{I am in a total shoe mood lately, huh?}

My father had this great pair of penny loafers when I was a kid.

…Actually, he probably still has the same pair today.

I remember how beat up they were, though I mean that in the best way possible. They were worn in to perfection, feeling practically like sneakers in my hands when I’d pick them up. They could bend this way and that.

He could probably run a mile in them if he had to, and not come in last place.

I remember too that, after staring at them for some time one day, I decided they were purple. Like the shade in Harold’s Purple Crayon, my favorite book from the days I still needed books read to me.

It seemed to fit. They weren’t quite brown, after all, and they definitely weren’t black. But when the light hit them just right…yep, definitely purple.

Now that I’m grown, I know that the classic shoe’s hue is actually called burgundy, (or sometimes if brands are getting fancy, oxblood), though I still like the idea of my serious lawyer father wearing purple slip-ons to work.

Given some time, these Weejuns from Bass should shine up just as nice.

Tell me: Do you have a pair of penny loafers in your footwear repertoire? How do you wear yours?