I’ve made it clear a few times that I have a love affair with this ancient French footwear model. These became really popular in the menswear space a few years back and everyone and their mother picked up either a brown leather or black leather pair. Suddenly this niche shoe belonged to everyone, both enthusiasts and non.
But then you’d see someone with a full brown / white pony hair version. Or you’d see green leather. Or in my case, a matted black leather with pony hair on the tongue. That’s when you knew that someone had ball knowledge.
The thing is everyone who wanted to participate in the popularity opted for a safe colorway, and you can see by how often black and brown colorways are resold used online. But a real enthusiast owned the black and brown model, and then also went out of their way to invest in a weirder, more niche colorway. When I bought my pony hair pair I had friends who poked fun at me; three weeks later my fav menswear writer picked up the same pair — thats when I knew there was an even deeper well of menswear nerds out there, all united by weird French shoes.
Apr 11, 2025
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As the unofficial menswear nerd-in-residence at PI.FYI I think everyone should own a pair of these. They single-handedly saved the brand in the 1940’s and were worn by doctors & vets & lawyers & blue collar workers & bushwick graphic designers. My first pair came in a classic pebbled brown leather and these are my ‘fun’ black leather + pony hair pair. Price is steep but these have been good for weddings, workdays, +10 mile walks, rain and snow. Andddd!!! They’re unisex and look great on women as well. Enjoy.
May 9, 2024
I love menswear. Like after my wife / daughter / truck, my 4th greatest love is menswear. And there’s nothing better than menswear with lore. Which is why I’ve hunted down and am in talks to put in a (lowball) offer on shoes with a fun history attached to them.
Ugly? — Yes.
Culturally significant? — No.
Special to me? — Extremely.
Why wear just regular clothing when you can wear clothing that looks like it was formulated in a lab?
Jan 30, 2025
👞
You ever search for something on eBay for so long it goes from unknown to unfindable to quasi-accepted to potentially washed - and that’s when it finally pops up in your size? Anyhow, I'm 95% sure my man Brendan Timmins (beautiful furniture – I’ve got two pieces!) put me back on to Jordan’s Two3 luxury line from the early 2000s, which looks pretty much exactly like the bizarro silhouette-experiment off-court fits so memorably documented on the defunct What the F*** Is Michael Jordan Wearing? blog.Anyhow, the Cavvy - a square-toe slip-on Vibram-soled loafer in which the elastic runs vertically right down the middle of the shoe. It is maybe the platonic ideal of viable square-toe loafers, with apologies to Martine Rose and the vendors of Orchard St. It is bizarre and tough, and screams for a flowy wide leg pant. The colorway with black leather and beige elastic really is something, but a few months ago, I finally found an all-black pair in my size, sort of, for a reasonable price. They look absurd and hurt my feet. I’m so happy.
Aug 24, 2021
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florinegrassenhopper riotgrrrl brendanooooo slowdazzle buck_mcgraw and indianjones — we did it. Not only did we successfully meet for drinks, but we also schemed the hostile takeover of this app from tyler tonight.
In all seriousness — weird that an app I downloaded in April would make genuinely want to drive back into Brooklyn during end of day traffic for a happy hour. Great app filled with great people.
Jul 20, 2024
♥️
I feel like there’s a special connectivity on this app that I haven’t felt in a long time, maybe since early 2010’s tumblr. The fact that you can’t promote yourself like IG is wonderful. The fact that there isn’t mass video content like Tik Tok is great. It’s not this monetized / paid sponsorship app. People are here because they want to be a part of something with nothing to gain besides friendship. Seeing the URL -> IRL meetups warms my heart so much (waiting for an NYC or Brooklyn meetup).
Thanks for your participation on this niche little app. I smile reading all the recs and all the comments and all the asks. Hope we’ll all be here for a long time.
Jun 15, 2024
🖥
I think a life rule for me is to surround myself with people who know more / are smarter / are cooler than me and just absorb their aura by listening / observing them. It’s made me the incredibly smart / cool person you all know and love.
I just never thought I’d feel the same way about URL friends. I’m constantly listening to the songs I see posted here, reading the articles, subbing to newsletters, and googling topics that get tossed onto the feed.
It’s nice to know you can become a more rounded person by just absorbing what your mutuals post on here. I’m going to sit on my couch, have a cocktail and digest my lovely feed. Happy Sunday!
Sep 15, 2024