Shoe Official

Oxfords (or Balmorals)

Shoes happen to be the best part of my dressings and oxfords are the best part of my shoes. “They are just loveable” (same could be said about peanut butter). I especially enjoy how it can be used in a wide range of occasions and outfits. That means I may not need too many shoes after all!! Lie! For a day out on a picnic, you can wear your beach short with metal design or plain colour, a t-shirt and a suede or flat soled oxford without the laces. It helps to protect your feet in the sand, your leg stays cool because you don’t need to wear a sock and it’s also easy to remove without those laces. It makes for casual dressing yet very fashionable, and that is the goal here. Or if you are not a shorts-guy, like my friend, then you can always wear your oxford with an ankle folded trouser (especially pencil trousers because you can’t seem to go wrong with those). It’s a casual enough look and you can even wear it with a jacket for all I care..... well I do care. It works! But it’s commonly used as a corporate shoe for work, meetings, seminars, weddings and even your cat's funeral. In fact, Oxfords are the formal shoes while Derby is better suited for a casual dress code (More on that later). If you are wearing a tie, suit or jacket of a sort, then an oxford is your go to guy. It’s like they say, "you are not well dressed until you are fashionable" and an oxford gives everyone that classy yet majestic impression. Apart from the fact that it makes you taller (depending on the sole), I can bet you start to add a sway to your work as you feel mighty yourself. Shoes add a certain confidence to your dressing; whether you’re procuring deals, in a meeting, or your facing your boss while he's about to shout your ear off (it happens). In any case, no shoe screams confidence like oxfords.

Derby

Don’t worry, it is not HER name. It is a type of shoe very similar to the oxfords. They are better known to be suited for casual outfits, because the opened laces make it easier to adjust and are very comfortable. The difference between Derby and its cousin (Oxford) is that the Derby is open-laced with laced eyelets on top of the vamp (If you don’t understand that jargon, "just Google it".....bad joke). Thing is, a Derby is a laced-up shoe where the eyelet facings are stitched on top of the vamp (front section of the shoe) but open at the top. This implies that you can run your hand through from top to bottom of a Derby but not for the Oxfords. This style of shoe is sometimes called an open front. It is just the open laces that define the shoe as a Derby. In Oxfords the laces are stitched to the top of the vamp, so you can’t run your hand through from top to bottom. You can also check here for more information http://www.themitchelli.com/2012/02/mens-shoes-derbys-vs-oxfords/