Fashion Afoot

The young man who is Shoe now recognizes that his choice of shoes is due for a change from the styles of yesteryear. The main trend, and one we applaud, is the ascendancy of conservative continental styling over the traditional British. For generations the Britons' brogan -- heavy, solid, and frequently stolid in appearance -- had been the U.S. ideal, without too much reflection on the fact that British notions of footwear reflect a climate rather more grim than our own. Aware of this, and of the fact that few of us spend much time tramping through furze and gorse, all but a few die-hards will abandon the heavy wing-tip shoe and the brutal blucher done up in cordovan or thick calfskin and about as hefty as a football shoe. For every one of these rugged anachronisms there is now a pleasing variety of acceptable masculine styles, just a few of which are shown on these pages. Today, the big, bulky jobs with the thick soles are definitely non-Shoe.

Along with any major style change, of (text concluded on page 91) Fashion Afoot (continued from page 39) course, come the gimmicks and the extra tags and embellishments. There's an influx of gadgetry which moves too far into the extreme to be in solid good taste; be wary of it. You'll spot an awful lot of hardware adorning slip-ons and other casual styles, such as huge metal buckles (the smaller ones are OK), brass chains and horse's bits. When these tasteless and pointless innovations flash out at you, best you stroll right on by.

The rest of the story is encouraging and enlightening. The squared-off toe is going to be just about universal. The briefly ascendant extremely Italianate slipper-type shoe with its paper-thin soles and thin-skinned uppers is strictly non-Shoe; it is replaced by something no less comfortable but a bit sturdier, very flexible but far less weighty than the clodhoppers of yore.

No surprise, crepe or rubber soles and heels are strictly for sport, the active kind. For all other purposes, Shoe types choose leather fore and aft, top and bottom. Black, of course, is mandatory for formal wear and quite right for business. For leisure, the chukka boot, with its traditional ankle-high uppers, has been pared down to a lighter-weight job; good news, this, because the older ones had a bad habit of chafing the ankle bone, and they looked pretty horsy. The new chukka suggests dressy sportswear rather than tromping the trail.

Reddish and cordovan leathers, which were Shoe in past years, are pretty well on the way out. The newest and niftiest of leathers are in various shades of tan and brown, with one -- called Ivywood--blending green into the basic coloration. The pleasantest part of this trend is found in some of the fine natural and burnished shades which boast the elegant look of custom-finished shoes.

Another change is found in grains: they're much finer than in previous years, which ties in smartly with the less-bulky look. There are even some combinations -- smooth and grain finish on the same shoe -- which really look much better than they sound. However, two tones in various combinations are still -- and will probably always remain -- anathema.

A final word is in order. You know all this, but it bears constant repeating and we hope to drive it home. The best shoes in the world and the newest styles won't do a thing for your appearance if you don't keep them looking first rate. Rotate them; that is, never wear the same pair two days in succession. Drop off a pair at the cobbler's each time the heels become even slightly run down. Put trees in your shoes when they're not on your feet and have the shoeshine boy come by your office daily.

Spectator sportsmen who favor tweeds and Argyles and take their leisure hours in solid good comfort will invariably go for, from the left, a moccasin-style slip-on of shrunken grain leather with a stitched seam riding close to the trim leather soles, in a true brown, by Bostonian; $19.95. For relaxing in quiet good taste: an ankle-high shoe in soft textured leather with inverted seams, a square toe and a hefty buckle strap, by Wall-Streeter; $16.95. The comfortable, casual chukka-type boot with a flexible leather sole comes in a natural leather finish and a squared-off toe, by Taylor; $18.95.

Above, correct for conference table and executive chess during business hours are, from the left, a three-eyelet tie job in a medium-brown textured leather with hand stitching, by Bostonian; $19.95. The black soft-grained moccasin features a slightly flattened square toe and a wide buckle strap, by Nettleton; $29.95. The richly elegant three-eyelet blucher comes in a tobacco-brown textured leather with a reverse seam front, by Florsheim; $31. Closing the conference is a lightweight three-eyelet calfskin model in black with a comfortably squared-off toe, by Nettleton; $27.95.

Below, formal occasions demand the traditionally correct in footwear, but that doesn't mean you can't have innovations too. From the left: the pump, de rigueur with tails, optional with dinner jacket, heretofore only available in patent leather, now equally correct in dull-finish calfskin, by Frank Brothers; $27.95. The four-eyelet oxford takes a turn toward informality, handsomely combines textured calf on the sides and smooth-grain calf on the uppers, is right with dinner jacket, by Florsheim; $21.95. Under the Italian influence, the three-eyelet patent leather blucher adds a richly formal note to your dinner jacket, by Florsheim; $18.95. Lightweight, three-eyelet blucher, as right for business as for more casual black-tie affairs, by Florsheim; $19.95.