At the New York Film Festival's Club Kid premiere on October 3, Cara Delevingne arrived in head-to-toe Thom Browne. A black mini dress with metallic fringe dripping from the shoulders like liquid gold, and on her feet, burgundy suede ankle boots with pointed toes, a front zipper, and wingtip brogue perforations curling around the toe.
Thom Browne has been smuggling menswear's vocabulary into women's footwear for years. This season the contraband is burgundy suede, and one must concede the man has excellent taste in contraband. Burgundy is everywhere this fall. Friar Tux has built an entire tuxedo out of it, the Camden, for the black-tie brave.
The dress shimmered, the boots did the talking.
Now, the gentleman's temptation is to chase the color. One urges restraint. Burgundy on a man's foot is a bold maneuver, and Thom Browne's clientele are granted liberties the rest of us must earn. Steal the material instead. The broguing stays on her boots. Warm brown suede does everything burgundy promises without the costume, and it flatters olive, navy, charcoal, and black tie alike.
Which is where the Belgian slipper enters, stage left. Specifically, a combination I keep circling back to: a camel suede body, an ivory suede vamp, dark brown calf trim, dark brown tassels. Dressed-up and mischievous at once. The shoe of the man who knows the toast and the punchline.
The toast and the punchline.
You can build this exact pair in Design Your Pair, our made-to-order studio, choosing the camel suede, the ivory vamp, and the tassels to taste. Cara's boots were borrowed menswear. The Belgian slipper is the menswear original, and it takes only the suede.
