Post: #51

Boat shoes are a classic look if you can pull them off. Cuff a pair of appropriate pants or dark denim jeans (or wear shorts if you're into it), throw on some sort of hot weather appropriate button up, polo or a v-neck. Bonus points if you wear a killer watch or some other kind of wrist accessory to pull the look together.

If you are worried about sweating too much in them, you have a couple of options. You can throw on some no-show socks or put in a terrycloth insole.

In regards to height, I don't really feel like I lose too much by wearing them. The overall look can be more valuable than that little bit of height. Girls dig boat shoes, basically.

As a side benefit, they are also comfortable as fuck.

Post: #52

Boat shoes are soo ingrained with the mainstream, east coast, white male / frat attire, look that they aren't going anywhere.

For a lot of post college white yuppies Frat life was the pinnacle of their achievement so they cling to the look that reminds them of their high. It's like guys from the late 80's who still rock Burt Reynolds stashes.

Post: #53

boat shoes have struck me as too much of a yuppie fraternity brother look for someone not currently in a frat or in the Hamptons. they can be pulled off reasonably well these days with a slimmer cut, shorter short (you may as well tattoo greek letters on your face if you're wearing them with baggy cargo shorts) but I've still shied away from them this summer for fear of coming off too cliched or jumping too hard on the trend. it's possible to make the look work but it's a fine line with them between "I read menswear blogs" and "I'm about to do a keg stand".

I personally have been liking some of the vintage Nike sneakers, and the Converse Jack Purcells that stefpdt posted are great - I'm thinking about picking up a pair.

Post: #54

(08-07-2014 02:16 PM)samsamsam Wrote:  

(08-07-2014 01:37 PM)Flyjin Wrote:  
good look 1

... I have this urge to want to punch him. He looks like the kind of guy that would be mouthy but crumble in one punch...

Well, that's an interesting way to deal with people.

Post: #55

I have a pair of stone colored sebagos. They are easily the most comfortable pair of shoes I own. I hate wearing socks so that's an added plus.

I don't give a fuck who else is wearing them, because when I roll in with some cool shorts and a tailored dress shirt with a couple buttons undone I think I look better than most dudes.

Basically like this, only my hair is better and I have about 50lbs more muscle than this guy.

Post: #56

Everyone in my family, even the little nieces and nephews wear boat shoes, everywhere I go, crippled old ladies, suburban dads, kids, everyone's wearing boat shoes. Basically, all the unstylish people in america traded in their white running shoes for boat shoes. My roommate, who wears nothing but huge yellow work boots, everywhere he goes, got a pair of boat shoes.

I've never owned or wanted to wear boat shoes, its not my thing, I just think its funny how everyone wears them and some people act like it has to be a staple of a mans wardrobe, fuck that, there's a million other choices and not everyone wants to look the same.

Post: #57

At least in the US, boat shoes seem to be very regional thing. I don't have a lot of west coast experience but I'll assume (per previous responses) that they work fine out west.

Boat shoes are a preppy northeastern and southeastern staple and are going work well for you so long as you're not rocking them with pleated khakis and a polo shirt that's one size too big. I'll leave fanzine15's comment about people's fraternity pinnacle of acheivement alone (though it's not without some truth) and add that, at least where I grew up, you:

Wore Chuck Taylor's or another type of tennis shoe for (spring, summer, and early fall in high school) and Clark's Wallabees (from fall until there was ice on the ground, Wallabees have no traction) in high school. Boat shoes were worn with jacket and tie at school... the trick was that your pants would cover up that you didn't have socks on as no socks meant detention.

At some point in college you traded the Chuck's for boat shoes and kept on with the Wallabees.

As an adult you wear boat shoes in warmer weather and proper dress shoes / work boots in the colder months depending on how you earn a living. Some dudes upgrade in price to the Italian made loafer. Of course, a Ferragamo loafer is going to feel like butter compared to a Sperry Topsider. However, as odd as it may sound, the high-end loafer may be considered too flashy. The family friend who has that weird "I-didn't-graduate-from-college" chip on his shoulder (but has made some bank) will rock Italian loafer while driving his Range Rover. The dude who sticks with Wallabees post-graduation may or may not be holding onto the past.

The overarching theme is that wearing sneakers after your teenage years outside of sports/gym is a prolie no-go. Hey, the sneakers might cost more than the Sperrys and might be more comfortable, but that's what it is...

Midwest is different. In the midwest you'll be viewed as a dork if you're wearing them anywhere other than the richest suburban areas. It's made worse if you dress like the dude General Mayhem's post. Dudes in denim, sneakers, and a striped button up will get aggressive on you if you appear frail and passive-aggressive if you appear strong. I can confirm aeroekatar's theory that boat shoes are replacing white tennis shoes as the unfashionable person's go-to summertime shoe in non-country, non-hood American middle west. When daygaming at my local shopping center I was surprised to see a busy Sperry's retail store.

Post: #58

(08-23-2014 12:41 PM)Zyzz Wrote:  

(08-07-2014 02:34 PM)DJ-Matt Wrote:  I can't believe it when I see the fashion experts on here defending boat shoes, to me they always scream HOMO

No, they scream bro, WASP, and country club.

They only scream WASP if there's some possibility of the wearer actually being on a boat or at the beach.

Post: #59

(08-28-2014 05:04 PM)Chapped3rdEye Wrote:  

(08-23-2014 12:41 PM)Zyzz Wrote:  

(08-07-2014 02:34 PM)DJ-Matt Wrote:  I can't believe it when I see the fashion experts on here defending boat shoes, to me they always scream HOMO

No, they scream bro, WASP, and country club.

They only scream WASP if there's some possibility of the wearer actually being on a boat or at the beach.

I guess that's why I think driving shoes look a little better. They're usually sleeker and a little more refined. But, they often have thinner soles (so you can feel the pedals, of course) so they're not as comfortable, IME, for walking around all day as boat shoes.

Post: #60

It's funny, I know it's completely opposite OP's intention but the pics in this thread got me going out to get a pair of boat shoes right now. I think they look awesome with the right outfit.

Post: #61

Where I live, boatshoes mark you as a douchebag or a DB wannabe. That works wonders with a certain crowd, gets you ostracized from other crowds. So it's a fashion choice with consequences.