Iconic: Bass Weejun Loafers

Vintage Bass Weejuns ad.  Source: http://www.ivy-style.com

Apparently, loafers are having a moment.  I am puzzled by this because the loafer is the perfect shoe. How could it ever be out of style? Picture Michael Jackson without his black loafers and white socks in "Billie Jean." Any movie from the 1950's would be missing something without loafer-clad characters.  Loafers were de rigueur in Lisa Birnbach's The Preppy Handbook.  The good-girl Sandy wore them in the movie "Grease."   I cannot imagine my wardrobe without my loafers.

Some history:  Maine shoemaker George Henry Bass was a leather-tanner who began making shoes in 1876.  The first Bass loafer, or "Weejun," was modeled after a shoe seen on a trip to Norway.  Every film set in the US from the 1940's to the 1960's seemed to feature the loafer as the ultimate American footwear.  I can only think of one other American shoe to be as important: the Converse sneaker. Converse was worn by athletic preps and grungy punks.  The loafer is at home in any setting, from casual to dressed up, unlike the sneaker. To me, the penny loafer is a casual shoe when done in brown or oxblood, and looks a touch more dressy when done in black. There is something effortless about dressing up and adding a more casual shoe to bring everything down a step or two.

Plenty of designers have taken the loafer for a fresh spin. You can picture Fiat magnate and most-stylish-man-on-the-planet Gianni Agnelli wearing Tod's Gommini, the loafer-moccasin hybrid in luxe suede with the signature pebbled sole.  Marc Jacobs made a  patent version of the loafer with a chunkier sole that reminds me of Patrick Cox's Wannabe loafers from the 90's.

Loafers look great with striped or colored socks, but I like them best worn over bare feet. The Bass loafer is not only well-made and reasonably priced, it is incredibly comfortable. This is the same shoe I wore when I was in my early teens and now wear in my 40's.  How many shoes, besides the flip flop and the ubiquitous Converse, can make this claim? Would you even want to share your closet with shoes you wore as a teenager?  Lately I have been wearing the Bass tasseled loafer in tobacco brown, a more dressed up version of the penny loafer. The next pair I will add to my wardrobe will be the Wayfarer pair in black and white, a nod to my love of ska. 

Nothing beats the Bass Weejun for style, comfort, and versatility. The loafer is a shoe to take you anywhere.

Here is Michael Jackson singing "Billie Jean," wearing signature black Bass loafers and silver socks.  Jackson headlined the celebration for Motown's 25th Anniversary in Pasadena, California in 1983.  Not only was the first appearance of Jackson's Moonwalk, but I think it is the loafer's finest moment: https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=michael+jackson+thriller+live+1983