Sloane Ranger loafer returns, but should you sock or not?
THE classic men’s loafer, last seen sported by Sloane Rangers, is making a return. Retailers have seen a rise in demand for snappy penny and tassel styles and online searches for men’s loafers are up by 101 per cent at John Lewis since last month.
Meanwhile, at the premiere of his Netflix series, Ripley, sockless Irish actor Andrew Scott wore his brown tasselled loafers, while musician Mark Ronson has also championed them on the red carpet and Gucci has placed its bets for 2024 on its classic horsebit version.
“We’ve seen consistent demand for horsebit or snaffle loafers over the past few seasons, mostly driven by Gucci’s signature footwear,” said Olie Arnold, style director of luxury e-tailer Mr Porter. “Alongside Gucci, our best-sellers include George Cleverley, Brunello Cucinelli, Bottega Veneta and G.H. Bass & Co.”
When Sabato de Sarno, Gucci’s new creative director, presented his first menswear collection in January, nearly all the models wore horsebit loafers. The loafers – defined by stiff moccasin uppers and metallic horsebit hardware – felt like a modern interpretation of the original shoe first introduced in 1953.
“Men’s loafers have been rising in popularity for some time,” says Queralt Ferrer, John Lewis’s director of design. “They are the perfect accessory to style and smarten up a daytime look and to modernise and relax more tailored styling.”
The rise in loafers is also arguably down to fashion’s continued preoccupation with the Sloane Ranger wardrobe exemplified by Diana, Princess of Wales who teamed Tod’s loafers with Gucci handbags and gym gear in the 1990s.
The first loafers were worn by preppy young men from America’s Ivy League universities and provided a halfway house between the smart Oxford shoes worn by their fathers and sneakers. Frank Sinatra worethem, as did John F. Kennedy and Paul Newman lived in his.
One thorny issue, however, is whether to sock or not. Experts advise that, if you want to go sockless, ensure it’s warm enough and pick trousers that are both cropped and wide at the base to diminish the amount of flesh on show. A safer route would be to go full prep and team your loafers with a pair of white socks – à la Newman – or some classic tonal tube socks in the style of Ronson.
“I pretty much always wear my loafers with some battered blue wide denim jeans,” says devotee Tom Stubbs. “They also work very well worn sockless with smart shorts for summer. Just don’t wear them with suits.”