Penny loafer
Slip-on shoe without laces, with a saddle strap across the vamp that has a small slit cut into it. Built like a moccasin: the front piece is set in with a visible seam around the toe. In dark brown suede it goes with chinos, gabardine and fresco; in black smooth leather it also goes with gray wool trousers and a sport coat. The name is usually traced back to the habit of tucking a coin into the slit.
In the catalog
From the Guide
- Brown suede loafers are the most versatile shoes: safe with light, gray, navy, taupe and olive trousers.
- Black smooth leather loafers want gray trousers. With beige, sand and brown we avoid them; with navy and jeans they only work.
- With flannel trousers in winter, suede penny and tassel loafers go well; Belgian loafers and driving moccasins are too summery for that.
Related terms
- FrescoWorsted in an open plain weave made of highly twisted yarns.
- Suede and smooth leatherSmooth leather is the grain side of the hide, smooth and polishable; it looks more formal and belongs with a suit and wool trousers.
- Tassel loaferLoafer with two small leather tassels on a cord that runs around the upper and sits on the vamp.
- Horsebit loaferLoafer with a metal bar shaped like a horse bit across the vamp.
- Belgian loaferVery soft, light slip-on with a small bow on the vamp and a thin, flexible sole.
- Venetian loaferLoafer with no strap, tassel or bar at all, just vamp, seam and upper.