I am a 36-year old attorney. I work at an amlaw 100 law firm, and have been at this firm for over 10 years. I recently "discovered" men's style. I also discovered all of the things I had been doing wrong, which I will probably post about in pieces. One prior error related to footwear-bicycle toe slip on dress shoes, square toes Balmoral shoes for court appearances, etc. I grew up in a blue collar family, and never learned about this stuff before starting in a business casual office. And most people just don't know how to dress. So my eyes were opened recently, and I went down the rabbit hole.
I have since vastly improved my footwear with four pair of allen edmonds shoes, purchased in this order: bourbon MacGregor longwings, dark chili daltons, black Jefferson wingtip oxfords and dark brown strands. I just love me some brogueing I guess. But one piece of advice I kept getting when visiting forums, explaining my wardrobe and career (depositions and court multiple times per week) was that I absolutely MUST have plain black cap toes or punch caps (such as AE Park Ave or Fifth Ave) for serious meetings, court and funerals. Every time I'd ask "what shoes should I get next" I would get at least one response along the lines of "well, you know you need cap toed oxfords...." Websites on building a shoe wardrobe tell you the same thing. I started to question my choices.
Well, I am here to say that this is simply not true. Here is why: no one cares if you have wingtips or full brogues or half brogues or plain cap toes as long as (1) they are "dressy" enough (2) they are well-polished and (3) you are otherwise appropriately dressed.
I have been at depositions and in court in dark brown strands or black wingtip bals with a dozen high level partners from some of the largest law firms in the world, where I was the most junior attorney. I was not even remotely out of place because of my footwear. Quite the opposite. The shoe wear in this instance ran the gamut from beat up tassel loafers to rubber-soled derby shoes to my full brogues. And the best shoes? A kickASS pair of black cordovan wingtip tassel loafers. To put it simply: no one notices.
Same goes for funerals. Maybe in a long ago age someone would sneer at a well-polished pair of wingtips instead of cap toe bals at a funeral. But in today's day and age NOONE would suggest or even think you somehow disrespected the dead or were otherwise dressed inappropriately if you showed up in a dark suit with a nice pair of black shoes with some brogueing.
So to you younger lawyers, bankers, etc. out there, know there are options and if you like full brogues, wear them well and don't look back. Just make sure you polish them regularly and have the right style of shoe for your wardrobe. Then walk into that meeting, or courtroom, or deposition, with confidence.
Then go home and polish them again. Seriously.
I have since vastly improved my footwear with four pair of allen edmonds shoes, purchased in this order: bourbon MacGregor longwings, dark chili daltons, black Jefferson wingtip oxfords and dark brown strands. I just love me some brogueing I guess. But one piece of advice I kept getting when visiting forums, explaining my wardrobe and career (depositions and court multiple times per week) was that I absolutely MUST have plain black cap toes or punch caps (such as AE Park Ave or Fifth Ave) for serious meetings, court and funerals. Every time I'd ask "what shoes should I get next" I would get at least one response along the lines of "well, you know you need cap toed oxfords...." Websites on building a shoe wardrobe tell you the same thing. I started to question my choices.
Well, I am here to say that this is simply not true. Here is why: no one cares if you have wingtips or full brogues or half brogues or plain cap toes as long as (1) they are "dressy" enough (2) they are well-polished and (3) you are otherwise appropriately dressed.
I have been at depositions and in court in dark brown strands or black wingtip bals with a dozen high level partners from some of the largest law firms in the world, where I was the most junior attorney. I was not even remotely out of place because of my footwear. Quite the opposite. The shoe wear in this instance ran the gamut from beat up tassel loafers to rubber-soled derby shoes to my full brogues. And the best shoes? A kickASS pair of black cordovan wingtip tassel loafers. To put it simply: no one notices.
Same goes for funerals. Maybe in a long ago age someone would sneer at a well-polished pair of wingtips instead of cap toe bals at a funeral. But in today's day and age NOONE would suggest or even think you somehow disrespected the dead or were otherwise dressed inappropriately if you showed up in a dark suit with a nice pair of black shoes with some brogueing.
So to you younger lawyers, bankers, etc. out there, know there are options and if you like full brogues, wear them well and don't look back. Just make sure you polish them regularly and have the right style of shoe for your wardrobe. Then walk into that meeting, or courtroom, or deposition, with confidence.
Then go home and polish them again. Seriously.
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