McTavish as dress shoe?

[GRussell]

Long time lurker, first time poster. An old friend of mine is getting married in October and I realized I don't actually have anything to wear for it. I haven't worn a suit in...ten years, roughly. Anyway, grabbed the charcoal Thompson when it was on sale for the actual suit (although then I see the navy the day after I send it to get the sleeves shortened and...).


Point being: I need shoes. I was looking at the black McTavish because they're on sale and I like wingtips, but they look like they might be too casual for wedding wear. Feelings?

[trash]

Wingtip oxfords in general are fine for a wedding in my opinion, but the waxy leather and contrasting shoelaces/sole edge on the McTavish make them inappropriate, at least from a traditionalist perspective. That being said, if you did wear them you'd probably have better shoes than the vast majority of most wedding-goers, but if you want to follow conventions I'd keep the McTavish as a casual shoe.

[jessy_diamond]

I wouldn't wear them with a suit, but if you do, maybe you could tone down the rest of the outfit with a cotton or knit tie and/or a patterned shirt?

[spartanlaw]

You're fine. Following so-called rules for rules sake makes no sense. Try them on. Do they look good with it? Are you comfortable with the outfit?


Unless you are going to a specific wedding with a specific subset of the population which will notice and care, you're good to go. I bet that's not your scene (or you wouldn't be on dappered asking a question about it) and no one is going to notice or care. And, as trash said, you will probably have better and even more "formal" shoes than anyone else (save the wedding party). And guess what? You can then wear the shoes casually afterwards, instead of just a one and done more formal shoe you will leave in your closet.


There are two kinds of people that will care/notice. #1 pure traditionalists who were born, bred and raised with that understanding and knowledge and #2 the modern self-taught sartorialists who lurk on forums and style blogs and discover the difference between oxfords and derbys and suddenly start looking around.


Do you care to impress either? Then dress for yourself (while always taking into consideration the conventions of your audience and setting).

[GRussell]

@Jessy I actually hadn't thought of a knit/cotton tie. I think I may do that, I like textures.


@spartanlaw The "wear the shoes casually" is really what I was hoping for. I don't have much of a use for pure dress shoes; they're really not something you want to wear in a kitchen.

[pitseleh]

I wouldn't wear them with a *normal* suit, but I think they'd probably be okay if you were going with like a chino suit or something casual on the level that seersucker and similar fabrics are. That said, for an October wedding, I suspect the weather might not permit this (though depending on where you live, who knows). I'm honestly not sure if they'd fit the bill for something more Fallish in tone. Depends on the dress code, I guess?

[GRussell]

They're on the way so I can see what they're like in person. Pictures tell me nothing about fit and feel.

[Leslie Chow]

You are going to look fine. The majority of the population will not be satirically inclined enough to be able to know that those McTavish are meant as casual shoes. And even if they did, the likelihood of them calling you out on it is slim to none. More likely than not, they will appreciate you having great taste in shoes.


But then again, you are not dressing for them, so why worry about what they think?

[GRussell]

Shoes arrived today and are gorgeous. Unfortunately, they don't fit (too narrow, too long). I've sent them back in for a wider, smaller shoe (which now makes them two sizes wider and a full size smaller).


They were out of the black, but they did have the new size in the natural, which makes them entirely useless for a charcoal suit, but still (hopefully) gorgeous.