Paul Sperry

Know More About Boat Shoes

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Boat shoes are typically leather or canvas shoes having rubber soles. The non skid rubber soles actually add traction. Also popular as topsiders or deck shoes, these shoes are especially designed to be used on a boat. These shoes were invented by Paul Sperry in the year 1935 after he noted down the ability of his dog to move and run smoothly and easily all over snow. Making use of a knife, he cut the sipping into the soles of the shoes, making it just the perfect footwear for boating.

Deck shoes were originally used by the sailors.They were usually worn when walking on slippery decks of boat.Indian moccasin has originally been the inspiration of the design of the modern deck shoes. The features like side lacing, water resistant hide and the low profile are similar to that of the moccasin. The leather uppers are treated with water repellent oil and makes the shoe water resistant.

It has been since the 1980s that they have become a fashionable footwear in UK. These shoes have in fact become popular as men’s casual footwear for about decades but however nowadays women’s boat shoes are also available in the market. These shoes actually somewhere fall in between the ultra casual loafers and the formal dress shoes. If you are stylish, you will surely prefer stocking a deck shoe in your closet. It is not necessary to wear these shoes with sokcs. In fact, these shoes look very smart when worn without a pair of socks. The traditionalists also prefer the sockless look. The boat shoe designers and manufacturers quite often include the removable sock pads for extra cushioning.

There are many people who find difficulty in deciding between loafers and boat shoes for casual wear. Although its true that these two styles of shoes look quite similar but however there are surely some key differences. The deck shoes have rubber or any other type of non slippery soles in order to keep you protected and safe on deck even in wet weathers. The loafers on the other hand are designed just for loafing in. The soles of loafers are less hard wearing and smoother. Deck shoes generally have nautical look. Classic style makes use of the thin rope thats threaded through holes on shoe sides ending up in laces to front. You may also find many styles that look like traditional athletic shoe. These shoes are thus best suited for any casual occasion.

The professional stylists suggest to wear loafers with office casual apparel like button down shirt, jeans whereas the deck shoes can be worn with a sportier ensemble that includes polo shirts, khaki shorts, golf shirts and others. These shoes are however not meant to be worn in winters.

If you want to buy women’s boat shoes, the best place to buy them is on the Internet. There are many web protals that sells these shoes for women as well as men.

Why Are Boat Shoes So Popular

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Not many people know about the origins of boat shoes and some people even mistakenly attribute the name to their shape but this could not be further than the truth. They are also known as deck shoes and this gives one a better clue as to the origins of these popular and stylish shoes.

Boating shoes are a very old style of shoes and their first origins are around the year nineteen thirty five when an American inventor and boating and yachting enthusiast called Paul Sperry noticed that there were no dedicated boating shoes in the market that were up to the task to keeping sailors and boaters form skipping and falling and either injuring themselves or in the worst case scenario going over board in sea going vessels.

He took another recent invention called the process of Siping that had been invented a few years earlier in nineteen twenty three and which was a process of cutting fine grooves into tyres to improve their wet weather traction. Sperry designed a shoe that happened to be very stylish with a herringbone patterned leather upper and a rubber sole that has siping grooves on it to make it safe to wear on a wet deck. He also made the shoes white so that they would not mark the decks of peoples boats. This made them look very distinctive from other shoes at the time.

Besides their good looks boat shoes also had and still have other things going for them. Since they were supposed to be working shoes they were designed to be very comfortable and because they do not have laces to tie or any zips or other sort of fasteners to do up or to undo when putting them on or when removing them, they are completely hassle free and are just slip on and go shoes for the most part.

These shoes are also stylish enough to wear to work and are not out of place in semi formal or even formal situations but they are also not too dressy or too showy and are equally at home in semi casual or even casual situations. They are truly versatile shoes that can be worn all day and all around the year as well and the right pair of deck shoes is truly a great investment and one piece of footwear that every man should have a pair of in his cupboard as they go well with so many things in your wardrobe.