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Every fall, like clockwork, there emerges a new It shoe—and it just may be the boat shoe’s time.
For the last couple of years the It shoe has probably been some variation on the Adidas Samba (when will everyone get tired of that sneaker? Probably never, let’s be honest). But there have been some other significant contenders more recently. The Clarks Originals Wallabees. The eternal loafer. The classic Y2K Ugg boot.
And now, we have a new aspirant in town: the boat shoe, which I wasn’t able to escape this weekend on the leaf-strewn streets of London.
While you might associate boat shoes with dads and camp counselors in beige shorts, or else mega-wealthy yachty types at Wimbledon, don’t be fooled. This isn’t that sort of boat shoe.
The one I kept clocking around town was more often than not a blockier kind worn by Gen Z—the unisex sort you can get from Kickers or Timberland—and nobody, absolutely nobody, was wearing them without socks or with a too-tight cropped pant like they do in Nantucket.
Consider them the style Pokémon evolution of the Clarks Wallabee, only even more dad-like. And they’re just as often—if not more so—worn by the girls as they are the guys.
It makes sense that people would be tapping into this brown utilitarian shoe now that we’re entering the colder months. “Ugly” flat shoes have been knocking around for a while. From Wallabees to Crocs to Birkenstocks, it was only a matter of time before the ultimate ugly shoe became a street-style staple.
But unlike some of the aforementioned, the boat shoe can be made to look more formal as well as dressed down. They work just as well at your local lunch spot as they do in the office or at a formal work event. I’d hold back on wearing them to the club, but that’s just me. I’m sure some people do wear them to the club?
It’s also worth pointing out here that the boat shoe was originally invented in the 1930s by an American sailor named Paul A. Sperry as a way to stop people from slipping on ice and to provide grip while on wet ground (or boat decks). So there you have it: stylish and practical.
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This story was first published in British Vogue.