Jack Erwin has made a name for itself as a Warby Parker-ish online brand built around classic styles, a fair price, and strong personality brand-building. The designs are classic, but updated for modern city-dwelling customers who want some infusion of contemporary styling as well as eye-catching practicality. With their new Parker Driving Loafer, Jack Erwin … [Read more…]
Men’s footwear is on a bit of a tear right now. After a lifetime of limited choices when it comes to dressing one’s feet, current fashion and lifestyle trends – from athleisure to vintage/retro, urban to small batch specialty – are giving guys new options for expressing personality and meeting practical footwear needs. Our favorite … [Read more…]
One of the great joys of dressing for warm weather is the option of finally freeing your feet from heavy socks, boots, and other cold weather foot gear. As spring slowly morphs into summer, OTC offers up a few ideas to lighten up and air out in comfort and with style. We have pulled together … [Read more…]
British footwear brand Swift & Co. has been making shoes and boots since 1934. Instead of focusing on the past and highlighting only the classics of British shoemaking, Swift went in a new direction with their new collection of boots. An independent maker of handmade footwear, Swift & Co. is based in East Lancashire, England. … [Read more…]
Australia is home to a lot of cool stuff – Uluru (Ayers Rock), kangaroos, Paul Hogan, Driza-Bone, Men at Work. Another name to add to this list should be boot maker Blundstone. Founded in 1870 and based in Tasmania, Blundstone makes incredibly durable boots that are also remarkably comfortable. We have been testing a pair … [Read more…]
Some things just say summer: sweet tea; old, faded Nantucket Reds; a seersucker suit and Panama hat; and to us, a nice pair of neutral suede correspondent shoes. Also referred to as spectator and co-respondent shoes, these classic warm weather brogues are both a throwback to the golden years of menswear – generally given to … [Read more…]
Sometimes we just want something different. As we finally exit the grip of the most recent never-ending winter, it’s time to transition from heavyweight duds to a happier, lightweight wardrobe. Yet, Springtime is also a season of fluctuation – so the smart man hedges his bets and pulls out some intermediate clothing tools, like the … [Read more…]
We recently introduced OTC readers to Cobbler Union, a new footwear brand that creates bespoke quality shoes at perfectly attainable prices. The company was founded by luxury footwear industry veterans who know what goes into shoes costing thousands of dollars. Using their powers for good, these fellows set about the goal of allowing any stylish … [Read more…]
Footwear is, literally, the foundation of your wardrobe. Well made shoes matter, both in terms of aesthetics and practicality. We have all had the experience of heading out in a new pair of oxfords, trainers, boots, or loafers, only to discover too late that they don’t fit well or have the wrong last; they pinch, … [Read more…]
“It all begins with the fit.” Peter Agati, Paul Stuart’s shoe buyer, is a shoe guy through and through. He knows shoes and he knows that what matters most is fit. If the fit is off, nothing else matters. If the fit is right, everything else falls into place. His first trip to a shoe … [Read more…]