The Shoe Connoisseur

The Uptown Dandy, at home in his natural habitat amongst brown Edward Green shoes.

          One of the things I like most about the Men's Ex high-end shoe volumes are the various sections of the magazine focusing on shoe connoisseurs from around the globe. Usually, the gentlemen strike a pose and stare in an almost bemused fashion into the camera, surrounded by their most beloved footwear.

A typical Men's Ex full-page splash from the World of High-End Men's Shoes Vol. 4 -  

featuring connoisseur and collection.

          In reality, since my Japanese is not what it used to be, I have no idea what's going on. I like to think the gentleman is being featured because of his comprehensive collection of exotic leather footwear and natty fashion sense. Most likely, they're all salesmen from a  high end men's haberdashery. The photo above could very well be that of a man gracious enough to have donated his shoes to The Salvation Army or Goodwill, for all I know.

          Whatever the case may be, I was inspired to take a couple of extra pictures while I had my first group of vintage Edward Green shoes on the table and ready for their close-ups last weekend. As the theme was "shoe dandy in repose" (with friends, of course), I thought these images captured the spirit of the Men's Ex spreads (if not the professional quality of the photographs themselves).

The Uptown Dandy strikes a pose: light brown glen plaid suit with baby-blue

window pane double-breasted suit for Dunhill (by Zegna);

Charvet MTO shirt, Borrelli 7-fold tie, Alfred Dunhill sterling silver cufflinks, Edward Green Falkirks.

Also, to the right, a teaser for part two of the vintage Edward Green collection.

Post-Script:

This post was done only half in jest.

One of my goals has always been a  one-page spread in Men's Ex.

The World of High-End Shoes Vol. 5 is not even necessary - the regular monthly edition will suffice :-)