Men's Burgundy Crocodile Penny Loafers

Men's burgundy penny loafers in crocodile grain leather, Goodyear welted on a leather sole and made to order in your size and width. The penny loafer is the loafer most people own first, and this page covers the three construction details that separate a good one from a cheap one, plus what burgundy does that black and brown cannot.

What makes a penny loafer a penny loafer

A saddle strap runs across the vamp with a slot cut through the middle of it. The slot is the defining feature, and the name comes from American students in the 1930s and 40s putting a coin in it.

Three details separate a well made pair from the rest, and all three are visible in a photograph before you buy:

• The saddle should be a separate piece of leather stitched down at both ends, not a strip glued on or a shape stamped into the vamp. Those two stitched points take every bit of tension the strap ever sees, and a glued saddle lifts at one end within a couple of years and never sits flat again.
• The beef rolls, the raised stitched swellings where the saddle meets the sides of the shoe, should be genuine rolls of leather rather than a decorative seam printed into the surface.
• The slot edges should be finished and turned, not raw cut. A raw edge is where the leather starts to stretch, and a stretched slot goes from a neat rectangle to a slack opening within a couple of years.

Why burgundy is the third pair to own

Most men buy black first, brown second, and then stall. Burgundy is the color that solves the stall, for a reason worth understanding.

Black is a neutral with no warmth at all, so it is formal everywhere and interesting nowhere. Brown is warm and versatile but it competes with brown tailoring. Burgundy is a deep red brown with a purple undertone, which puts it between the two: dark enough to read as a dark shoe from across a room, warm enough to sit under gray and navy, and different enough that it does not disappear the way a mid brown does.

It also ages better than either. The red undertone deepens at the toe and heel with polishing while the flex points stay lighter, so an old burgundy shoe has visible depth. Black just looks black until it looks worn.

One caution. Depth decides everything. A cherry or wine red reads as costume immediately and nothing rescues it. The test: if you can name the color from across a room, it is too bright for a dress shoe.

Burgundy, oxblood and cordovan

These three get used as if they meant the same thing and one of them is a material, not a color.

• Burgundy is a shade: deep red brown with a purple undertone.
• Oxblood is the same family, usually a touch darker and browner. Also just a shade.
• Shell cordovan is a material, cut from the fibrous membrane under the hide of a horse's hindquarter and tanned over roughly six months. It is often dyed burgundy, which is where the confusion started, and it costs several times what calf does.

A listing saying "cordovan color" is describing a shade of burgundy. A listing saying "shell cordovan" is claiming the material. Read which one you are being offered.

Crocodile grain, and how to read any textured listing

Crocodile grain is a tile pattern in the surface of the leather, and it is worth knowing what separates the three things sold under similar names:

The word order in the first two rows is the whole test: "genuine leather, croc print" attaches the word genuine to leather. "Genuine crocodile leather" attaches it to the animal. If you want to know exactly which hide is on a pair you are considering here, ask us before you order and we will tell you plainly. Our documented genuine crocodilian pieces are grouped in the exotic series.

The four things that go wrong with a penny loafer

• Heel slip. There is no lacing, so only the throat line and the heel counter hold your foot. A loafer even slightly too long slips at every step and no amount of breaking in fixes it. This is a fit error, not a settling issue.
• The saddle ends lift, on a shoe where the strap was glued or lightly tacked rather than stitched through.
• The slot stretches, where the edges were left raw and there is no reinforcement behind them.
• Cream builds at the saddle seam, dries pale and outlines the strap in a lighter tone.

How these are built

Goodyear welted and hand stitched. A leather welt runs around the upper and insole and the outsole is stitched to that welt rather than glued to the upper, so the shoe resoles repeatedly without disturbing the upper. Cork fills the cavity between insole and outsole and compresses to your foot over the first month, so the footbed ends shaped to you rather than to a last.

Crocodile grain upper, stitched saddle with beef rolls and finished slot edges, leather lining, leather sole, stacked leather heel. Width cut to your measurement in D, E, EE or EEE through our made to order service. See the rest of the range in men's leather loafers.

Fit and sizing

Made to order in US sizes 5 to 16.5 with widths D through EEE.

A loafer has to be snugger than a laced shoe. A lace up gives you a second chance, because if the width is slightly off you can adjust the lacing and the leather eventually gives. A loafer gives you nothing: too narrow and it grips across the ball with no way to ease it, too long and it slips at the heel forever.

Loafers also run large relative to lace ups on the same last, so most people take less than their lace up size here. If a loafer feels comfortable the moment you put it on, it is too big.

Order your true length and specify the width separately rather than sizing up to gain room across the ball. Measure against the men's shoe size guide and tell us before you order if you are between widths, have a low instep or get heel slip in loafers generally.

What to wear them with

• Strongest: charcoal and mid gray, in worsted or flannel. Gray is neutral enough to let the burgundy be the only color in play.
• Works: navy with enough separation in depth, dark denim, stone and cream chinos.
• Avoid: brown tailoring, which fights the red, and black, which flattens it entirely.

Match your belt to the shoe rather than the pants. Also in the range: the black penny loafers and the burgundy wingtip oxford.

Care

Cream first, then wax. Cream feeds the leather and holds the color every four to six wears; wax builds shine on the toe and heel counter, the two areas that do not flex.

On a textured upper the thing to watch is product collecting in the recesses of the grain. It dries pale and leaves the pattern looking clogged and chalky, which against burgundy is very visible. Use cream sparingly and brush thoroughly with a horsehair brush to clear the recesses before it sets.

Use a burgundy or neutral cream rather than a brown one, because brown cream on burgundy pulls it toward a muddy chestnut over a year and the shift does not reverse. Keep product out of the saddle seam and brush along it rather than across. Cedar trees between wearings, a day of rest between wears, dry naturally away from heat.

What to expect when you order

Cut and lasted after you order in your size and width. Production is 10 to 14 days, then shipping.

Questions we get asked

What makes a penny loafer well made?
Three things visible in a photograph. The saddle should be a separate piece stitched down at both ends rather than glued or stamped. The beef rolls should be genuine rolls of leather rather than a printed seam. And the slot edges should be finished and turned, because a raw edge is where the leather starts to stretch.

Why buy burgundy rather than another black or brown pair?
Because it solves the stall after black and brown. Black is formal everywhere and interesting nowhere. Brown competes with brown tailoring. Burgundy is dark enough to read as a dark shoe from across a room, warm enough to sit under gray and navy, and different enough not to disappear.

How dark should burgundy be?
Deep. A cherry or wine red reads as costume immediately and nothing rescues it. The test: if you can name the color from across a room, it is too bright for a dress shoe.

Is burgundy the same as cordovan?
No. Burgundy and oxblood are shades. Shell cordovan is a material, cut from the fibrous membrane under a horse's hindquarter and tanned over roughly six months, and it is often dyed burgundy, which is where the confusion started. "Cordovan color" describes a shade; "shell cordovan" claims the material.

What is the difference between crocodile grain and genuine crocodile?
Genuine crocodilian hide has a sensory pore near each tile edge, catches a fingernail on the tile edges and never repeats its pattern. A pressed croc pattern on calf is one continuous surface, the nail glides, and the pattern repeats on a fixed interval. Read the word order in any listing: "genuine leather, croc print" attaches genuine to leather.

How can I find out exactly which hide is on a pair?
Ask before you order and we will tell you plainly. Our documented genuine crocodilian pieces are grouped in the exotic series.

Why do my loafers slip at the heel?
Because they are too long. There is no lacing, so only the throat line and the heel counter hold your foot, and a loafer even slightly too long slips at every step. Breaking in does not change length.

Do loafers run large?
Yes, relative to lace ups on the same last, so most people take less than their lace up size. If a loafer feels comfortable the moment you put it on, it is too big.

How do I polish a textured upper?
Sparingly, then brush thoroughly with a horsehair brush to clear the recesses before the cream sets. Product left to dry in the grain goes pale and leaves the pattern looking clogged and chalky, which against burgundy is very visible.

What cream should I use on burgundy?
Burgundy or neutral, never brown. Brown cream on burgundy pulls it toward a muddy chestnut over a year and the shift does not reverse.

Can these be resoled?
Yes, repeatedly. Goodyear welted construction stitches the outsole to a welt rather than gluing it to the upper, so the sole is replaced without disturbing the upper.