The Essential Three: Business Wear

Introducing the Essential Three, a short series of posts on the three Aldens that you should get given your typical dress attire.

Your daily attire is a suit. You have to wear neck-ties every day to work. You have a collection of Pocket Squares. Sound familiar? Which Aldens should you own if this is you?

Frankly, if you are at the most formal of work environments or the most conservative company, your option is pretty simple, you need to own a Black Cap Toe Balmoral (or multiple) and that is about it. I am going to look beyond those most formal of environments and offer a few options that I think can work well for a variety of suits and styles, but still look nice and classy.

Essential #1: Black Shell Cordovan Semi-Brogue Balmoral

The Black Shell Cordovan Semi-Brogue Balmoral is a greatly under appreciated model. It is just an absolutely stunning shoe. Made around the Hampton Last, it has a very nice and classic shape. Being a Balmoral, it is of the utmost formality. Being Black, it is about as versatile as it comes, pairing nicely with essentially any color suit that you can throw at it, from Black to Light and Dark Grays to Navy.

Alden Black Shell Cordovan Semi-Brogue.

If you are not quite that enamored with broguing, a more restrained version of this shoe can be found in the more tamed and stock shoe, the 9016.

Essential #2: Color #8 Shell Cordovan Longwing Blucher

I actually consider this option to be a little contentious for a simple reason, I am recommending a Blucher. Their open lace design tends to make them more casual in nature, but as I stated upfront, I am not targeting the most formal of companies with this post. The Alden Color #8 LWB or known by many of Alden fan’s simply by its model number, the 975, is probably the most quentiesseintal Alden. It has remained the same since its inception around 1958 and for good reason. It is just a beautiful and balanced shoe. Being made of Color #8, with its lovely rich burgundy color, it will pair exceptionally with a slew of common suit colors, but particularly with medium to light grays and navy. I personally absolutely love Color #8 with Navy and it is one of my go-to pairings. The other great thing about the 975 is its sheer versatility. It can go great with a Suit to Slacks to Denim. Not too many shoes can look good in all of those vibes.

Alden Color #8 LWB.

Essential #3: Color #8 Shell Cordovan Tassel Loafer or Leisure Handsewn Penny Loafer

In trying to keep this the essential three, I decided to offer an option here. If I were to base this purely off of the more traditional sartorial rules, the only option here would be the Tassel Loafer. However, I realize that the Tassel Loafer can be a rather dividing topic and so I wanted to offer an option here for those who find Tassels to be only for “old men”. I personally love Tassels and being in my early 30’s, I frankly do not consider myself much of an old man. The Color #8 Tassel Loafer is a formal shoe. It has a closed heel and is made around the Aberdeen Last to exude a sense of streamlined and formality. Again, with both of these being made of Color #8, they will pair exceptionally well with a slew of common suit colors, but particularly with medium to light grays and navy.

Alden Color #8 Tassel Loafer.

Alden Color #8 LHS.

Got your own thoughts or opinions? I would love to hear them and feel free to leave a comment below.