MAN FRIDAY VELVET SLIPPERS
Follow the Duke and upgrade your footwear for the party season, says Stephen Doig
He’s more accustomed to proper, upstanding Oxfords
– the sergeant major and solid fellow of the shoe world – but at the Star Wars premiere at the Royal Albert Hall earlier this week the Duke of Cambridge struck a more louche stance in velvet evening slippers. While they’re not a wise choice in the rain, they looked a great deal more elegant than Prince Harry’s classic (albeit safe and tried-and-tested) Oxfords and were discreet and low-key enough to work with his traditional black tie ensemble. It’s also an example of how, in the midst of Christmas party season, it’s worth upgrading your footwear to something more festive and being a tad more adventurous.
It’s also fitting that the Prince should opt for a pair; it was his descendants – like so much of men’s fashion – that helped cement them as a considered sartorial choice. The velvet slipper became a viable option for wearing while doling out the brandies in the drawing room during the Victorian era, at the same time the velvet smoking jacket was considered a mainstay of a St James’s