Red, White, and Shoe: Jack Rogers

Happy Independence Day!  Today wraps up my four day tribute to American shoes in honor of the Fourth of July weekend.

If you live in the South like I do, you’ll notice that when the thermostat begins to make it’s treacherous trip upwards to the 90s every lady breaks out her Jack Rogers Navajo Sandals.

Since the Palm Beach shoe company first put it into production in the 1960s, the Navajo Sandals have been hand-made by cobblers in Florida.

The Original Palm Beach Navajo Sandal in Bone

I do not own a pair of these sandals.  Maybe I’m missing out, all I know is I hate the feeling of the thong between my toes.  I always end up bleeding and crying to anyone who will listen about how I hate flip flops and how the inventor of the thong sandal needs to burn in hell.  But I can admit that I am probably the exception to the rule because women all over the country seem drawn to the ease and comfort of the Navajo sandal.

I’m sure much of the love affair with Jack Rogers was influenced by Jackie Kennedy Onassis who was often seen sporting her Jacks while on vacation on the Cape.

Jackie wearing her Navajo Jacks

I suppose if I were a first lady and had to stuff my feet into boring, sensible shoes all day, every day, I too might like the opportunity that thong sandals provide to let my toes breath.

Luckily for folks like myself who are fussy picky, Jack Rogers does offer sandals that aren’t in the thong style.  The Capri Sandals give the wearer the look and feel of the Jack Rogers Navajo Sandals without the bleeding toes at the end of the day.

Capri Sandals

The line has expanded beyond just the traditional Navajo flat to include wedges and espadrilles.

Palm Beach Mid Wedge

Marbella Espadrille Wedge

So, there we have it, fabulous shoes from the good old U-S-A.  Who knew we Americans could be so chic?  (Um, I did!)

Red, White, and Shoe: Sperry Top-Siders

Welcome to day three of my four day tribute to American shoes in honor of the Fourth of July weekend.

Today we’re gonna get a little preppy, so if you need a second to go put on your madras print, grab a gin and tonic and your worn copy of The Official Preppy Handbook, pop your Lacoste collar, and tie your old Exeter Acadamy Lacrosse sweatshirt over your shoulders, well I can wait.

Ready?  Okay!

First, a confession.  I am not a prep.  Nope.  And frankly I am far too fussy picky of a dresser to ever hope to achieve the preppy look.  It’s just not me.  But Preppies?  They know some good shoes, and today we will discuss the ultimate in preppy shoes, the Sperry Top-Siders.

Now, Top-Siders aren’t just a deck shoe.  They are THE deck shoe.  In 1953 Paul Sperry designed the original Top-Sider, the very first deck shoe.  Prior to the deck shoe, when walking on your boat and things would inevitably get slippery, you would just deal with the risk of bruises and broken bones that came with it.

Montauk Slip-Ons in Cocoa

It was his cocker spaniel, Prince, that inspired Paul Sperry to design the deck shoe.  One winter day in Connecticut, Paul watched Prince easily run across the ice.  As an aside, I’m further convinced that my two dogs are dumber than a bag of bricks because on the few occasions we get ice in the south they manage to run right into the fence.  There is no grace involved.  ANYWAY, Paul cut herringbone patterned grooves into the bottom of rubber soles, much like the grooves and cracks on his dog’s paws, and so the deck shoe was born.

Bluefish 2-Eye Boat Shoe in Navy

After its introduction in 1935, the Top-Sider was hugely popular with boaters who not only appreciated the no-slip surface, but also the fact that the original white soles wouldn’t leave scuff marks on their boats (why hasn’t this caught on with high school gym teachers, it's beyond me).

In 1939 the U.S. Navy began manufacturing the Sperry Top-Sider for its sailors.  Sperry’s business was purchased by the U.S. Rubber Co. and the brand received even more recognition.

While the original Top-Siders were known for their leather upper and rubber no-slide bottoms, you can now buy canvas versions as well.

Women's Bahama Canvas Deck Shoes

Today, Top-Siders aren’t only popular amongst boaters, they make the perfect sneaker-alternative.  I always try to pack my Bluefish 2-Eye Boat Shoes when I go on vacation and I know there will be a lot of walking.  The one time I forgot and I relied on a darling pair of flats I had to stop at the Macy’s at Metro Center in DC just to get a pair of flip flops because I had rubbed the back of my heels so raw.  And I do not like flip flops (hurts my toes)!

And there’s more than boat shoes now!  If you don’t have the same flip flop aversion I have, you can get a great pair of flip flops in a nautical theme that would work perfect for the Fourth of July Weekend (see how I tied it back in)!

Jellyfish Thong in Navy and Red Stripe.  These could make me forget that I hate flip flops.

Sperry’s Top-Siders also has whimsical rain boots that could give Hunter a run for its money.

Pelican Tall Rain Boot

And if that weren’t enough, WEDGES PEOPLE!

Southport Wedge has my heart.

Stay tuned for the thrilling conclusion of my four-part series tomorrow.  I face my flip flop aversion head on and we talk Jack Rogers (but we’re gonna call them sandals so I don’t have a panic attack).

Red, White, and Shoe: The Frye Company

It is day two of my American shoe tribute in honor of the Fourth of July weekend and today I celebrate the oldest continuously running shoe company in America, The Frye Company.  For 150 years Frye has bench crafted their boots, a process that takes more than 190 steps to complete a pair of boots.

I love Frye Boots.  Now, yes, it’s true, normally I am a heel girl, in fact I’d say a good six days a week I’m in heels but on that seventh day nothing feels better than pulling on a perfectly worn in pair of Frye 8R Engineer Boots.

Frye 8R Engineer Boots in Gaucho

They go perfect with a flouncy dress or jeans.  Whenever I put them on, I feel ready to get a tattoo and ride across the country on a chopper.  Okay, maybe not, but I feel like I fucking could if I wanted to and, dammit,  that is a great feeling.

John A. Frye ran the Frye company for 50 years from the very start in 1863 until his death in 1911 after which his family took over the business.  Frye boots have a long history, in the 1800s many of the homesteaders wore Fryes as they trekked west.

The Frye Harness Boot (then the Jet Boot) was inspired by a meeting John Frye’s grandson, also named John, had with a US Naval Admiral in 1938.  The Admiral had difficulty finding the Wellington style of boots he liked and as a favor John made him a pair.  The boots became popular and he filled requests for them through World War II.  General Patton even had a pair of the Jet Boots.

Frye Harness Boots

In the 1960s the Frye Campus Boot was re-introduced and became so popular and iconic that when the Smithsonian Institute was looking for items to represent America in the sixties a pair of Frye Campus Boots were among the chosen items.

Frye Campus Boots

These days Frye has expanded and offers so much more than boots.  Now you can buy Frye heels, sandals, and oxford flats.

Frye Kara Trapunto T-Strap Pump

Frye James Oxford

You will be just as likely to see young hollywood starlets wearing Fryes as you will be seeing rough and tumble cowboys, servicemen, and brawny guys who get dirt under their nails(tm).

Rachel Bilson in Frye 12R Engineers

Reese Witherspoon in Frye Melissa Button Boots

Anne Hathaway in Brown Frye Harness Boots

Who can choose one color?  Anne in Black Frye Harness Boots

Stay tuned, tomorrow we talk about a passion for the sea, Sperry Top-Siders so break out your madras prints!

Red, White, and Shoe: Delman

In honor of the Fourth of July weekend it’s time to take a closer look at iconic American shoe companies.

“Delman means a shoe stylized in sophisticated taste--not garish, not over-conservative--a thouroughly wearable shoe.”~Herman Delman

Herman Delman founded the Delman company in 1919 and incorporated in 1925.  At this time most shoes were branded by the store they were sold in regardless of the company that manufactured them.  Delman was one of the first shoes to brand his own shoes with his name.

Delman Sangria Sandals with the Delman logo showing.

From 1926 to 1933 Delman had his own store at 558 Madison Avenue in New York.  In 1933 Delman entered into an exclusive contract with Saks Fifth Avenue and closed his store on Madison Avenue.  The exclusivity lasted 3 years after which Bergdorf Goodman began carrying the shoes.

In 1940 Delman recreated a tango shoe he had originally made 20 years prior for ballroom dancer, Irene Castle.

Irene Castle in Picture Play magazine

Called the Scandal Sandal, the provocative shoe made quite an impression; it revealed the entire foot and laced up the back.

In 1953, under Roger Vivier, the Delman-Dior line was launched with French fashion house Christian Dior.

The Seven Year Itch premiered in 1955 and Marilyn Monroe famously stood atop a subway grate in the movie.  The shoes?  Delmans.  But really, who noticed the shoes anyway?

What shoes?

 
Other celebrities known for supporting the brand include: Marlene Dietrich, Ava Gardner, Audrey Hepburn, and Jackie Kennedy Onassis.

Several well known designers cut their teeth at Delman, including:  Herbert and Beth Levine, Kenneth Jay Lane, and Roger Vivier.

Classic Delman Mona Flats, a favorite of Jackie O.

Stay tuned for tomorrow’s Red, White, and Shoe: Frye Shoe Company...