At 62, I am wearing loafers again, and I had forgotten how much I loved them
At 62, I am wearing loafers again, and I had forgotten how much I loved them
Six things the Lessinda gets right that the shoes I had settled for got wrong, from a woman who is not a fashion writer.
Caroline Richards · Customer · Nottinghamshire · 5 min read
Let me be plain about who is talking. I am Caroline, I am 62, I live in Nottinghamshire, and I have never once sat down to write about a pair of shoes. But when I was sixteen I saved up for weeks for a pair of penny loafers, and I wore them until the soles came away. I polished them on a Sunday night. I thought I was the bee's knees. And then, somewhere along the line, I stopped buying shoes I loved and started buying shoes that were sensible. Plain black flats. White trainers. Whatever was on offer near the till. So this is not a review. It is a woman who found her way back to a pair of loafers, saying so.
What I found is from Nottingham Boutique, a small boutique that has been quietly dressing women our age for a few years now. They are called the Lessinda, a soft suede-look penny loafer with a chunky grip sole and a low, steady heel. Mine are denim blue. When the boutique later asked if they could put my letter up for others to read, I said yes, on the condition I could be completely honest in it.
Blue loafers. At 62. Read on.
Here is how it happens, and I suspect it happens to most of us. At some point we start choosing shoes for what they will not do. Will not hurt. Will not slip. Will not show the mud. And we get very good at choosing shoes that do none of those things and nothing else either. The shoes we loved at sixteen did not come into it, because those were for a girl, and we were grown women with sensible feet.
I had spent forty years buying shoes for what they would not do, and I could not remember the last pair I had actually wanted.
The Lessinda are the first shoes in years that I wanted the moment I saw them, and having worn them most days since they arrived, I can tell you it comes down to six things.
The afternoon they came. I put them on in the bedroom before I had even folded the tissue.
The penny strap, just as I remember it
A proper penny loafer has a strap across the top with a little slot in it, and the Lessinda has exactly that, with neat stitching round the toe and a little ladder of stitches at each end of the strap. I held one up to the window when it arrived and I was sixteen again for about a minute. It is a classic for a reason. It looks smart with jeans and it looks smart with a skirt.
The strap with the little slot, and the stitching round the toe. Just as I remember.
I had loafers just like these when I was at school. Lovely to have a pair again, and these are far better made for walking.
Linda C., BeestonA sole with some grip to it
My loafers at sixteen had thin, smooth soles, and I went down on the school steps more than once. These have a chunky, ridged sole with proper teeth to it. The boutique says it feels sure-footed on pavements and on wet days, and I have been out on the wet leaves most mornings this month and felt steady every time.
Wet leaves on the way to the paper shop. This is where I used to slow right down.
The sole is chunky and grippy, I feel much steadier on the wet pavements than in my old flats.
Maureen F., HucknallA low, steady heel
There is a little block heel, built into that chunky sole, so you get a bit of lift without anything to wobble on. It is not a heel you have to think about. It just makes the shoe sit nicely and stops it looking flat and tired, which is more than I could say for my old black flats.
The sole, turned over on the doormat. Chunky, ridged, and a low square heel.
Just the right little heel. Smart without being any trouble at all.
Pat W., ArnoldThey just slip on
No laces, no buckles, no straps to fasten. They sit by the front door and I step into them on the way out. After years of bending down to do up trainers, I cannot tell you what a small joy that is first thing in the morning.
Where they live now. By the door, ready to step into.
No laces to bother with. I slip them on to pop to the shops and they look so much smarter than my trainers.
Jean R., MapperleySoft, and smart with anything
The upper is a soft suede-look faux leather with a lovely velvety finish, so they look smarter than a trainer and softer than a court shoe. I have worn mine with turned-up jeans, with navy trousers, and with my grey skirt and tights for a lunch. They looked right every time, and I did not look like I was trying to be sixteen.
I wear them with jeans and with dresses. People keep asking where they are from.
Christine A., CarltonSeven colours, and none of them sensible
They come in black and tan if you want to ease in gently, but also denim blue, sage green, blush pink, raspberry and a bright fuchsia. I went for the denim blue because it goes with everything I own. My sister went for the raspberry. Sizes go from UK 2 right up to UK 8.5, which is more than most.
Bought the blue and went back for the green. Such cheerful colours for the autumn.
Valerie N., BulwellThis, against the shoes I had settled for
Most of us have a pair of plain flats or white trainers that we wear because they are sensible. I know, because I had three pairs. Here is the difference, laid out plainly.
Plain black flats or white trainers
Bought because they were sensible
Thin, flat soles
Laces to bend down and do up
Nobody ever mentioned them
A penny loafer in denim blue
Bought because I loved them
A chunky, ridged grip sole and a low heel
Slip-on, no laces or buckles
Three women asked me about them in one morning
About the price
The Lessinda are £34.95 at the moment. They were £70.00.
I will pass on what the boutique told me, which is that with the autumn sale on the middle sizes are going first, and once this batch has gone it can be a long wait for them to come back. Their words, not mine. What I can tell you from my side is that half price is usually where I start asking what is wrong with a thing, and after weeks of wearing them, I have not found it.
And I do not trust perfect scores, so I read the reviews before I ordered a pair for my sister as well. Just over three hundred of them, sitting at 4.2 stars, which sounded like real women rather than robots, so I read on. The same six things I have just walked you through come up in them, over and over, in other women's words.
If you cannot remember the last pair of shoes you actually wanted, I would start here. Not because you need to feel sixteen again, but because you are allowed to choose shoes for what they do, not just for what they will not. Go and have a look while your size is still there.
Caroline
LESSINDA | Penny Loafers
- Classic penny strap and contrast stitching
- Soft suede-look faux leather
- Chunky, ridged grip sole
- Low, steady block heel
- Slip-on, no laces or buckles
- Seven colours, UK 2 to UK 8.5
- Free UK delivery and 30 day returns
The autumn sale is on now, half price. The middle sizes are going first.