The classic slip-on loafer has been a familiar fashion staple for nearly 200 years. Traditionally made as a very low-heeled or flat shoe it is commonly seen in luxury, business and casual settings.
The handstitched apron which forms the basis of the loafer style was used to create the first closed-toe shoes known to exist – one piece of leather covers the back, sides, and top of the foot, seams laced with a leather cord.
In the late 1800s, a bespoke London shoe company’s indoor slipper, designed for the upper classes to wear at home, was perhaps the first piece of footwear to be known as a loafer.
Norwegian shoemaker Nils Gregoriusson Tveranger then introduced his own version in around 1908, in a style which leant more on the designs of Native American moccasins. It was Tveranger’s nationality that later led to GH Bass producing similar shoes under the company name ‘Weejuns,’ in Maine, USA, in the 1930s.
Though some loafers come with tassels, Penny Loafers are named for their strap across the front, in which a small slot – a ‘penny keeper’ – allows space for a coin to be inserted for display.
The shoes were already an integral part of the ‘preppy’ look popularised on college campuses in 1950s America when customising them in this way set off a craze among Ivy League students. Some designers even began manufacturing loafers with a metal disc already fixed to the strap.
There continue to be new takes on loafers across the world, particularly in Europe, the US, and Japan.
