The classic boat shoe (or deck shoe) was invented in 1935 by American Paul Sperry, who was looking for a way to improve the traction of shoes on the slippery deck of a boat. Legend has it that he found inspiration by watching his cocker spaniel, Prince, run across the ice on a winter’s day in Connecticut. He cut a herringbone pattern of grooves into the soles of a pair of lace-up loafers and was delighted with the result. The “Authentic Original Sperry Top-Sider” was born.
In the 1980s, boat shoes became an integral part of the American preppy look and have since been adapted by many renowned shoe manufacturers seeking to set their imprint on the idea. Some of these innovations include turning the lace-up into a slip-on, blurring the old distinctions between boat shoes and penny loafers. Traditionalists do this in another way, by tying the laces in a “can’t come undone” barrel knot. With the preppy revival of 2010, boat shoes came back out of time’s shoe locker, popular with fashionable landlubbers and worn during summer wekends, without socks.
Tying the knot
Summer cool rules insist you master the barrel knot, turning your lace-up into a slip-on. Make a 1-inch loop in the lace, close to the eyelet of the shoe. Twist the lace tightly around the loop five or six times. Poke the end of the lace through the loop. Slide the rolls toward the end of the lace and pull tight. Repeat with the other end of the lace.
.jpg){kind=logo}