In for a penny...

Out and about in my pennies

Do you take your shoes to the cobblers? I winced a bit at my bill from Timpsons last week, as shoes repairs aren't cheap, but then I realised that for what I'd spend on a new pair of penny loafers, three pairs of shoes had been restored to a wearable state. I've been wearing my penny loafers again today, and enjoying how comfy they are.


I have Gemma (Retro Chick) to thank for my penny loafer habit; in 2014 I won some Debenhams vouchers on her site, bought my first pair of pennies, and the rest is history. Last year when I needed shoes I bought some brogues as well as penny loafers, and loved those too. They seem more formal, and possibly more blokey, but they're comfy and look great with trousers. They were a bit slippery, but last time I had them resoled Timpsons put grippier soles on them too, so they're even better to wear now. (Since spraining my ankle a few years back, I've been terrified of doing it again.)

For a while I would look at my feet and feel sad for two reasons: I wasn't wearing pretty shoes like everyone else seems to like, and they weren't really 'vintage' enough. Those are stupid reasons to feel sad about anything. The shoes I bought were plain black, so of course would be more practical than pretty, but there's a world of loafers and brogues out there, I don't have to stick with black. Silver. Patent burgundy. Mustard. So many colours to choose from. As for not liking the same thing as everyone else, that was all in my own head – surely liking something a little different is part of personal style. We all want personal style, right? All those people I'd lumped into the 'everyone else, who all wear pretty shoes' group have very different styles anyhow, from Cate's dainty deco shoes to Vix's saucy boots. I should stop assuming that the things I like are inferior just because no-one else seems to be wearing them. No-one I know dresses exactly the same as anyone else.

You are your best you, and only inferior when you try to be like someone else – because the original is always the best.

The not-vintage-enough thoughts were particularly ridiculous as penny loafers were very popular for women in the 1940s and 1950s. College girls would wear them with ankle socks, teddy girls wore them – even Audrey Hepburn and Brigitte Bardot wore them. Katharine Hepburn rocked a ladybrogue with her suits. Instead of beating myself up for not immediately purchasing whatever footwear everyone else seems to be lusting after, I should be thinking about where to buy ankle socks or woolly tights to match my favourite knitwear.

So, I'm sticking with the boyshoes. I'm going to explore different colours and materials, and fun socks. Given the amount of blues and navy I wear nowadays, I really fancy some navy mock-croc or fake-snake pennies. What do you reckon? Sound good? Or should I go completely off the wall and get a completely different colour? Sky blue brogues appeal...