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Garment · Footwear

The loafer

A loafer is a slip-on shoe with no laces, so it must grip your heel and instep by shape alone, making fit especially important.

A loafer is a slip-on shoe held by shape alone, which means the last has to grip the heel and the instep without any lacing to help. That makes fit more critical than in any other shoe. The main patterns are the penny, the tassel, the horsebit and the Belgian.

Burgundy penny loafers
Burgundy penny loafers

Fit without fastening

With no laces, everything depends on the last. A loafer must grip at the heel and across the instep tightly enough not to slip, without being tight anywhere else. There is no adjustment.

This is why loafers are the hardest shoe to buy online, why sizing frequently differs from the same maker's laced shoes, and why a loafer that slips at the heel cannot be fixed with an insole.

The patterns

PatternDetailOrigin
PennyStrap across the vamp with a slotNorwegian-influenced American design, 1930s
TasselLaces terminating in tassels around the throatAmerican, mid-century; a business shoe in the US
HorsebitMetal snaffle bit across the vampGucci, 1950s
BelgianSoft, unlined, small bowBelgian Shoes, New York, from the 1950s
Butterfly / AurlandHand-sewn apron, visible stitchingNorwegian
 The penny loafer's origin story runs through Norwegian fishermen's shoes, an American importer and a college fashion; the details are less settled than usually presented.

Socks, and the argument about them

Loafers are worn without socks in hot weather, which is a genuine convention with an Italian pedigree and not a modern affectation. It is also hard on the shoe: perspiration goes straight into the lining and the insole, and an unlined shoe worn barefoot regularly will smell and degrade.

The practical compromise is a proper no-show sock in a natural fibre, cedar trees every time, and a day of rest. A loafer worn barefoot every day in summer is a shoe with a short life.

Images

Licensing →
A loafer
ハーフサドルでビーフロールがあるペニーローファー (penny loafers)
A loafer
A pair of black loafers being worn.

At a glance

Defined by
No fastening; held by the last
Fit
More critical than any laced shoe: no adjustment available
Main patterns
Penny, tassel, horsebit, Belgian

Makers associated with it

  1. An illustration of a welted shoe of the kind the house makes. Not a photograph of the house's own work. Alden Shoemaker · 1884

    New England's surviving welted shoemaker, and the house most associated with shell cordovan.
  2. An illustration of a welted shoe of the kind the house makes. Not a photograph of the house's own work. Edward Green Shoemaker · Northampton · 1890

    Edward Green is a Northampton shoemaker, around since 1890, making top-tier off-the-shelf shoes with far more hand shaping and finishing than most factory shoes.
Last reviewed: September 2026 Report an error on this page

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Picture credits 5
  1. Burgundy penny loafers: Original art · Il Sartoriale · Il Sartoriale · Il Sartoriale original art
  2. Pennyloafers-whitesocks-japan-2019: Photograph · Nesnad · Wikimedia Commons · CC BY 4.0
  3. Loafers being worn: Photograph · Goodreg3 · Wikimedia Commons · CC0
  4. An illustration of a welted shoe of the kind the house makes. Not a photograph of the house's own work.: Original art · Il Sartoriale · Il Sartoriale · Il Sartoriale original art
  5. An illustration of a welted shoe of the kind the house makes. Not a photograph of the house's own work.: Original art · Il Sartoriale · Il Sartoriale · Il Sartoriale original art

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