Men's Suede and Crocodile Belgian Loafers

Men's Belgian style loafers combining calf suede with genuine crocodile panels, Goodyear welted on a leather sole and made to order in your size and width. Mixing a napped leather with an exotic hide on one shoe is a harder job than either material on its own, and most of the work is in where the two meet.

Why mix suede and crocodile at all

A full crocodile shoe is a statement whether you want it to be or not. The tile pattern covers every surface, catches light from every angle, and there is no quiet way to wear it.

Panelling the croc against suede changes the register completely. Suede is the most light absorbing surface in footwear; crocodile is one of the most light catching. Set them next to each other and the suede reads as a matte field that the exotic sits in, so the croc becomes a detail rather than the entire shoe. You get the hide without the volume.

It also solves a practical problem. Crocodile is stiff across the tiles and does not flex kindly at the ball of the foot. Placing the suede where the shoe bends and the croc where it does not gives you an exotic shoe that actually breaks in.

The Belgian loafer, and what this one keeps

Henri Bendel opened Belgian Shoes in Manhattan in 1955 and had them made by artisans in the Belgian countryside. The shape he sold had a very low vamp, no lacing, no broguing and a small bow at the top of the vamp, and it was sewn inside out then turned by hand so that no construction showed anywhere.

That turned construction is also why a classic Belgian cannot be resoled: there is no welt for a cobbler to stitch to. These keep the low vamp, the clean line and the hand stitched bow, and put a Goodyear welt underneath, which on a shoe carrying genuine crocodile matters more than usual. The hide will comfortably outlast four or five soles.

Three ways to check crocodile is real

Embossed cowhide printed with a croc pattern photographs almost identically and costs a fraction. These take under a minute in hand.

Find the pore. Every genuine crocodile scale has a small sensory pit, an ISO, usually near one edge of the tile. It is where the animal sensed pressure in water. No embossing plate reproduces it, because it is a hole rather than a shape.

Check the tile edges. On a real hide the scales are separate pieces of keratin with real depth between them, so a fingernail dragged across catches at each edge. Embossed leather is one continuous surface pressed into shape and your nail glides over it.

Look for repetition. An embossing plate repeats on a fixed interval, so the same cluster of tiles appears again further along the panel. A real hide grades continuously from large belly tiles to smaller flank tiles and never repeats.

One labeling note. "Genuine leather, croc print" is embossed cowhide. "Genuine crocodile leather" is a claim about the animal. The word order is not an accident.

Suede, nubuck and split suede

The suede on this shoe is calf suede, which is the flesh side of a full thickness hide buffed to a nap. It is not the same as nubuck, which is the grain side sanded to a finer nap and is denser, and it is nothing like split suede, the leftover layer after the grain has been removed for something else. Split suede is loose, it sheds, and it goes shiny at the flex points inside a season.

To tell them apart in hand, press your thumb across the surface. Real suede and nubuck take a directional mark and recover when brushed. Split suede either will not mark or marks and stays marked.

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, so the shoe resoles repeatedly without disturbing the hide above it. Cork between insole and outsole compresses to your foot over the first month.

Genuine crocodile panels with calf suede, leather lining, leather sole, stacked leather heel, bow stitched down rather than glued. CITES documentation is available on request, since crocodilian skins are traded under permit. Width cut to your measurement in D, E, EE or EEE through our made to order service. More exotics in the exotic series.

Fit and sizing

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

A Belgian has the lowest vamp of any loafer, so it holds your foot at fewer points than a penny or a tassel and it has to be snug. If it is comfortable the moment you put it on it is too big, and heel slip on a slip on cannot be corrected later.

There is a second consideration on a paneled exotic. Crocodile does not stretch the way calf does, so wherever the croc sits the shoe will not give. Order to fit now rather than to a fit you plan to break in. Measure against the men's shoe size guide and tell us first if you are between widths.

What to wear them with

One rule governs an exotic: the shoe is the exotic, so nothing else in the outfit should be. No exotic watch strap, no second textured leather, no pattern competing with the tiles.

These are more wearable than a full croc loafer because the suede does most of the talking. Stone, tan and cream chinos are the natural home, gray flannel works, dark denim works. Match your belt to the suede rather than the croc, because chasing an exotic belt to match an exotic shoe is how you end up with two hides that nearly agree, which looks worse than not matching at all.

Also in the range: the brown suede Belgian loafer and the dark brown Belgian loafer in smooth calf.

Care, and it is two jobs not one

This is the one thing people get wrong on a mixed material shoe: the two surfaces want opposite treatments and you cannot do them together.

The suede wants no polish at all, a crepe or rubber brush in one direction after each wear, a suede eraser for marks and a protector spray before first wear.

The crocodile wants no brushing and no wax. Wax fills the channels between the tiles and dries pale, which outlines every scale in a lighter tone. Wipe it with a soft damp cloth and use a conditioner made for exotic leathers two or three times a year.

Work the two separately and keep each product off the other material. Cedar trees between wearings, a day of rest between wears, dry naturally away from heat.

What to expect when you order

Cut after you order from skins selected for the panels. Every crocodile hide is patterned differently, so the tile layout on your pair will be close to the photographs rather than a copy of them. Production is 10 to 14 days, then shipping.

Questions we get asked

Why mix suede with crocodile instead of a full croc shoe?
Two reasons. Suede absorbs light and crocodile catches it, so the suede reads as a matte field and the exotic becomes a detail rather than the whole shoe. And crocodile is stiff across the tiles, so putting suede where the shoe flexes and croc where it does not gives you an exotic that actually breaks in.

How can I tell genuine crocodile from embossed leather?
Three checks. Find the small sensory pit near the edge of each tile, which no embossing plate reproduces because it is a hole rather than a shape. Drag a fingernail across the tiles, which catches on a real hide and glides on embossed leather. And look for repetition, since a plate repeats on a fixed interval and an animal never does.

What is the difference between genuine crocodile leather and croc print?
Word order. "Genuine crocodile leather" is a claim about the animal. "Genuine leather, croc print" is embossed cowhide. The second phrasing is used deliberately.

Do these come with CITES documentation?
Yes, available on request. Crocodilian skins are traded under permit, so documentation should exist for any genuine croc product and a seller who cannot produce it is worth a second question.

What is a Belgian loafer?
A very low vamp slip on with a small bow at the top of the vamp and no visible construction. Henri Bendel opened Belgian Shoes in Manhattan in 1955 and had them made by artisans in the Belgian countryside.

Can these be resoled?
Yes, repeatedly. A traditional turned Belgian cannot, because there is no welt for a cobbler to stitch to. These are Goodyear welted, which on a shoe carrying genuine crocodile matters, since the hide will outlast four or five soles.

How should they fit?
Snug, and order to fit now rather than to a fit you plan to break in. A Belgian has the lowest vamp of any loafer so it holds your foot at fewer points, and crocodile does not stretch the way calf does, so wherever the croc sits the shoe will not give.

How do I care for a shoe with two different materials?
Separately, because they want opposite things. The suede wants no polish, a crepe brush in one direction and a protector spray. The crocodile wants no brushing and no wax, since wax fills the channels between tiles and dries pale, outlining every scale.

Will my pair look like the photographs?
Close, not identical. Every crocodile hide is patterned differently and the panels are cut after you order, so the tile layout on yours will be its own.