Maggie's Farm

Mrs. Barrister advises that, the closer a person reaches maturity, the more important it is to dress well without appearing sloppy. I agree with that, and I notice it. Rightly or wrongly, appearance has impact. 

It matters more when you have a coat and tie job, or a suit and tie job. Have you ever noticed how well even elderly gents look in an up-to-date well-fitted suit? 

However, I am  writing this post to discuss shoes for coat-and-tie men, or even no-tie. Surely it matters as much or more for women, but my knowledge there is minimal because when Mrs. B says "Jimmy Choos" I think she is saying "Mumble Shoes." 

Men's dress/work shoes can range from London's hand-made bespoke shoes to Nordstrom's off the rack. The more expensive, the longer they last. Good ones last a lifetime, and get seasoned with time, if not abused so guys rarely need new good shoes. A good rule is that pretty good shoes (over, say, $350-400) should rarely be worn 2 days in a row.

I generally have a modest dress shoe shelf, a black and a corduvan dress loafer, and a black and brown pair of tie shoes. My old black Brooks tassel loafers finally had to go - my feet flattened too much for them and they proved unstretchable.

These dress shoes double as running shoes:  A former Adidas designer has reinvented the dress shoe to be as comfortable as sneakers. Company has a cool name: Wolf & Shepherd