Loafers
Footwear Definitions — shoes, boots and footwear terms from Apparel Search
Loafers are low, leather step-in shoes whose tops resemble a moccasin, but which have broad flat heels. They first appeared in the mid 1930s, have no shoelaces or buckles, and take their name from photographs of Norwegian dairy farmers wearing slip-ons around the cattle loafing area.
The men's fashion and lifestyle magazine Esquire photographed dairy farmers in Norway wearing slip-on shoes around the cattle loafing area (where dairy cows gather to await milking). American lumber and leather interests owned by the Spaulding family in New Hampshire started making loafers based on these photographs in about 1932 or 1933 - naming them loafers. They were also called ponies by some - often women would slip a foot out of one shoe and rest their toes on the counter (back) thus appeared to be standing as a pony often will with one leg resting on the very tip of its hoof. In 1934 John R. Bass (a bootmaker in Wilton, Maine) started making loafers and called them Weejuns (meant to sound like Norwegian). These had a strap across the upper part of the vamp that was shaped like a pair of lips (said to be John's wife, Alice Bass, kissing each shoe on its way out the door). The mouth opening soon was used to hold an ornamentation - perhaps a penny and thus penny loafers became a style. Penny loafers often held a dime instead of a penny. If a girl's date got out of line she could call home on a pay phone--which accepted dimes during most of the fifties and sixties.
Loafers are worn by both sexes, though more often by men. Women's penny loafers also have many different styles. Wearing socks with loafers depends on the fashion trends of the time.
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A Farm Shoe Crosses the Atlantic
The loafer's origin story is unusually well documented for a fashion staple. Norwegian dairy farmers wore simple slip-on shoes for work around the cattle loafing area, and when Esquire photographed them, American makers saw a product. The Spaulding family, with lumber and leather interests in New Hampshire, started production in about 1932 or 1933 and kept the farmyard name. The design they copied explains the shoe's anatomy: a top that resembles a moccasin, because the Norwegian shoe was itself a soft slip-on, set over a proper shoe construction with a broad flat heel, because the American market wanted a shoe that could pass in town. No laces and no buckles meant nothing to adjust and nothing to break, and the step-in ease that suited a farmer moving between yard and barn suited commuters and students just as well.
Ponies, Weejuns and the Sock Question
Two footnotes complete the loafer's folklore. They were also called ponies by some, because women would slip a foot out of one shoe and rest their toes on the counter, the back of the shoe, appearing to stand as a pony often will, with one leg resting on the very tip of its hoof. And Bass's Weejuns of 1934 fixed the style's most famous detail: a strap across the upper part of the vamp shaped like a pair of lips, said to be John's wife Alice Bass kissing each shoe on its way out the door, whose mouth opening soon held an ornament, perhaps a penny. Loafers are worn by both sexes, though more often by men, and women's penny loafers come in many styles of their own. The one styling question the style never settles is socks: fashion trends swing between the bare ankle and the dressed sock, and the loafer, formal enough for many occasions in leather yet born as a casual shoe, simply follows the trend of the moment.
Common Questions
Where did the name loafer come from?
The men's magazine Esquire photographed dairy farmers in Norway wearing slip-on shoes around the cattle loafing area, where dairy cows gather to await milking. The Spaulding family of New Hampshire began making loafers based on these photographs in about 1932 or 1933 and named them loafers.
What are Weejuns?
In 1934 John R. Bass, a bootmaker in Wilton, Maine, started making loafers and called them Weejuns, meant to sound like Norwegian. Weejuns had a strap across the vamp shaped like a pair of lips, whose opening later held the penny that named the penny loafer.
Do you wear socks with loafers?
Wearing socks with loafers depends on the fashion trends of the time. Loafers are worn by both sexes, though more often by men, and the sockless look rises and falls with the seasons while socks remain the formal choice.