Fluevog Love: Melrose Men's Shoes

When we picked up my Elizabeths two weekends ago, my husband decided not to try on anything even though he really liked the blue/gray unisex Supervog when I tried on a pair. (The women's size 6 was too big on me.) If the store had had his size in that colorway of Supervog, I bet he'd have given in.

However, I kept thinking about that lost opportunity, so when we made another trip to the store this past Sunday (more on that in another post), I insisted that he try on several pairs. The rationale I gave was that at least he would know what size he was in various Fluevog families, and he agreed. He's been looking to upgrade his everyday work shoes from beat-up sneakers -- he works in a pretty casual environment -- to something still casual but that reflects more of his sense of style. It's official: I think I've infected him a little bit with my Flueddiction. Gasp! ;-)

He only tried on four or five pairs, which is about his limit for trying on clothes and shoes in general. The Melrose store doesn't carry a lot of casual men's shoes anyway. We started with the Diesel and the awesome "Fluevogologist" Anthony brought out other styles that he thought my husband would be interested in.

(Click on the images to see the shoes on the Fluevog website.) 

This navy/brown/orange colorway is really beautiful. My husband really liked the dark blue of the vamp but not so much the orange piping. However, we almost got these.

This was a choice that Anthony made. My husband liked the colors and the sneaker feel ... but the Broderie Anglaise pattern really turned him off. This was a NO from the start. I don't even think he wanted to try them on, but I asked since I personally liked the embellishment. I could see why it might not be a good choice for his work environment though. :-)

These look pretty with the wingtips and they are supposed to feel more like sneakers, but they didn't do anything for my husband. At this point, I think he had made the choice to get the Diesel.

Anthony brought these out without our asking while my husband was trying on the Nathaniels. I have the CBC's in the bone color but I thought the CBC's might be too formal for what my husband had in mind. He didn't even want to bother trying them on because he had already decided on the blue Diesels. Again, however, I insisted that he at least try them on. Why not see which size he was in the Radio family? Well, the moment he slipped his right foot into the shoe, he made a wordless noise of wonder -- almost like "whoa" -- and immediately started putting on the left shoe so that he could get up and walk around the store in them. I've said before how much I love my Radio shoes, so I was really happy that he felt the same way about the CBC's.

So long story short, these black CBC's are now on layaway for my husband (part of his anniversary present from me). :-) He loved the look, the feel, the cool little detail at the back of the shoe, and the beautiful royal-blue lining inside. I asked Anthony if this colorway ever went on sale, and he said no. However, the Diesels in the navy colorway MIGHT; since it was a close second for my husband, he'll consider getting them for himself during the upcoming semi-annual sale later this month. So with these new CBC's, his collection is at two and counting ... (the first was for my brother's wedding last summer, a more formal pair called the Wisdom). It might be three by this time next month. We'll see!

xo, Gladys