BlackBook

Sometimes, to get noticed, it only takes a little detail. And contrary to the last few articles, you can also do it without a whole lot of color. Leather is always good, and in this week’s feature, we show two brands not typically known for footwear, but put something fresh into your regular sneaker rotation.

I lost my first tooth in first grade, and was so excited to get a quarter for the thing from the Tooth Fairy. I remember how ecstatic I was to go to school that morning, brandishing my shiny new quarter. I'm pretty sure my mother did not know that I took the quarter to school to show off to my classmates, but I did! I was quite a braggart. And you can imagine my shock when I arrived in Mrs. Walker's classroom to discover that my classmate Sherry Bauer (not her real name) had also gotten a visit from the Tooth Fairy the night before. And the Tooth Fairy gave her books. BOOKS! All I got was a goddamn quarter! The lesson, here, is that there should be some STANDARD PAYMENT for teeth, parents, and we need to figure it out, especially since the economy is so up and down. Did you know kids are getting, on average, two dollars per tooth? That is insane. 

I think I am high right now because that could be the only possible explanation for this clip for Daddy'$ Money, a new shoe line from Sketchers that involves basically high-top Converse Chuck Taylors but with hidden wedged heels. Any young girl should probably be embarrassed for wearing these, for reasons already stated (they are basically high-top Converse Chuck Taylors but with hidden wedged heels), but also because any young woman who flaunts her daddy'$ money might also be flaunting some eventual and obvious daddy issue$. In any event, everything included in the clip below is 100000% insanity. I do not understand it and I do not like it. 

Casual, conventional loafers and slip-ons are easy to find, but stand-out, unique pairs are not. From clothes to footwear, it seems like every company – from H&M, to Zara, to Banana Republic - is doing the same as the next.

“I think that the downward fall is going to be very fast…for the entire preppie class,” warned the serial deb escort Charlie Black in Whit Stillman’s 1990 bougie romp Metropolitan. Two decades later, for those preps still hanging on by a thread, that thread may as well be bright seersucker from the just-opened J. Press York Street, the sister line to the preppy label J.Press in Midtown East.

Spring is coming. And if camo wasn’t your thing (as featured last week), then maybe color is. But not just a standard cherry red leather or blue canvas. This week we’re talking creative and daring color.

When a book comes out that redefines a word and introduces a new perspective on dating, the world takes notice; the book gets written up in the New York Times, covered on CNN, and becomes the bedtime reading of singles everywhere. The phenomenon: The Gaggle: How To Find Love In A Post-Dating World. Written by Jessica Massa (pictured, left), The Gaggle says that because we're in this post-dating, technological world where everything and nothing is a date, every guy in your life—in your “gaggle” (n.) of guys—plays a role and fulfills a need. From your spontaneous neighbor across the hall, to your intellectual friend at the coffee shop, all of these people, many of whom you’re not romantically involved with—covet some kind of quality that’ll guide you toward figuring out what you really want in a relationship.

With all this snow on the east coast, let’s think warm. It’s time to start planning for spring footwear. And for starters, people love camo. The mixed patterned print has been a big hit for chinos and skinny jeans lately, while camouflage military jackets have always been a good go-to. But this blend of olive green, mocha brown, and black design needs to move downward – to our feet.

I remember reading something by Michael Musto a few years ago about taking the Jitney to the Hamptons that made me chuckle. He had been annoyed that the passenger sitting next to him was rudely spreading his legs out and taking up more than his own seat width, so Musto got back at him by opening the Village Voice to the prostitution massage ad pages in the back and lingering on them for a long time, just to make his seatmate uncomfortable. I was reminded of this story as I read Tracie Egan Morrissey and Rich Juzwiak's book Pot Psychology's How to Be: Lowbrow Advice from High People (Illustrations by Lindsay Mound). I read every word of it while on the subway traveling to and from the office, and I have no doubt that a few straphangers close enough to read over my shoulder felt the urge to inch away from me when they saw some of the chapter titles.

Last month, we shared a casual-looking wingtip that was good for that weekend-casual look. This week, we’re going to talk wingtips - but from the dapper, cleaned-up perspective. From the color to the laces, we're diving into all the pieces of the classiest and most versatile shoe.