Shoesday Recommendation: The Loafers of Fall

This happens to me once a year towards the end of the summer like it is clockwork and I am a machine that understands time is our only true unit of measure. The balmy August afternoons become breezy evenings that foretell a reality I try very hard to deny but can only reconcile through the idea that with colder weather might come the need for new shoes. New loafers.

Sure, girls will still amble about in romantic white dresses, bra optional, for the next several weeks. I will likely follow suit. But I’m a realist, you see, so I think ahead, too. And down. To my feet. About what they want. Because they’re the things that get me places, right? And if they’re not happy, how in the good name of leaves falling in Washington Square Park will they know how to steer?

Which brings me back to that thing that happens every year around this time. Last year I satisfied the clock with a pair of burgundy lace up brogues. The year prior it was two-tone wing tips but for the season ahead, I’m thinking penny-less loafers. Why? Allow me to show, not tell.

1. September is a buffer month that bodes better for fashion than virtually any other. You can take with you what you loved about summer (high waist white jeans, a basket purse), discarding what you didn’t like and adding some new wins — like a cashmere cropped sweater or gold chain belt — to satisfy your readiness to endure something new. It’s too soon for boots and too late for sandals. Which means only one thing, right? Right.

2. If you’re thinking about suiting, don’t want to abandon your shorts just yet (you’ve done squats every Tuesday and Thursday!) and can’t stand the thought of living another day without at least one layer of glitter-spangled ready to wear, remember that like any good combo platter, it boils down to how you season it. In the case of the combo platter, it’s lemon basil dressing. In the case of the outfit, where the 70s meet the 80s, then fall into a vortex where rollerskating and career-juggling live harmoniously side by side, it’s green loafers. Don’t forget the socks.

And finally: You know what they say, right? If you can’t beat them, you confuse them. Take the turtleneck and the straw hat, wear a beach bag and cashmere socks. No one needs to “get it.” Except for you. And when you’re asked where you’re going look like that? Defer to your feet and continue forth.

In partnership with Cole Haan

Photographed by Krista Anna Lewis

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