Boat Shoes serve a purpose…you wear them on boats! Some people call them deck shoes, some people call the topsiders, and other folks just wear them when they don’t know what else to put on their feet.

History of Boat Shoes

Boat shoes are confusing if you don’t realize where all these names come from. Deck shoe refers to wearing your shoes on the deck of your boat. Topsiders make the reference “I’m heading top-side!” – The confusion comes from the fact that they’re all the same thing.

This provides further confusion because Sperry’s popular line of boat shoes is trademarked “The Topsider.” Old-schoolers may refer to all boat shoes as “topsiders” but they may not necessarily want Sperry’s.

How to Style Boat Shoes

Sperry and Sebago are the boat shoe demi-gods of the shoe industry, but nowadays everyone makes them. The beautiful thing about having choices is that now they come in more than one shape.

Sperry’s and Sebago’s are trim and sleek with leather laces (usually) and the profile is very tight. However, Born and Mephisto (most notably) make fuller shoes that have more body. This is key to keep in mind when you are shoe shopping.

When you’re dressing yourself think about what someone who owns a boat would wear when they get off. If they’re going to dinner they might wear nice slacks and a nice jacket. Maybe it’s warm and they drop the jacket. Maybe it’s really warm and they go with nice shorts instead of slacks. Either way, you can’t just throw on garbage and walk out of the house in your boat shoes.

How to Care for Boat Shoes

Caring for your boat shoes is just like any other shoe. Shine top calf leathers. Treat oil-tanned leathers and brush out suedes to keep them clean. Most of all…enjoy them and dress them right.

Pictures of Boat Shoes

ShareThis