed oxfrod sans shower to a yard sale this morning. I know I rail against slovenly dress and things like flip flops and shorts all the time, so spare me the argument. I am not, despite what you may think, anti-comfort. I am opposed to grown men being dressed in a selfishly sloppy way at all times for all ocassions. I will further admit that some ocassions call for comfortable, languid Summer dress, and for those times, espadrilles like these are just the trick, and have been for some time.

If you don't believe me, take a look at this image heisted from Heavy Tweed Jacket. It's from High Holy Brooks Brothers, in the High Holy Year of Our Preppy Lord 1982. Not only does it feature rope sole espadrilles, but also poly/cotton shorts and a damn hoodie. I rest my case.

Lest you think I've given up the ghost and gone full blast casual, know that later in the same day I wore a vintage Brooks Brothers white oxfrod with unlined collar, Brooks Brother blue oxford pants, a yellow cotton striped knit tie, vintage 1980s from Lands' End Charter Club, and the infamous gossamer jacket that has been getting perhaps too much time in the rotation. Damn thing is comfortable, what can I say? Different clothes for different circumstances.

Don't romanticize the past, and don't tie yourself up in imaginary rules. The old guys we all revere knew how to look good in a suit and in shorts. The real trick lies not so much in knowing all the little details as it does in knowing when to employ them.

p.s. give 'em enough rope:

Breaking The Law

It's been a while since we had a post about flagrant disregard for self imposed sartorial law. Last time, I boldly suggested that maybe it was o.k. to wear a button down collar with a double breasted blazer. This time, things are far worse. Brace yourselves.

When you find yourself in a place like this, at 11:00 am, on a Thursday, and it's 100 degrees with 200% humidity...

...it's possible, just possible, that it is acceptable to wear shoes like this. Sit down, take deep breaths, it's o.k., I can explain.

I have no specific problem with Toms. It may annoy me that they are such a ubiquitous mark of abject pseudo-hipsterism, and while I think that the company philosophy is pretty good, I can do without the drum beating, flag waving self righteousness they've managed to build into every purchase.  However, they do look cute on girls. Mrs. G has numerous pairs, and sometimes she buys them for me, unannounced. I wear them around the house, and occasionally, albeit begrudgingly, in public. I cut the tags off, not to fool people into thinking they're not Toms (I'm not fooling anyone) but more to mark myself as the kind of jerk who thinks he's too good for what everyone else is doing (snark).

It helps to remember that these are just a version of espadrilles, a soft canvas shoe from Spain that is in fact a stylish Summer classic. Cary Grant, Fred Astaire, and Gary Cooper are just a few of the monoliths known to have worn them with great aplomb. True, the real version comes from Spain and is characterized by a sole made of jute rope. In preparing to write this post, I was planning to wish you all good luck finding them, then I found these:

Cotton canvas uppers with a jute sole, apparently hand sewn in La Rioja, Spain. $25.95 (plus $9.95 shipping to the US) from espadrillestore.com. Not only the real thing, but half the price of Toms. I just ordered a pair. I'll be sure to let you know how they turn out.

And so long as we're on the topic of hot Summer days and espadrilles and whether it's acceptable for a grown man to wear shorts, let me proffer this:

A certain painter from Spain via Paris taught us all that not only are shorts and espadrilles acceptable for men, under the right circumstances, they can be downright bad-ass. I dare you to find anything in this photo that doesn't make everything you have look totally lame. I can't compete with that, but I can try to be cool in shorts and espadrilles sometimes.

Dammit, it's so hot here right now! (melt)