THE JOY OF SLIPPERS
At last! Lockdown has liberated the comfiest item in men’s footwear, says Stephen Doig
Finally, I’ve been vindicated. It only took a global pandemic and ensuing lockdowns to prove a long-held belief – that slippers are the stealthiest items in a man’s wardrobe.
We’ve all relaxed the rules since those eager days of March, with even the most sartorially minded among us easing into tracksuit trousers, hoodies and loungewear. Men I know who spend their lives in Savile Row suiting have quietly rejoiced at the slackening of standards. And with news that slipper lipper sales have risen isen sharply, according ording to John Lewis, wis, my 30-strong ng selection finally have their day in the sun.
Perhaps I should clarify: I have amassed a sizeable collection of evening slippers, which are a world away from the shearlinglined, Hygge-happy py varieties associated with all things cosy and comfy, the footwear equivalent of suet pudding. And granted, while a great deal of them are ornate (and, yes, somewhat silly) affairs, the more sedate irritations have come into their own during the long, dark nights of an autumn lockdown. I first discovered Venetian furlane slippers on a trip to La Serenissima years ago, and while I swear by them for a light, fluid footwear option to wear out and about, they’re a smart alternative to the fluffy varieties to wear around the home.
This becomes particularly pertinent as we put more stock into items we hitherto dismissed as “basics”; casualwear staples like hoodies have replaced the suit as workaday wardrobes, and like suits there’s a spectrum from “shoddy” to “beautifully made”. So, too, with slippers; pp ; you might as well eleva elevate what you wear on y your feet around th the house because, e even with a possible vaccine on the h horizon, ther there’s going to be a lengthy roll-out. r Prepare to be under house arrest fo for some time ye yet.
This doesn’t have t to mean the ritzy, razzy r version that fa fall under the “eveni “evening slippers” catego category (although I’m ful fully in favour if a plu plush velvet numbe number takes your fancy at 11am on a Tuesday). Tuesday Look instead at beautifu beautifully made slippers that are some wa way apart from the must musty, sock-like varieties y you see on hangers in supermarkets. That’s not snobbery – there’s so much wool and shearling stuffing that, after a few months of sweating feet, they’re less than appealing.
Think Noël Coward, rather than Nora Batty. These options will work as well for the at-home office as they will for a dressy date night dinner in the kitchen.
Furlanes are a great place to start – the properly traditional varieties from the Floating City have bike tyre rubber on the soles for grip and velvet on the upper parts, warm but not overly fluffy.
Otherwise, variants on that sleek, pared-back template work well – versions in leather will wear best over the coming months. Traditional Turkish slippers are similarly well-made, with Sabah’s varieties crafted by hand in the country.
Of course, if you’re a man-about-town who’s been grounded and longing for a touch of dress-up indoors, there are brands that take the humble origins of the slipper into the stratosphere (with prices to match). The American Stubbs & Wootton creates some of the most astoundingly embroidered evening slippers, while Christian Louboutin has made razzmatazz lounge shoes his mainstay.
Even us stuffy Brits are getting in on the act; London-based Arthur Sleep shoes are exquisitely crafted, and its jeweltoned velvet numbers have caught the eye of Prince William. There’ll be time to spend your life in solid old Oxfords in the years to come, but for now, you may as well take pleasure in your indoor footwear. I knew my time would come.