When it comes to gentleman shoes there are so many different models, custom models, styles and brands to choose from to pair with your suits.

There is the oxford, monk strap, and loafer shoes to name just a few. I will do articles for each in the future because they are all great and interesting how they all came to be.

This article is about the history of the loafer shoe that includes tassels on them and how they came to be and are still popular with men’s suit fashion in the present day.

What is a loafer with tassels? They are essentially penny loafer shoes with no shoe laces that have the tassel decoration on the top of the shoe. Per the attached pictures. What got me interested in finding out more about the history regarding the tassel loafer is that I acquired a great pair of vintage seal skin loafers shoes in black made by Dack’s shoes. Dack's was a Canadian luxury shoe company that was founded in 1834.

During their heyday they made many luxury model shoes they distributed worldwide for men. Sadly after 175 years of business they filed for bankruptcy in 2009 and closed all of the six of its remaining stores, citing declining market shares and increasing overhead costs. The company still makes handcrafted shoes out of England today.

Back to my story when I acquired the vintage seal skin tassel loafers by Dack’s shoes they were missing one of the tassels. Luckily enough I found a pair of replacement tassels that my shoe cobbler was able to re-attach to the shoe, restoring the shoe back to their almost new glory. The replacement tassels were not that easy to find because I had to find a pair that would match my shoes just right. I found a pair of replacement tassels that cost me $10 from the United kingdom and the shipping cost was around $50. I paid more for the shipping than the replacement tassel.

The shoes turned out great looking like brand new again and they are actually my favorite pair of dress shoes that i have for all of my suits so in the end the expensive shipping cost was well worth it and that is what got me interested in wanting to know more about the history of men’s tassel loafers and that is what I like to share with you in this article.

Photos courtesy DJ Scammell

History

Tassel loafers have not actually been around for that long. The tassel loafer we all know today owes a debt of gratitude to a Hungarian movie star Paul Lukas who is best known for winning an academy award for his role in the movie Watch on the Rhine (1943). I remember him best in Walt Disney's 20,000 Leagues Under The Sea (1954) in which Lukas co-starred with Kirk Douglas, James Mason and Peter Lorre.

Lukas purchased a pair of oxford dress shoes with laces when he was back visiting Europe that had small leather tassels at the end of the laces. Lukas wanted to make his own custom version of shoes and in 1948 went to the New York firm Farkas & Kovacs, which made a variant where the lacing also ran along the shoe’s opening. Paul Lukas thought the shoe design was great, but they were a bad fit. So he went on and took the right shoe to another New York company, Lefcourt, and the left shoe to Los Angeles based Morris Shoemakers.

Both shoe companies ended up going to an already large American shoe company Alden. Here is where they made changes to the shoe and ignored making a lace-up shoe but took the loafer shoe and inserted the tassel for decoration purposes only. Paul Lukas was very pleased.

The Alden Shoe Company is credited with creating the first commercially available tassel loafer in the 1950s and by that time the new shoes sold like hot cakes. It was not long after that all of the major shoe brands added the tassel loafers to their men’s shoe catalogues. They became a symbol of preppy style and sophistication in the U.S. and well into the 1950’s and 60’s celebrities like Dean Martin and Fred Astaire embraced the new trend and that further propelled the tassel loafers into the spotlight. This particular shoe design has remained very popular for the dapper well-dressed gentleman.

Present Day

Today the Tassel loafer has been on the market for over 70 years and they all look in most cases very similar to the first versions ever released. Every major dress shoe manufacture for men offer models of tassel loafers in one form or another and are available in many colors and made of many different materials like leathers and suede models are most common. They are a very versatile pair of shoes. They are perfect for business attire, but also you can wear them leisurely for a dressy casual wear look as well. With a nice pair chino pants and a collar shirt. The tassel loafer shoe will elevate your everyday look regardless. I personally think they go best with a suit.

Today I see many people wearing these shoes with no show socks during the warmer weather months with their suits. Some will say that is an incomplete look but others will say the individual looks more comfortable because the person wearing the no show sock looks like they are more relaxed and breathing a lot easier in the heat of day with more of their skin exposed. Regardless I think the tassel loafer looks great with socks and no show socks pending the situation.