Oxford Shoes: Forever the Most Voguish Choice for Men & Boys

What Makes a Shoe an Oxford Shoe?

Unlike many men shoes, this type has one thing that makes it different from the others - the closed lacing system. In other words, an Oxford is a shoe that has laces, and certainly, it isn't a slip-on or monk strap shoe. The upper part of an Oxford shoe usually consists of the quarters and the vamp whereas the quarters are the part of the shoe uppers that wrap around the heel and meet the vamp in the middle part of the foot. The vamp, on the other hand, is the part of the shoe upper that covers the toes and the shoe front. Nowadays, there are several types of men and boy's Oxfords that are everything but not boring.

Plain Oxford

The plain Oxford type of shoe consists of the quarter of the vamp and it doesn't feature the leather cap over the toe box or the broguing. Simply said, this shoes is elegant and it became the first evening shoe choice. Another characteristic of these shoes is that the shoelaces are wider than the regular ones and they resemble a bow tie. Now, when talking about the type of leather, polished calf leather and patent leather are the most common choice. As the name implies, the first type of leather is polished and it has lots of shine. The patent leather, on the other hand, is considered more traditional and it has a little shine.

Cap Toe Oxford

Without a doubt, the cap-toe male oxford shoes are the most widespread. They are considered classics and are mainly popular in their black colour. However, finding them in another colour is also possible, like brown, cognac, oxblood, etc. Across the toe box, an extra piece of leather is added, and they also feature a heel cap. When in black, this type of male oxford shoes is considered as extremely elegant, perfect to be worn on elegant occasions by businessmen. The more affordable version of patent leather and polished calf leather is the black calf leather cap toes oxford shoes.

Wingtip Oxford/Brogue

These types of shoes have a pointed toe cap with extensions called wingtips which can extend along both sides of the shoes. Although Oxfords, this type of shoes is usually referred to as a Borgue and they are considered as more casual than the cap-toe type.

Saddle Oxfords

This type of male oxford shoes lacks any kind of toe caps and it has an additional strip of leather that runs across the top of the middle of the shoes down to the sole. The most interesting thing is that this additional leather is usually in a contrasting colour, however the heel caps can be or may not be in a contrasting colour.

Kiltie Oxford

The Kittle Oxford shoes have an additional fringed tongue that is hanging over the top. Although still available on the market, these shoes are not a popular choice among men.

Wholecut

The Wholecut type of shoe has an upper that is cut from one single piece of leather. Generally speaking, these shoes are made from multiple pieces of leather that are sewn together. The Wholecut shoes also have a distinctive closed lacing system which gives an extremely clean and sleek look. This style of Oxfords is extremely popular and nowadays, it usually features a medallion on the toe box. The Wholecut types of Oxfords are a bit pricier than a cap toe or plain oxford because it requires more leather for its production and of course, more skills.

Seamless

The seamless type of Oxfords shoes are very similar to the wholecut type as they are also made from one piece of leather. The main difference between these two types of shoes is that the wholecut has a seam on the heel and the seamless so not have a seam. Precisely this makes these shoes more difficult to produce. Besides this, the seamless model also needs more leather for its production. An important thing to keep in mind is that sometimes the term wholecut is used synonymously with seamless just because this term is more well known, although it's not correct.

An Important Piece of Information

If you already own Oxford shoes and want to give them a new look, you can easily do that by simply changing the shoelaces. Just make sure that you invest in quality ones as those of poor quality can snap easily. An important thing to know about the laces of these shoes is that they should always be round and not flat or thin. A new pair of black and brown laces can certainly give your Oxfords a new life and can make them look totally different. Except for these, you can also opt for a light or dark grey laces which go great on black oxfords.