In a two-part series starting today, Tony prepares himself (and us) for summer by looking at the timeless style of the CVO shoe. In the second part he will give a glimpse of his favorite modern models; today he looks back at history, pointing out when the canvas sneaker became the leisure shoe of choice for the growing middle class.
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ByTony Sylvester.
“Booth’s houndstooth, which his father had cut down on Savile Row by a Huntsman during the Battle of Britain, was cinched at the waist; the boy rescued his presentation from the foppery by a black knit tie and faded Top-Sider blue sneakers, splashed with spots of copper paint from the bottom of the boat.'”
– Geoffrey Wolff “The Final Club”
It was a long winter down here on the coast. Continuously flat gray skies with false fountains dismissed after a few hours. No storms, no snow, constant drizzle and sunless conditions.
Now the sun is out, the big coats are back in the storage boxes under the bed, and I’m ready to look at my summer wardrobe.
A few years ago, I wrote a little piece here at PS Towers thinking about itinterwar style on the French Riviera; how expats and migrants have brought a new style, creating the very concept of the summer season in the process.
Simon followed up with more specifics, to put itsome practical holiday sartorial optionsand there was one thing I wanted to revisit and train myself for: the Circular Vamp Oxford that sounds like a machine, or CVO for short.
It was a quick photo by David Niven (shown above) that sparked the deep dive. Taken in 1956, one hand on the handlebars of his Bentley S1 Continental Coupe, Niven exemplifies that Riviera elan I talked about in the previous article.
A pale blue jacket with contrasting pleated trousers, a black shirt and a wide-striped repp tie, all on top of distinctive rubber-soled canvas shoes. The image is made even stronger by echoing the outfit on the car: two-tone Bentley astride whitewall tires. He couldn’t have planned it better if he tried.
The history of the canvas and rubber shoe dates back over a century to the introduction of the ‘Sand Shoe’ from the Liverpool Rubber Company. As the name suggests, it was designed as a beach boot, to complement the brand’s full range of uppers, ‘wellies’ and other rubber goods.
At the end of the 19th century, the rubber jacket magnate Charles Mackintosh bought the company and merged it with the unknown name of John Boyd Dunlop. In the 1870s the Scottish inventor Dunlop had the patent for the pneumatic tire and together they brought to the world a proto-sports shoe with a low level in the same canvas and pointed rubber, quickly named ‘Plimsoll’ by the British public.
The black line of the sign around the white rubber wheel imitates the safety line for loading goods painted on the side of ships, introduced by MP Samuel Plimsoll in 1876’s Merchant Shipping Act. A century later, British school children still refer to any white canvas sports shoes as Plimsolls; not sneakers, trainers or tennis shoes.
Although these new inventions seem appropriate to match emerging hobbies and activities, it took some time for this canvas and rubber creation to be accepted by sportsmen at the higher end of the spectrum. In fact, with the benefit of the men’s fashion press of the time, we can almost pinpoint the exact moment.
American trade magazine Apparel Arts’ Summer 1932 ‘Fashion Forecast – Shoes’ includes a two-page spread on suitable footwear for young men’s leisure (above). Boaters are advised to tackle white buckskin derbies with rubber soles; budding tennis players look to the two-tone ‘sport shoes’ – Goodyear’s toe caps in tan calf leather and white canvas – “widely adopted for hot weather by international players”.
The closest when we come to the number of canvas every summer espadrille whose form and function are very different, the subject is properly combined.Manish in previous post. Glossy ads for Conrad Shoe Co and Friendly Five Shoes support this with their white, cream and leather or suede toned offerings; leather with holes and “conditions” only suitable for sports.
Next year’s summer guide is a different story though. “Activities of the Summer Months – As Recognized by the Art of Dress” features a series of portraits of people decked out in their finery. The tennis chap is resplendent in a ribbon-trimmed blazer, polka-dotted muffler and white flannel and “white canvas shoes with crepe soles”. Jackpot.
The launch of Esquire Magazine in the fall of 1933 announced for the first time that these illustrations and instructions were made available to people outside the menswear trade, and again, summer girls were drawn over canvas shoes.
“1934 Season Court Attire”(above) reports on “white canvas sneakers” despite noting that “Cuban Jai Alai shoes are smart in appearance”. “On The Trail Blazed By Bunny Austin” from 1935 reports on the influence of the English tennis player, pointing out that next to the “white sneakers” there are “new blue sneakers taken by many well-known professionals”. Canvas sneakers had arrived in country clubs and resorts for the high and mighty.
At the same time, novice sailor and duck-decoy inventor Paul Sperry falls ass over a teakettle on the deck of his schooner, and ends up aboard the strange drink of Long Island Sound. This makes him think about the possibility of a non-slip shoe.
Inspired by his rooster’s ability to stay upright in the snowy conditions of a Connecticut winter, Sperry tries to cut patterns under the rubber soles, mimicking the rough skin of his dog’s feet.
By 1937, he had sold his patent for the non-slip material to the Converse Rubber Company, ensuring exclusive production of herringbone soles with a ‘cut-out’ pattern and the ‘Top Sider’ was born, quickly proving a disappointment to other members of the Cruising Club Of America.
In 1939, the United States Department of War contracted to supply the canvas shoe to its sailors (above), and it became an essential piece of work kit and an official part of the regular uniform of the US Navy. After the war, the yachting connection remains strong. How many perfect summer moodboards don’t contain at least one picture of JFK on his ‘Manitou’ boat, shaggy dog sweater, ray bans and white tops all present and accounted for?
At the same time, the Rubber Company of the US introduced Yeoman (above). The company has been making athletic shoes with Olympian names like ‘Triumph’ and ‘The Champion’ since 1916, but the Yeoman intrigues me as it appears to be the first canvas shoe marketed for leisure rather than sport.
Its inspiration is clearly a series of classic canvas and crepe shoes that Edward Windsor loved. In the famous photos of his closet and shoe racks, you can see them lined up on the bottom row, tan derbies in red rubber (below).
The accepted wisdom is that they are the creations of a London shoemaker, but the origins remain unclear. Keds spun an entire line of shoes from this model that remained in their catalog for at least the next twenty years; a wonderful illustration of the desire for entertainment of the middle class of the century. The ads feature beach trips, BBQs and lawn mowing.
I started noticing them after a long time. In the 1980s, the shape was borrowed by cheap shoemakers in Asia, and sold back in the US under the brand name Zig Zag.
Affectionately named the ‘Winos’, they became a prison problem in the California prison system, and were played by Mexican gang members and musicians. You can see them in gangster moviesColors(1988),American Me(1992) andBlood For Blood Is Out(1993), in the street paintings of Meririck Morton, and on stage with the Venice crossover fiction Suicidal Tendencies. All of these elements would be great wardrobe inspo for me.
I’m talking about clothes, I’ve lifted my shoe boxes from dark corners, and in the second part we’ll look at some of the modern options that keep the same spirit alive.