What shoe does a woman wear with a tuxedo? The same one a man wears. A black velvet loafer, no exceptions. Sixty years after Yves Saint Laurent handed women the tuxedo, the shoe underneath it still hasn't caught up.
Why does the heel keep showing up under the tuxedo?
Last night at the Academy Museum Gala in Los Angeles, Kristen Wiig walked the red carpet in Chanel's take on the classic tuxedo, styled by Karla Welch. It was the evening's sharpest idea, and it deserves the evening's sharpest shoe.
The tuxedo has belonged to women since 1966, when Saint Laurent debuted Le Smoking, and every gala since has treated that as settled law. And yet whenever the tuxedo crosses the aisle, the stylists reach for the same default. A heel. The tuxedo crossed over, the shoe stayed home.
A heel under a tuxedo is not a choice. It is a habit. Somewhere along the way the industry decided that a woman in tailoring must apologize downward, one stiletto at a time. I have never understood it. The tuxedo is an evening uniform and uniforms do not negotiate. The dinner jacket calls for velvet at the ankle, the same as it always has. A heel turns the whole thing into a costume change. A black velvet loafer finishes the sentence.
Where does a woman have the right one made?
Here is the part the borrowed-menswear story gets wrong. Nothing about our velvet loafer is borrowed. Each pair is made to order for the wearer, her initials embroidered on black velvet in any thread color she likes, gold being the classic, finished in four to six weeks.
Wiig got the tuxedo right. The shoe is the easy part. Design Your Pair and put her initials on it. Her shoe, finally.
Questions, answered
Can a woman wear velvet loafers with a tuxedo?
She should. The velvet loafer, or velvet slipper, is the tuxedo's correct shoe, and that rule does not change with the wearer. It is also the right answer for any woman facing a black-tie wedding dress code, which is why the same shoe anchors our wedding collection.
Does Smythe & Digby make women's velvet loafers?
Yes. Every pair is made to order for one wearer, with her initials embroidered on the velvet in any thread color. Black velvet with a gold monogram is the classic, but the choice is hers.
