Bass Weejuns

As I write this post, tears slowly fall from my wet eyes. My hands tremble ever so slightly. I normally like to fancy myself a man of ostensibly placid emotion. To hell with that. You see, this moment is rather monumental. I suppose I should preface my excitement.

I began my foray into the sartorial world just under two years ago. While I never truly acted upon my interests until fall of last year, the seed had been planted, and was indubitably germinating. The first, and I mean the very first, article of "nice" (back then I had no idea what to truly call prep/trad) clothing I wanted was Bass Weejuns; from them stems nearly all of my experience. At that time, I sort of lumped loafers and boat shoes into the same category, but both had the same classy appeal: classic without being pompous. And today, a day of glorious days, I have finally procured a pair of the good ol' Weejuns.

So did I preface well enough?

To recount the tale of the shoe seems a rather daunting task, but one of my favorite sites, Ivy Style, did a fantastic profile on them not too long ago. Check it out; if you don't know about Bass, you are not a true renaissance man/woman.

President Kennedy playing golf, GOLF, in  loafers. I mean...

I opted for a burgundy pair, less dressy than the black, but a bit ritzier than smooth brown (at least in my humble opinion). 

Given the choice of penny and tassel loafers, I decided the tassels were just a little too uppity for my current style and age. Plus, the allure of being able to put vestigial coins in my shoes proved overwhelming.

Bass loafers should, if properly cared for, have quite the life span. While admittedly less comfortable than cushioned driving shoes, the soles of the Weejuns are known to be resilient.

The only chance I've had to wear them so far has been with this combo of a yellow OCBD and chinos. The pants aren't summer-weight, so I more than likely will not be wearing them too often anymore. That being said, the timelessness of this particular look makes it pretty tempting to give Mother Nature a less than gentlemanly hand gesture and just sweat it out.