While I like my posts here to be provocative, my last post arguing that there is no such things as Shoes-That-Go-With-Jeans-And-A-Suit (STGWJAAS) generated some visits to the store by some of our best customers who came in wearing shoes that they regularly wear with jeans or a suit. And both of them were right. So let me clarify what I meant.

Perhaps the phrase doing the most work in my previous post was "Dress Shoe Purist" (DSP). Had I elaborated on the phrase, I certainly would have invoked the imagery of a "Dress Shoe Taliban" just to be politically incorrect. Meaning that, in their worldview, there are fundamental rules about dress shoes that can never be broken (leather soles, lace-ups, strict rules around color, toe styles pretty much limited to wing-tips, cap-toes, or plain toes, etc.). One of the customers that came in to read me the riot act (I might be exaggerating slightly there) was wearing the Michael Toschi Alessio. I should have mentioned them as a pair that goes well with suits or with jeans. However, a DSP would argue that they are not true "dress shoes" since (1) they have rubber soles instead of leather, and (2) they are slip-ons.

Personally, I abandoned the belief that dress shoes have to have leather soles years ago since I find Michael Toschi's shoes much more comfortable than any high-end pair of leather-soled shoes I've bought (and I've bought them all except Berluti which I hope to be buying in their flagship store in Paris in 2 weeks), and I find that the bottoms stay cleaner over time than leather soles that take on a grayish, scuffed appearance after a handful of wears. Again, a DSP might argue with me, but since there are so few out there, I'll stick with my Toschi's thank you very much.

The second part of my argument is, admittedly, hair-splitting so I can see why some would disagree. I meant to argue that any STGWJAAS that you might find doesn't go equally well with both. The other customer that came into the store wearing his favorite STGWJAAS was wearing a pair of custom G.J. Cleverley Lizard Slip-Ons. They are gorgeous. I would wear those with a suit in a second (heck, I'd wear those with a tux!). But they would be very dressy with jeans. Sure, you can throw them on with a black cashmere blazer and some dark Agave jeans (I'm suggesting this customer buy both from us ;-), but that's a dressy look. They'd look absurd with jeans and a guayabera at a weekend barbeque.

Hair-splitting, I know, so perhaps my advice would be for customers to, instead of asking for shoes they can wear with jeans and a suit, to be a tad more specific and say, "I'm looking for shoes that I can wear with a suit, or to dress up my jeans." Or, alternatively, "I'm looking for shoes that I can wear primarily with jeans, but also to occasionally dress down a suit because I understand it is impossible to buy one pair that is perfect for both."  Is that too much to ask?