Loafer Lusting and Gratuitous J. Crew Rant

My attraction to the sort of masculine melded with feminine loafers reminiscent of the collection donned by my father during his professional years, before the ever nebulous business casual dress code was mandated, continues. This pair from J. Crew, in addition to featuring the once loathed, now adored tassel, boasts a complementing color combination of warm caramel brown with black and a patent leather finish. Perfection for any lady who wishes to indulge in fanciful retro career airs. Naturally, and unfortunately, these loafers are exorbitantly expensive; J. Crew has a penchant for dangling beautiful traditional and classic pieces before me, tantalizing and gossamer, unattainable, as they are often difficult to justify the spend. Surely, the leather is of a certain quality and I am sure the factory craftsmanship is fair, mechanized machines lovingly sewing each stitch, but yet the question of to what the money goes remains. Much like with Anthropologie, my mild disdain for J. Crew, aesthetics asides, stems from a pretense of artisanal boutique wares, a veneer for massively produced and commercialized items. This is coupled with a bemused exhaustion of the extensive media coverage that will invariably surround each and every J. Crew look book; the irony of my participating in that exchange buttressing cultural capital with this amorous tirade has not been missed.

I love you. I hate you. I will gaze upon your spread, long for these loafers, but ultimately, will satisfy my urge with my equally stunning, and surprisingly similar, Parisian penny loafers. Some serious young professional problems, now solved.

(image taken from J. Crew)