The shoes that can turn any man into an ITALIAN STALLION
(just don’t let your hubby wear them with socks)
AS I write this, I am sitting at breakfast looking out over a motionless azure sea in Mustique. I am wearing a dressing gown, a pair of shorts and a pair of elegantly snug Tod’s driving shoes.
Blue, since you ask. I bought them on holiday last summer in Capri, essentially because my Birkenstocks had become too scuffed, and because I had been asked to go to a smart dinner that evening.
I also bought them because they can be worn with almost anything — you can wear them with a suit, with casual trousers, with shorts, and, if you insist, even when you’re driving. So in essence they are the perfect summer shoes. Fit for purpose, whatever that purpose might be.
I’ve been a fan of driving shoes for ages, buying most from Prada, Tod’s, Hugo Boss or Dolce & Gabbana, for about £300.
Iconic Tod Gommino Moccasins, with their distinctive studded rubber soles, were invented for men who wanted extra grip while driving seriously gorgeous Italian roadsters. Seventy-odd years later, they’re no longer the preserve of Ferrari drivers, or indeed, just men.
FaMouS women have been wearing soft loafers and driving shoes for decades, and I’ve never met one who didn’t make it look effortless, whether Princess Diana, or Hollywood stars anne Hathaway, Catherine Zeta-Jones or Jessica Chastain.
Much was made of Philip May being spotted this week in driving shoes while on holiday with Theresa in Lake Garda, adopting the style of a-listers Michael
Douglas and Eddie Redmayne, and indeed ex-prime ministers David Cameron and Tony Blair.
Does the former PM’s husband look any good? Well, I always admire a Brit who tries to look continental, and who doesn’t wear socks and sandals on the beach, but I fear the problem with Philip’s look is not so much his shoes — which actually look rather elegant — it’s everything else he’s wearing in the picture. It’s an odd mix of town and country, almost as though he doesn’t know whether he’s going to the office or the beach.
There is one rule, however, that thankfully he hasn’t broken with his driving shoes. No socks.
Never have I worn a pair of them with socks, because in the Italian luxury world — where clothes are almost a religion — that would be deemed sacrilegious.
and while I admire the likes of M&S for making those little lowcut socks that you hope no one can see, trust me, someone always sees.
The High Street has certainly caught up with the popularity of driving shoes and nowadays it’s possible to buy good-quality versions everywhere from Marks & Spencer to H&M, from u.S. luxury brand Cole Haan to Zara, costing as little as £27.50.
This should mean there is never any excuse for the British male to look like a badly dressed duffer whenever the sun shines. Thankfully few of them do these days.
Years ago the typical British office worker’s idea of a summer wardrobe was taking off his shirt at lunchtime, while he ate his sandwich in the local park.
Nowadays he can keep up with our debonair Italian or French counterparts, as long as he remembers one thing: if you’re going to wear driving shoes, you need to make sure the rest of your outfit looks as cool as undoubtedly they do.
Dylan Jones is editor-inchief of GQ magazine and author of The Wichita lineman: searching In The sun For The World’s Greatest Unfinished song, Faber, £10.