By Alan Flusser
Photos by Chris Fenimore
I bought my first pair of Belgians back in the mid-1980s. As someone long-committed to unearthing the world’s most stylish and comfortable clothing, I’m pretty sure it took no more than the first slip-on to convert me. Handcrafted by a small team of craftswomen in the Belgian countryside using a three-hundred year old technique in which the shoe is stitched from the inside and then flipped once it’s completed, there has never been any shoe quite like the authentic Belgian loafer. These days, its reputation internationally secured, copies abound at all quality levels and prices. However, the true aficionado can spot a wannabe from twenty paces.
The store’s 1956 origins are intertwined with America’s upper crust. One can still find atop founder Henri Bendel’s original shop desk a now long out-of-date social register that semi-annually highlighted those families with the bluest bloodlines. Mr. Bendel thought it might be fun for patrons to check whether they traced back to Mrs. Astor’s famous “400 families” of American society. It was part of the shop experience for any schmo waltzing in to watch the Lilly Pulitzer-clad gal trying on shoes across from him and assume she had social standing to burn.
Back in the 80s, my dressy footwear excursions centered largely around my London shoe maker: Henry Maxwell of New Bond Street. As it happened, the legendary English shoemaker George Cleverley had recently joined the firm, and although a septuagenarian, was still spry enough to whittle the lasts off any West End cordwainer. Along with George’s foot-hugging custom-mades, I assembled a collection of rolling-off-the-foot French espadrilles for warm weather cavorting. In between these two opposing footwear camps stretched a barren patch on my shoe shelves – until my Belgians colonized it. In addition to putting to bed the style-versus-comfort conundrum, their novelty suited my taste for the unsung and eccentric.
Around the period I discovered Belgians, Gucci’s horse-buckle loafer was quietly upstaging the classic business oxford to complete the Wall Street uniform of Turnbull and Asser dress shirt, Hermes necktie, Thurston striped suspenders, and my own Savile Row-inspired inspired suits. Gucci loafers and Belgian shoes both shared a brave new aesthetic, essentially joining that last vestige of English court dress — Brooks Brothers’ elegant silk-bowed, black calf opera pump — as chic tokens of gender-bending decadence that marked their wearers as style travelers to watch. Even today, it takes a man of considerable moxie to brave a pair of Belgians in locales outside Manhattan or the Hamptons. Their insider chic is certainly an acquired taste. Yet some forty years after catching hold, it’s pretty much the same kind of fraternity for those meeting another so sheathed: “Ah, Belgians.”
How to Wear Them
Belgian Shoes offers so many choices in material, color, and pattern that it’s easy to find a pair for almost any occasion — as long as it doesn’t involve too much pavement pounding. As comfortable as Belgians are, they’re basically slippers, and extended use can break them down too quickly. Their natural habitat is indoors, whether at a restaurant, a cocktail party, the theater, the office, or at home.
I wear and recommend the Mr. Casual model. For a first pair, I often suggest the chocolate brown suede trimmed in matching or black leather. Their versatility is unassailable, pairing well with a dressy suit, or toned down with flannels and a sportcoat. They can dress up a pair of well-worn jeans like no other.
Next, there’s Black Watch tartan for all things navy blazers. Beneath grey flannels or khakis, these imbue any cuff with an extra smidgen of style. For the truly adventurous (and confident), the velvet leopard can add a touch or panache and whimsy to any ensemble.
Finally, their best-known workhorse for dress-up is the black velvet evening slip-on with patent leather trim. These acquit themselves equally well during the day with Yours Truly’s leg of choice: Adidas’ side-striped soccer bottom. Not a lot of footwear can lay claim to such high-low, dressed-up or down flexibility.
Find them at Belgian Shoes or over on 55th between Park and Lexington.