welcome! in this video, i'm going to showyou the difference between the three most popular men's dress shoes; the oxford, thederby and the blucher. in the us, the term oxfords is often times used to describe anykind of dress shoe but that is simply incorrect. oxfords are the most formal of men's dressshoes and they were invented in england and named after the city of oxford where theyfirst appeared around the 1480s where men
Shoes for men , switched from boots to exposed or low cutshoes that wouldn't cover the ankle. it's the best shoe to wear with business suits,tuxedos or informal suits and sport coat combinations. oxfords come in all kinds of variations, thereare brogues, whole cuts, there are cap toes but basically, the most defining feature ofoxford shoes is their closed lacing system.
if you look here you see, it's only open ontop but it is closed down here. on the other hand, an open laced system is open at thebottom. oxfords are only this, closed lacing shoes. the derby is defined with its open lacingsystems. it means that it's open at the bottom. it's a much better shoe for people with biggerfeet because it simply fits more comfortably around it and much more comfortable to walkaround. derbys are slightly less formal than oxfords and hence, they are better for sportcoat combinations, chinos and jeans especially in brown. personally, that's the way i wearthem. in england and the us, derbys are usually a little less formal than oxfords so for blacktie and white tie events, you would choose
an oxford shoe rather than a derby shoe. people often get confused about the differenceof a derby and a blucher because basically both have an open lacing system. in all honesty,i think it is totally fine to use these terms interchangeably. if you really want to pointout the difference is that the derby is basically a piece of leather on the side that is joinedin the back and goes all along the other side. on the other hand, a blucher simply has aslight piece of leather sewn on both sides and both feature the open lacing system. they look very similar and they are very similarand hence the distinction between a blucher and derby is basically irrelevant. as a well-dressedman, you want all these three kinds of dress
shoes in your shoe closet. personally, i probablyhave about the same number of oxfords and derbys or bluchers. you can also have slightlymore oxfords or slightly more derbys and bluchers. depending on the size of your foot and thedegree of formality of your wardrobe. if you have more informal garments, have more derbysand bluchers. if you wear more suits or have a white collar job, you should have more oxfords.the pairs you see here are all shoes from my collection. this black cap-toe oxford isone of the first shoes men should have because it goes with any kind of suit, you can wearit with black tie and you can mirror shine it and i only recommend, you get a pair. thederby here in the middle is actually is the first pair of goodyear welted shoes i boughtback in 2002. it has been resold many times,
i've worn it on four different continentsand take a look. it's still great and it's a perfect example of why you should investin quality rather than in quantity. the blucher here is a new shoe in my collection and ihaven't worn it that often. one of the easiest
ways to change the look of the shoe is tochange its shoelaces and so i always play around with different colors depending onmy mood and the formality. if you want to be super formal, go with the black oxfordand black shoelaces. if you want to change the look a little bit then use some lightercolors, it looks very different.
