Amongst the many shoes styles available to men, the Oxford shoe has deservedly made a permanent place for itself on the shoe rack.
Oxfords are generally defined as a leather laced man’s shoe that are designed with eyelet tabs for the laces and lacing that is visible over the instep – a style that is both versatile and classic. They have a short boot-type style and a relatively narrow toe cap.
Oxfords are traditionally plain, formal shoes; but these days they are available in a range of styles and materials to complement both casual and formal dress. Styling options include round toes, cap toes usually lined with two narrow rows of stitching, quarter-brogue (with decorative perforations along the end cap stitching), semi-brogue (perforated holes along the end cap stitching and on the toe cap itself), and the classical full brogue or wingtip design – characterised by a perforated toe cap with wing-like extensions that run along both sides of the toe and finish near the ball of the foot. Viewed from above this W-shaped toe cap style resembles a bird with extended wings, hence the name ‘wingtips’ commonly used in the States.
The name Oxford shoes reportedly derives from Oxford University and the Oxonian, a side-laced ankle boot current in the early 1800s. Students took to wearing a simpler and more comfortable shoe with a lower ankle rise and front lacing, and this came to be called the Oxford shoe.
There is some variation in British and US usage of the term Oxford. Americans call any semi-formal laced shoe an Oxford, while for the British an “Oxford” is the rather more specific description given here. In the US, the term “Balmoral” is used for what the British call “Oxford” shoes (the style first appeared in Scotland, and Oxford shoes are occasionally called “Balmorals” after the Queen’s castle in Scotland).