Broke and Bespoke

Vintage Florsheim Royal Imperial Longwing Shoes

Lots of e-ink has been spilled over these shoes on the internets in the last 5-7 years. Prices are going up, so do yourself a favor and get a pair before they reach their real price-to-value ratio on ebay and elsewhere. You won’t regret it.

They’re also widely available in thrift shops, as they were once the sine qua non of the American white collar man’s shoe arsenal (think grey flannel BB suit and these pedal gunboats). I’ve got 4 pairs (including one in shell cordovan), and these ones are by far my favorites. If I recall correctly, they were thrifted for $12 with shoe trees (but not these vintage Florsheim ones, those were thrifted separately).