Althouse: "Yes! I am always thinking of two-toned shoes. I’m never not thinking about them."

January 30, 2013

"Yes! I am always thinking of two-toned shoes. I’m never not thinking about them."

"This is perfection. Why are most shoes so boringly monochromatic?"

(Bonus: Amazon shopping link for 2-toned shoes. Special recommendations: here and here.)

47 comments:

bearing said...: I love John Fluevogs.

I'm wearing a pair right now.

They are also two-toned, but subtly. Black pebbled leather and black faux-snakeskin-patterned leather.; 1/30/13, 4:22 PM
McTriumph said...: Long wings and spectators.; 1/30/13, 4:33 PM
traditionalguy said...: Golf shoes. The Masters cometh!; 1/30/13, 4:36 PM
Mary Martha said...: The best part about spectators? They never go out of style.

The worst part? It's hard to find them when they are not in fashion.

They are the perfect example of the difference between style and fashion.; 1/30/13, 4:38 PM
McTriumph said...: "They are the perfect example of the difference between style and fashion."

Those with bespoke taste develop a personal style, the herd chases fashion.; 1/30/13, 4:41 PM
Bob Ellison said...: I don't think I could pull those off.; 1/30/13, 4:48 PM
deborah said...: "Those with bespoke taste develop a personal style, the herd chases fashion."

Oh, so true. But you would not believe what I'm thinking of coming up with...

Two-tone shoes?

The red and brown is kicky and retro, but how usable? The black would be more practical.; 1/30/13, 4:52 PM
edutcher said...: Saddle shoes for women?

Would Hatman call me a homophobe if I said, "That's so gay"?

Or the She-Wolf of the SS?

If they not one and the same.; 1/30/13, 5:01 PM
jr565 said...: I like the old Two Tone shoes from the ska days. With the checkerboard pattern. Those were some two tone shoes.; 1/30/13, 5:05 PM
Wen said...: Oh, ha!ha! I thought you were channeling the Manolo.; 1/30/13, 5:05 PM
Unknown said...: I was so far ahead of my time I wore black and white oxfords (saddle oxfords) in the early 60's. Long after the trendy 50's and long before anyone ever again thought them fashionable.
My mother made me wear them, they were "corrective" for my wide flat feet. I corrected them by riding very fast on my bike and dragging them to stop. The other girls wore dainty pointed toed patent leather.
You couldn't get me into a pair of two tone shoes with a team of horses.; 1/30/13, 5:06 PM
Wen said...: Oh, ha!ha! I thought you were channeling the Manolo.; 1/30/13, 5:06 PM
coketown said...: Deborah, the red/brown scheme is pretty awesome. If I were a drag queen I'd sport those with relish. Relish as in enthusiasm. Not relish as in the condiment.

I got my mom a travel documentary of Tuscany for Christmas, and there was an interesting scene in which the narrator visits a shoemaker who made all sorts of awesome retro-looking shoes out of all sorts of awesome materials, like stingray skin!; 1/30/13, 5:09 PM
McTriumph said...: deborah

If you want practical, timeless and tasteful, get shoes styled and constructed like men's shoes, only feminised. Professor Ann's Sartorialist link is a good example.; 1/30/13, 5:10 PM
ricpic said...: The only classic two tone combination IMO is brown and cream, either in a mens dress shoe or those 1940's saddle shoes that were once everywhere on high schoolers.; 1/30/13, 5:27 PM
McTriumph said...: wyo sis
Your mother understood the timelessness of the saddle oxford. They are like Weejuns, white bucks, wing tips, Stan Smiths and Chuck Taylors, to name a few.; 1/30/13, 5:28 PM
Anonymous said...: Deborah, those are adorable!; 1/30/13, 5:37 PM
Shawn Levasseur said...: At least there aren't any numbers over the heel signifying that they were bowling shoes that weren't returned after renting.; 1/30/13, 5:45 PM
Known Unknown said...: "I like the old Two Tone shoes from the ska days. With the checkerboard pattern. Those were some two tone shoes."
Vans?; 1/30/13, 5:47 PM
Known Unknown said...: I love buying 'ugly' shoes.

It's been awhile since I've found a funky pair.; 1/30/13, 5:48 PM
Crunchy Frog said...: I am thinking about bowling.; 1/30/13, 5:49 PM
deborah said...: So, Coketown, if you were a drag queen wearing those shoes, what would your drag queen name be :)

McT, I like them feminized, but the ones in the Sartorialist are still too masculine for my taste. My daughter has an adorable pair of high heels of black-and-white plaid with a red line, with patent leather toes and backs. I feel the same way about polo shirts on me. Just never cared for it.; 1/30/13, 5:51 PM
David said...: More girls trying to grow a penis.; 1/30/13, 5:53 PM
Palladian said...: In the early 1990s I had a pair of tricolor John Fluevog Doc Martens that looked exactly like this, except they were shoes not boots. I loved those shoes but I found them intensely uncomfortable. I wore them while I walked across Paris once and ended up incapacitated for several days due to the pain they caused. I ended up temporarily trading shoes with a friend for the remainder of the trip so that I'd be able to walk.

Despite that, I wish I still owned them.; 1/30/13, 5:55 PM
Alex said...: Ugh I hate shoes. Why can't I just have a fish tail?; 1/30/13, 6:21 PM
Basta! said...: A Spanish company named Campers used to make a line of women's shoes in which each shoe of a particular pair was slightly different, like this:

http://tinyurl.com/au8s5bf

They don't seem to be making this line anymore. Too Bad --- I would appreciate more interesting shoes, on everyone. Spiff up the visuals.; 1/30/13, 6:25 PM
virgil xenophon said...: circa 1970 when I was stationed in the UK I owned a pair of brown & white patent-leather dress shoes--they had the more sophisticated French Toe viz the wing-tip. GREAT "race-track" shoes. They may sound garish, but with the right gray, brown or gray-brown suit they were dynamite with the right tie. I had a redish-brown pattern on gray suit that they were killer with..; 1/30/13, 6:32 PM
virgil xenophon said...: PS: Circa 1973 I also had a pair of square-toed/French powder-blue & whitish oatmeal canvas & leather shoes that were killer w. white slacks and a powder-blue linen sport-coat and yellow & blue paisley tie w. blue& white striped dress shirt.; 1/30/13, 6:39 PM
McTriumph said...: deborah
No doubt many women don't like wearing traditional oxfords for that reason, hence spectator pumps. your daughter's shoes sound great, love plaid.
No one should wear items they don't feel comfortable with, they won't be able to pull it off. I doubt you look masculine in a polo, either the original BD or knit, but it's just not your style.; 1/30/13, 6:45 PM
McTriumph said...: Virgil
At first, I thought you were channeling the Redford Gatsby, but patent leather on men is European, not Anglo-American, with the exception of tuxedo pumps. I like the blue linen jacket and white pants, I grew up in the South.; 1/30/13, 6:57 PM
deborah said...: Exactly, McT. BTW, I'd never heard the term 'spectators' before, though I loved the pump style. Love these.; 1/30/13, 7:27 PM
OnWisconsin1987 said...: great shoes for a night of bowling.; 1/30/13, 7:35 PM
Aridog said...: The Sartorialist is merely bringing 1950's and 1930's style back in refresh. I wore two tone shoes in high school, when I wasn't wearing pointy toed Puerto Rican fence climbers, engineer boots, or cowboy boots. We wore pegged pants, and three button suits, too...

Nothing is new anymore, nothing...at least not since Halston hit big with simplicity. I had three Halston Ultrasuede "sport coats", 2 button, that were perfect for western horseman wear at trials and shows and far more comfortable than heavy genuine suede. Long gone now, I buy silk/linen/worsted combinations for the same use as necessary.

Oh yeah, nothing says "two tone" like cowboy boots do...at prices high enough to make Allen Edmonds blush.; 1/30/13, 8:32 PM
McTriumph said...: deborah

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spectator_shoe; 1/30/13, 8:32 PM
sean said...: O, I love two-tone shoes. There's a poem by Archilochus, that uses the word "poikilosambalos" (i.e., wearing multicolored shoes), and that is how I think of myself. Alas, my wife doesn't like men in two-tone shoes, so I don't wear them very often.; 1/30/13, 8:43 PM
Big Mike said...: Have you considered cowboy boots?; 1/30/13, 8:47 PM
ampersand said...: Never criticize a man until you walk a mile in his shoes.
Then you can blast him as you are a mile away and still have his shoes.; 1/30/13, 8:47 PM
Aridog said...: Big Mike ... Yee Gawd, you trying to kill her? Those are 2-step dancing boots, not bar wearing hoss riden' boots...and definitly not walkin' boots. Try These roper style for everyday wear. "-)); 1/30/13, 9:04 PM
Christy said...: Three decades ago I was all Pappagallo spectator pumps. Even once had a strange guy walk up and admire the brown and white pair I was sporting with a red shirtdress. How weird was that?; 1/30/13, 9:30 PM
Christy said...: Three decades ago I was all Pappagallo spectator pumps. Even once had a strange guy walk up and admire the brown and white pair I was sporting with a red shirtdress. How weird was that?; 1/30/13, 9:30 PM
McTriumph said...: Christy
Why was that weird?; 1/30/13, 9:42 PM
Chip Ahoy said...: deborah, the red and brown definitely without hesitation. The black has no advantages.; 1/31/13, 12:23 AM
Business said...: There is plenty of penny auction location on the Internet, and every one of them claim to give clientele what they desire. numerous of these sites assure the world, but merely DealDash consistently bring the fair and truthful legitimate bargains that bidders long for...
shoes on line; 1/31/13, 6:17 AM
deborah said...: "deborah, the red and brown definitely without hesitation. The black has no advantages."

K :)

(thx for the link, McT :); 1/31/13, 10:41 AM
Sam L. said...: Some people don't have enough 'real' in their lives.; 1/31/13, 10:55 AM
Freeman Hunt said...: I have a family member who is very anti eye-catching clothing.

"Do you want them looking at your shirt or at you? You don't want people thinking about your clothes, you want them looking at your face."

But I guess that could work the other way too. If you don't want people looking at your face, say if you were lying or trying to hide your identity or some such thing, you could get them looking at your clothes.

I don't think highlighting the face depends on the attractiveness of the face. There is something attractive or interesting in every face. .; 1/31/13, 12:12 PM
Methadras said...: And the Satorialisist sycophancy train rolls on.; 1/31/13, 1:34 PM