If Chloe Sevigny says it’s cool, it’s cool. Sorry, I don’t make the rules!! So when her Ecco shoe collab came out recently I was intrigued. But then again, it doesn’t take a lot for me to get behind a comfortable shoe trend. And this was actually the second time a “comfort shoe” piqued my interest in the past month.
My weekends on LOCK until Memorial Day
When friend of Five Things Marieva M. shared a photo of her boyfriend on Instagram wearing what looked like a traditional walking shoe about a month ago, I screen grabbed and referred back to said photo so many times in a two week window that I went many days wearing exclusively pale wash jeans.
I showed the photo to an old colleague who now works for Birkenstock and she said: “Oh, you are looking for the ‘Mailman Shoe’” as she cheekily and very unofficially calls a similar style. YES! I said as she pulled up a photo on Google. I ordered immediately to try.
Funnily enough, they remind me more of the Mephisto Match that has been trending lately among Brooklyn types (friendly reminder that I wrote about them three years ago in quite possibly my best newsletter ever :) :)) than the Hermes donned by Marieva’s beau, but let me tell you, it has been the ONLY shoe that matters to me for the past month. And as always, the wisdom has come after weeks of wearing.
It is the perfect shoe for me and therefore maybe some of you, RIGHT NOW. It is not sandal weather yet (in NYC at least), as much as we would like it to be. There is always a chance of weather, so you don’t really want to be in your nice suede loafers half the time, and sneakers just aren’t sneakering for me…maybe it was two weeks in Europe still wearing off. Walking shoes seem, at the moment, juuuuust right to make jeans and a sweatshirt look a little more hip. And they’re weird enough to tone down our more adventurous clothing, be it printed pants or a loud jacket.
The outfit I’m wearing 9 times out of 10 to leave the house in a hurry. Last year’s Frank jacket (now available with contrast collar), this one looks mighty similar in a barn-jacket-but-less-stiff kind of way. Auralee jeans (also very into the Still Here pair pictured below, sized up. A white tee and sweatshirt (but a bright color would work too!) and Birkenstock Honnef 365s.
Also extremely fun with kick flares which can sometimes be difficult to pair when you’re feeling dressier than sneakers but need to get more steps in than a ballet flat would allow. Wearing the Birks here with High Sport pants, a Linnea Lund sweater and khaki barn jacket.
Of course you can wear your regular trench coat and barn jackets with this idea (something I have been doing on the daily), but I’m going to use this opportunity to also show you how the walking shoe can make your extra fun and dressy coats feel easier to integrate into your everyday wardrobe. For example, I’ve been oggling this silky, cropped in the front, tails in the back Burberry trench since I was in London. How fun would she be over jeans and a sweater and these brown Birks on your average Saturday? Would even let you show off your BELT! Bag is Prada, which we will get into below.
Sevigny’s Ecco collab is filled mostly with lace-up ballerina style shoes (which we donned last summer in the form of CDG x Salomon and Vans Mary Janes and has now gone mass. See: Financial Times) But as I was scrolling the Ecco site looking at her launch, I was reminded that Natacha Ramsay-Levi (another impossibly cool woman ahead of her time, former Chloe creative director, and designer of the infamous horse pants that will always be my one that got away!!!!) also did a collab with Ecco recently. My favorite pair from her capsule is slightly less bulky and leans a bit more 90s Prada Sport/bowling, which I dig, and therefore decided to try instead. Naturally, they are heaven on my soles, as you might except from a comfort-first brand like Ecco.
Natacha Ramsay-Levi’s Ecco shoes with pale wash jeans and a lightweight car coat. I wanted to make sure I’d want to wear these shoes with more than just solid neutrals so I spent a good amount of time playing in my closet, making sure I would feel good in these with my wackier outerwear. And they worked. So I wore them outside and chucked the box in the recycling.
A close up. The coat is The Row and it runs big. I bought a size 2 and it is oversized. Size down. Bag is a RealRealed Nancy Gonzalez. Highly recommend scoping it out. And for the same perfect size but new and delicious, this!
I love the strange color combination on these shoes. The base in beige with two shades of green accents and a pattern that gives off a general air of oddness. They make wearing my most simple transitional season clothes so much more interesting. Jeans and a sweatshirt. White chinos and a black sweater. All of a sudden they are an outfit in a way that Sambas could just never.
Additionally, they make for great balance with “fancier” extras. The general impossibility of walking shoes looking luxe takes away the potential for too much bling. You know what I mean?
I’m intentionally showing one awesome “it bag” throughout today’s little shopping vignettes because I want to prove the point that these weird shoes work wonders with your investment purchases. I love the mix of the casual elements (jeans and sweatshirts) with a sprinkling of “made you look twice” and a little decadence on top. It’s my favorite recipe. In practice, that is the CDLP tee, Donni sweatshirt and Khaite pale wash jeans (basics) layered with the Ecco shoes and a loud checkered coat (made you look!) and a fabulous bag as the icing. The coat is a Toteme plaid duster I’ve loved for three years and just popped up on The Outnet, weee!! (warning it runs VERY big, size down!)
The Ecco shoes with my other everyday uniform: white chinos (these are old Polo size 6s which I cut the hem off of) a grey or black sweater, this one is cotton. I need a break from my wool and cashmere, temperatures be damned! It’s cotton layers for me now until fall (but don’t hold me to this if the lows hit 35 deg next week!) and black socks.
Same outfit with an old purple Chloe jacket I bought on TRR, possibly from the Natacha Ramsay-Levi era!? and my big black sling bag. I love this outfit so much. It feels so dynamic, and yet so easy to just exist in. It kind of epitomizes what I’m trying to do here all the time. Live in real clothes and feel special at the same time. Other great jackets in this vein at the moment here (size up!), here and here.
And since I recognize this trend might be a little TOO out there for some of you…had lunch with friend of Five Things Elissa V. on Wednesday and she wasn’t quite sold yet… I want you to fret not. You can keep your sneakers for a quick errand and experiment with this when you’re feeling a little more extra. I recently ordered these extremely right angled flats from The Row which are playful, but still slightly severe. I’ve been wearing them in the same way I wear the walking shoes: casual pants, casual sweatshirt/sweater and they just make it all so fresh, without having to give up on warmth or comfort. Excellent fodder for that time of year when I’m ITCHING to swap out my closet but the weather won’t cooperate.
The Row’s square T-strap flats in gold with my trusted drawstring chinos from Caron Callahan (I recommend the Polo Rickys too, sized up!) and a cashmere sweater (I KNOW I just said I want to stick to cotton) in springy shades of green.
The same look as above, but with the Birks. Because I’m committed.
FEELS LIKE 38! But I still have a spring in my step!! <3 How I wore these last Wednesday morning for drop off.
And my last example of fun+casual+cozy = an actual way to get in the spirit of Spring: I might layer this Rier fleece (also good, obviously) and Suzie Kondi striped sweater or wear them separately. Both ideal colors and shapes for today’s idea. Polo Ricky pants, The Row flats and yet again, our “designer bag” to make sure it’s getting its price per wear in…it really works though! Do you see it now!?
My gold rectangle flats with black stockings anchor another take on jeans and a sweatshirt…for dinner. Wearing Beaufille jeans (I’m in my normal size, and they are tight but flattering…do what you will with that sizing info, LOL) a vintage tee and Agnes B. snap cardi, a Kallmeyer cashmere cropped jacket over it all and my Le Teckel.
A better look at the dressy jeans and a sweatshirt idea, sans jacket. Kinda cheeky for a dinner date, no? Maybe could use a necklace.
Signing off for today, and sliding into the Eccos and jeans.
Yours TRULY,
Becky
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This is so good and so timely; I almost veered into the Mephisto store the other day but did not because....there is something clunky about them, although I know many people (mostly men TBH) love them. Ecco's are where it is at; bought my first pair 8 years ago and wore them all over Europe ~ always are so perfectly comfortable from out of the box. I have been eyeing fun comfy spring walking shoes and didn't even finish the newsletter before ordering the Ecco's. Feet are sooo important especially as we age...hopefully with grace and style. I can no longer abide uncomfortable shoes!
Please advise on that dreamy dark green field coat your friend is wearing!
This is so good and so timely; I almost veered into the Mephisto store the other day but did not because....there is something clunky about them, although I know many people (mostly men TBH) love them. Ecco's are where it is at; bought my first pair 8 years ago and wore them all over Europe ~ always are so perfectly comfortable from out of the box. I have been eyeing fun comfy spring walking shoes and didn't even finish the newsletter before ordering the Ecco's. Feet are sooo important especially as we age...hopefully with grace and style. I can no longer abide uncomfortable shoes!
Please advise on that dreamy dark green field coat your friend is wearing!
This confirms that grandma core is a real thing and you can pull it off and it feels authentic.
That Burberry coat will live in my mind for quite a while. It is perfection!