Woven loafers. The ultimate warm weather shoe.

The ultimate warm weather shoes are those lightweight moccasin loafers that utilise woven leather on the outside and either no lining on the inside or perforated leather lining inside.

Woven leather are usually hand woven which is why even lightweight loafers like these are slightly more expensive than the usual tubular constructed mocassin loafers.But they are bloody comfortable sockless as the air can circulate around your feet. Woven leather shoes with full leather lining somewhat defeats the purpose of the weave in the first place. Another option are linen lining for the insides as linen is not a tightly woven material, it allows air to circulate through the cloth and through the woven leather. You feet will love you for wearing this sockless.

These are by a company called Montemario. Italian of course.

Of shirt collars. Mine are definitely stiffer than yours - Collar inserts

Collar inserts or collar stays, tabs or even collar stiffeners are the same thing. Some shirts have built in collar stiffeners in them made out of plastic (these are usually found in dress or work shirts instead of button down shirts which are more casual in nature). I prefer those that have inserts which you can remove and use on other shirts.

The bad thing about those built in ones is that they only stiffen up the collars when the shirt is fairly new . After a about a year's of washing, whether by hand or by machine, these built in inserts would actually become flimsy or bent out of shape or even wear out the cotton in the collar. Or they could suffer if you use too much heat during ironing. With removable inserts you actually get the choice of removing them when washing the shirt (which prolongs the shirt's life as the insert does not rub against the cloth) or when ironing the shirt.

Today's pair of shoes

Another pair of Ferragamo Lav. originale. Today's pair is a pair of monkstraps with a fringe with a pair of purple coloured cotton socks. It's summer all year round and cotton socks wicks the sweat from one's feet better than most. Nice enough for a lunch appointment at the Tropicana mall earlier today.

What's with the shoes? Why are there more about shoes than anything else?

I suppose it's simply because I love patina, the shape and how it completes a look more than anything else.

Many do have nice suits, jackets or dress shirts, which is the staple business norm due to the Malaysian weather. Many have nice watches on their wrists too. Shirts with expensive cufflinks, silk ties from some designer house but when it comes to the feet they seldom indulge.

No. A pair of black leather slip ons with a squared toe upfront is unsuitable. The quality of leather of those shoes are plasticky and thin. They will never last more than a year even with rotation. And the shape. Notice that our natural feet are curved.

At the other end of the spectrum, shoes should not be too snouty or pointy too. There are some Italian shoes that are snouty too but don't get those that are over done. Some of these do suit the slim-fit look of trousers these days but dont get those pointy and up turned ones. Leave that to the genie in the lamp or some circus clowns.

So a nice classic looking pair of tassel loafers would do perfectly sometimes. These are by Ferragamo, the lav. Originale line. Surprisingly Very well made and can even go against any of the British brands in terms of construction and finishing even though is it made using the Blake method. Comfy too.

Saturdays

...are shoe maintenance day. I usually work on about three pairs and air the rest. It needs to be done in our humid climate if not fungus or those white spots appear on some of them. It also ensures longivity of the shoes. Enough said.

Details: The pocket square

Today I attended a product launch event at one of those hotels in downtown Kuala Lumpur. It was an event where a lot of people came dressed in suits and blazers. One important detail which everyone seems to have forgotten is the pocket square. Or the handkerchief that should reside in the jacket's breast pocket.
I had mine, but no one else seems to have remembered theirs. In a formal,  semi formal or business-like function one should pay extra attention to this detail. A matching tie would be nice if required.

Weekend Dress philosophy - Yes, you still need to dress up a little bit

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The days in tropical Malaysia are usually hot and humid. It may rain cats and dogs every few days in most months but its still hot and humid most of the time with 27 degrees Celsius the coldest during the day with an average of 32-34degrees Celsius most of the time.

And on weekends, everyone dresses down. This is Yours Truly at the Pavillion Shopping Mall in Kuala Lumpur on a Sunday. Even here most are in slippers and shorts, sandals and jeans. I still chose ot wear a short sleeve batik shirt, cotton trousers (in the correct length) and a pair of Italian moccasin loafers (a comfortable pair that I've owned for over seven years and still going strong). Also note that in these parts, a Batik shirt is considered as part of formal wear. 

On other less formal locations like the neighbourhood mamak stall I still wear jeans and a polo t-shirt or a round necked tucked in. With shoes - boat shoes or moccasin loafers. No flipflops or sandals. 

Yes. Dress slightly better than others. Even on a Sunday.This is in case you need to be somewhere that requires you to be better dressed in a jiffy and you already are in a presentable state But I also suggest keeping things basic as you must realize that Malaysia is hot and humid. Do not over do things. A shirt, a pair of pants and a nice pair of shoes would actually do just fine.