• English

• Crockett & Jones
  for
  Brooks Brothers
  Suede Brogued Oxford Spectator
  Euro 380

  In spite of Brooks Brothers’ advertising, Peal & Co. exists today in name only. Founded in 1802, they were a venerable bespoke shoemakers for much of the 20th century (the favourite shoemaker of the Prince of Wales and Mrs. Simpson, Fred Astaire and others) and survived into the 1960’s when the rights to the name were bought by Brooks Brothers. Brooks had marketed superb Edward Green shoes under the Peal name from the 1950’s onward to the 1970 when they replaced Green with Crockett & Jones production.

  This lovely Suede and Calf Brogued Oxford Spectator is of that later Crockett production and is Crockett’s best quality shoe and it is entirely leather lined. Suede is difficult to photograph and here again the pictures of this supremely elegant shoe are inadequate.

  About the model: The history of the two-tone shoe, the Spectator or Co-respondent shoe, derives from the late 1800s, when gentleman wore protective spats or gaiters over their shoes. The theory is that the look of light coloured spats against dark coloured shoes became incorporated into the shoe itself. The Duke of Windsor, perhaps the greatest trendsetter of men’s styles of the Twentieth Century, wore spectators while golfing and the privileged classes on both sides of the Atlantic quickly took up this innovation. A tip for the boulevardier; the spikes on golf shoes are easily removed for street use! Fred Astaire, another great and famous fashion plate added glamour to the Spectator in a series of films, and no sub-culture was more a clientele of the Spectator than the dandified gangster culture of the ’30s.

  In any case, the Spectator enjoyed wide popularity in the 1920’s and 1930’s, which only dwindled in the 1950’s. Today, the Spectator enjoys renewed popularity in the wardrobe of the affluent, well-dressed man and every important modern shoemaker, Lobb, Green, Church’s, Crockett, Alden, Allen Edmonds, not to mention the great lamented by-gone firms, presents at least one Spectator shoe in its repertoire. The Spectator is a perfect three-season shoe, ideal with your khaki, tan, white or beige trousers, blue or tweed blazers and so many other combinations. An indispensable shoe for picnics, the boardwalk (Strandsteg), Summer parties, outdoor cafés, window shopping in town, or when taking High Tea with Herr Mann and Mr. T.S.Eliot in the Hofgarten.

  Size Details

  US 11.5D…..UK 10.5E…..Continental 45D, for the mid-width foot.

  Condition

  All original anf very lightly worn. Sold without trees.

Out of stock