If shoes are the foundation of every great fit, Oxford shoes are the bedrock on which the entire world of capital-M menswear is built. After all, no other style is equally at home at black tie galas, weddings, funerals, and on your daily office commute.
To truly understand why these sleek leather lace-ups are so vital to the menswear universe, it’s necessary to go back a couple of hundred years, to the campus of Oxford University, when students popularized a new style of footwear that blended the construction, versatility, and comfort of an ankle boot with the sleek look of a lace-up dress shoe . The style caught on, and before long the Oxford—as it quickly became known—was the go-to shoe du jour of discerning dressers worldwide.
Little has changed in the last 200 years. The Oxford retains its essential shape and construction, distinguished by a closed lacing system that gives it a more refined look than other traditional alternatives. What has changed about Oxfords is the sheer variety of them available, from jaunty saddle brogues to traditional wingtips to patent leather statement kickers primed to anchor your most avant-garde fits. The question, then, becomes not, “Do I need a pair of Oxfords in my closet?” but which pairs rise above the rest. The answer, friends, is after the jump.
