Last Friday the weather in NYC was something less than ideal. The day began with that awful wintry mix of rain and sleet and eventually progressed into a beautiful snowfall. The only problem is is that it made getting around the city, including fashion show venues, somewhat frustrating. And wet. Thankfully I had my galoshes (thanks to Spiro from It’s All Style To Me for the photo). Which seemed to cause a lot of confusion.
Repeatedly, people would come up to me and compliment my shoes. And I would repeatedly have to respond with the fact that the shoes (from Meermin) are separate from the rubbers (from Swims). Perhaps it was the bright orange color that threw the people off. As much as I enjoyed the compliments, it was concerning to see many looks of bewilderment. As it seems many of the folk of my generation (or at least those attending fashion shows) have not learned of the virtues of protecting your shoes in inclemate weather. But luckily that is changing one fashion show goer at a time.
I believe the shoes that people were mistaking mine for are a style from Prada. The Prada version being a rather ugly thing to adorn your feet with (mostly due to shape and styling, not so much the actual idea of dipping the shoes in rubber). Something I thought would never sell, but judging by people’s reactions to my shoes with Swims I fear that Prada sold a good many of their rubber dipped shoes.
And in case you were wondering, the golashes protected my shoes without fail. I recommend every man have at least one pair, whether they be Swims or not. Just keep in mind that orange Swims are not your father’s rubbers.
Cheers,
Justin L Jeffers
PS – The suit is from MyTailor, the shirt from Luxire and the tie from Arnys.
Looking sharp as always three-piece. Crazy weather but you did the right thing with the Swims. Wish I had a pair.
Thanks Spiro!
Great to see you, safe travels back to Canada! See you next FW.
JLJ
Did you notice any residue from the Swims on your Meermins?
I ask because I just wore my blue Swims over my brown suede monk straps and was left with the wonderful burgundy lining of the Swims all over the shoes. Some brushing and it was gone; won’t be doing it again.
TRMay,
There is often a little bit of the felt like particles on the shoes after I wear the Swims, I am guessing that is what you are talking about. But it is not something that has bothered me, as I can easily brush it off and it does not stain the shoes. A nuisance yes, but I haven’t found it to be much of an issue.
JLJ
Do the Swims easily stretch/reshape to fit different styles of shoes? Some of my shoes are longer than others, so I’m worried about either a too tight fit or too loose.
Jay D,
They do stretch and shape to different sizes of shoes so you should be fine. However, I would not wear them with suede shoes as they mess up the nap of the suede.
-Justin