From loafers to brogues, these are the best dress shoes for men in 2021
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- While menswear has become more casual, you should still own a good range of dress shoes.
- There are many styles available to fit your look, budget, and whatever event you're attending.
- We've rounded up the best dress shoes for men below.
While menswear has become more casual - white leather sneakers with summer suits, for example - it still pays to own a variety of dress shoes. Your sneakers probably won't cut it at that job interview, wedding, or other formal occasions. You can drop a huge chunk of change on high-end dress shoes, but there are several direct-to-consumer brands that offer top-quality products at reasonable prices.
We've kept the selections at below $500, with many around $200 or less that all punch above their weight with the quality you get for the price. At the minimum, when assessing a dress shoe, look for full-grain leather; a Goodyear welt or Blake stitching, and clean, straight, tight stitching.
These are the best dress shoes for men in 2021:
Allen Edmonds
Allen Edmonds is quickly approaching its 100th birthday and, unlike many American heritage brands, the company still produces its exceptionally well-crafted shoes in the U.S., at its factory in Port Washington, Wisconsin. Their shoes are highly regarded for the quality of both materials and manufacturing (each shoe goes through a 212-step process), longevity, and timeless elegance. The three selections below are all made of a premium French calfskin that's supple but sturdy. A cobbler can resole them down the line if need be. The price tag reflects this (the average is about $400), but you'll get years of wear out of a pair of Allen Edmonds shoes if properly cared for.
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Moral Code/Facebook
Moral Code is a direct-to-consumer brand that not only produces excellent footwear using premium calfskin leather and Goodyear welting at a great price point ($169), the company also takes sustainability seriously. Their various facilities incorporate renewable energy and other practices, and they don't use chrome in the tanning process, which can pollute local waterways. The company's facilities are SA8000® certified through Social Accountability International, a mission-driven NGO, meaning their factories have high ethical standards.
Moral Code has three collections, including a collaboration with former Green Bay Packer wide-receiver and humanitarian Donald Driver, with a portion of sales going to Driver's career development programs for underserved families and children. The collection includes Passion, a handcrafted loafer with a chiseled toe and plenty of soft leather padding for added comfort. The Chase, MC's contemporary blucher, has all the premium qualities of the brand's other products, but with a chunkier outsole. It's a really comfortable shoe straight out of the box. Finally, we've included a pair of dress boots, Storm, since they're sleek and minimal and look especially stunning with a slim-fit, double-breasted tweed suit.
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Cole Haan/Facebook
Zappos, the online shoe seller, helped redefine the web-based retail world with its fantastic customer service and easy returns and exchanges after launching back in 1999. There are literally thousands of choices for men's dress shoes on the site, but we're highlighting three different brands: Cole Haan, Massimo Matteo, and To Boot New York.
Cole Haan led the way in introducing innovative technology to create some of the most comfortable dress shoes around. The Grand Ambition Wing-Tip Oxford is one of the more conservative styles for the company that looks less like a sneaker and more like a traditional wing-tip dress shoes but are still ridiculously comfortable. If you're looking for a dress shoe that's made in Italy and comes in at under $150 and is stylish and comfortable, the Massimo Matteo Cap Toe may be for you. To Boot New York is known for its handmade Italian footwear that combines old-world tradition, high-end materials, and contemporary style. The Conner features a single monk strap, is lined in leather, and built for both comfort and flexibility, in case you're planning on hitting the dance floor.
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Ace Marks/Facebook
Ace Marks, which launched in 2012, is another DTC brand specializing in reasonably priced high-end footwear. The company works with fourth-generation Italian artisans to create handcrafted dress shoes using full-grain calfskin at a fraction of what you'd pay for luxury labels ($250-$325). Unlike many of the American or British brands, Italian dress shoes tend to use Blake stitching instead of Goodyear welts, and Ace Marks is no exception. In Blake stitching, the shoe's upper is folded underneath the insole and stitched into place. It makes for a lighter, more flexible shoe that can still be resoled, just not as often as with a Goodyear welt. Ace Marks not only offers a stellar choice of styles, they're lauded for their range of beautiful colors and patinas.
The brand also has a really cool buy-back program. You can send them your old Ace Marks shoes that are still in wearable condition and get $50 off your next pair. They donate the old ones to Career Gear, a non-profit that provides business-professional attire for men who are trying to re-enter the workforce.
What to buy:
Nordstrom
Nordstrom began life in 1901 as a Seattle shoe store, financed in part by Swedish immigrant John Nordstrom's stake in the Alaska Gold rush. Perhaps because of its roots, Nordstrom has a massive selection of dress shoes, including many high-end options, but a lot of mid-priced selections as well.
Among the wide variety, are the Spanish luxury footwear brand Magnanni; as well as mid-range brands like Johnston & Murphy and Clarks. Magnanni makes handmade dress shoes using full-grain calf leather from Europe and the Bologna method of construction, which is similar to the Blake method but has the ends of the upper sewn together like a sock and is typically even lighter and more flexible than Blake stitching. The brand is known for its chiseled toes, sleek styling, and hand-painted patinas. We included the Fairfax Loafer by Johnston & Murphy, a heritage American brand, just to prove the loafer can be extremely dressy. This version, in a black patent leather, is made in Italy. Clarks, a British brand that's been around for nearly 200 years and is probably best known for its desert boots, makes a range of attractive dress shoes that are made for comfortable all-day wear. The Citi Stride Plain Toe Derby falls into the dressy casual category with its fun two-tone brown colorway and bright red and gold laces that's tempered by the classic Derby silhouette.
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Beckett Simonon
Beckett Simonon is a DTC brand that uses a made-to-order model that significantly reduces both the cost to the consumer and helps drive the company's sustainability efforts since there's no unsold inventory that could end up in a landfill. Well-compensated, skilled artisans handcraft the shoes in Colombia using Italian full-grain calfskin and Blake stitching. They offer a solid range of styles, including Oxfords, Derbies, wingtips, loafers, and monk straps, in a variety of colors. As mentioned, the company makes sustainability a high priority. They use Gold Rated leather, which comes with high environmental and ethical standards, among other initiatives. The brand has a dedicated fanbase and is often compared with Warby Parker, the DTC eyewear brand that helped reshape that market.
Beckett Simonon sells their dress shoes for $209, a very fair price for what you get quality wise. The downside is that because of its made-to-order model, it can take between six to 10 weeks to receive your order. Luckily, they're worth the wait.
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Florsheim
Florsheim is another American heritage brand still around after more than a hundred years in business. It had its start in Chicago in the 1890s and has had some difficulties over the years. In the early 2000s, members of the Florsheim family bought back the brand, which has revitalized the company's product offerings.
Florsheim shines when it comes to creating exceedingly comfortable dress shoes with upscale details like breathable leather linings, leather-covered, removable footbeds, and Bologna construction, all offered at a price point that hovers in the $100 range. The company also has a pricier line that's made in Italy using calfskin and features leather soles rather than rubber. The Imperial line, the brand's top tier, features Goodyear welting, and hand-burnished uppers.
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Taft/Facebook
Taft is a Utah-based DTC brand launched in 2013 that's carved out a space in the market with its unique take on dress shoes and boots that's given it cult status. Their novel footwear designs often incorporate woven elements, pebbling, hand burnishing, or patterned fabrics, and are meticulously handcrafted by Spanish and Portuguese artisans. No matter what unusual elements the shoes incorporate, they always include full-grain calfskin and, depending on the style, either Goodyear welting or Blake construction with leather outsoles. The brand's styles run the gamut from Oxfords to monk straps to dress boots. We've included a beautiful chocolate brown suede monk strap; an Oxford with a bold floral jacquard fabric; and a stunning long wing brogue featuring woven leather throughout the upper.
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Thursday Boot Company
You may be familiar with Thursday Boot Company, the DTC brand that makes exceptional Chelsea boots, and chukkas, but did you know the company also makes dress shoes? Handcrafted in small batches with the same level of detail as the brand's other products at a reasonable price point ($168 to $175). Their dress shoes are all Goodyear welted for easy resoling and feature leather outsoles and supple glove leather lining. The shoes all have full-grain leather uppers originating in either the U.S., France, or Italy, and a cork midsole that conforms to the shape of your foot for long-wearing comfort. Thursday Boot Company works with artisans and suppliers in Mexico, Portugal, Spain, and the U.S. that have high ethical and environmental standards.
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Paul Evans
Paul Evans, like Ace Marks, is a DTC brand that partners with Italian artisans to create luxurious shoes at a better price point ($425 to $450) than what you'd typically pay from other high-end retailers. The brand uses supple, full-grain calfskin and Blake stitching. They offer sleek, very Italian-style dress shoes—The Martin Wholecut Oxford is a prime example—that have beautifully hand-painted finishes. The company, which is based in New York, works with a family-run century-old factory in Naples.
These shoes tend to run large, so you'll probably want to size down one whole size. You can read more here on the brand's sizing. The company offers free shipping and easy returns.
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