If you’ve ever found yourself wanting to walk the line between casual and formal with your shoe selection, it wouldn’t be surprising to hear that you found it more difficult in practice than in theory to accomplish.
For this reason, we’ve put together this guide in which we cover what you need to consider when searching for a casual formal shoe. While it sounds like an oxymoron, casual dress shoes definitely exist and we’re going to help you find them with the points below.
If you can’t be bothered to search for yourself, browse our own picks of the best casual dress shoes you can find on Zappos:
How To Find Casual Dress Shoes On Zappos
As mentioned in the introduction, the terms casual dress or casual formal can sound absurd on the surface. However, if you’ve even a limited amount of experience with dress shoes, you can certainly understand the situation. One can be an enthusiast of classic shoe styles and formal executions while also being concerned with being “overdressed” for particular settings.
With the casual dress shoe, you are able to satisfy your own penchant for a refined shoe with premium materials and construction while also not feeling like you’re being regarded as “too fancy”.
Is there even such a thing as “too fancy”? We don’t think so! Yet, there is something to be said about not drawing too much attention to your clothing (and yourself) at particular functions which is why we do believe there is a true need for a casual dress shoe within every man’s wardrobe.
Next, we discuss the characteristics that make a dress shoe more casual than formal. You should take note of these if you’re browsing for this type of shoe.
Material
The material used in the upper and sole of a shoe is likely the biggest determinant in the formality of a shoe, even more so than the type of shoe itself. This is because the material or type of leather, for example, can both up the formality of a casual shoe and decrease the convention of a formal style.
Suede is likely the epitome of a casual dress shoe material as is nubuck. Fortunately, using Zappos’ intuitive search interface, we can filter for just these two materials as shown in the screencap above. Most importantly, you want to stay away from materials such as patent leather (too formal) or canvas (too casual) while full-grain leather is a good neutral option.
Shoe Style
The next important aspect to consider is the style of shoe to look for. For a casual dress shoe, you want to stick to loafers or drivers, brogues, derbies, wingtips, longwings, and some oxfords.
Again, the material used to craft the shoe is going to be critical here. For example, most oxfords will border on very formal unless they are presented in a more casual material such as suede.
Color
Color, while not the most important aspect, is still one that should be kept in mind when shopping for casual dress shoes on Zappos. If you have a particular tone in mind, Zappos does have an extensive list of color filters that you can use to narrow down your search.
Select one or more than one to produce a limited or varied selection from which to choose. By this point, if you’ve already set other filters for material and style, you’ll likely be close to landing on your preferred casual dress shoe.
Best Casual Dress Shoes On Zappos
Before going through our own top picks of the best casual dress shoes on Zappos, it was important for us to mention that shopping for such a style on your own is going to take some work. Some brands know what they are doing when they design a casual dress shoe, others not so much. However, the time you are able to devote to your search for such a niche shoe style will undoubtedly pay dividends in your satisfaction over many years of wear.
- Style: Driving Shoe
- Formality: Casual
- Pricing: $295 [Buy Now On Zappos]
Driving shoes or drivers are rarely called dress shoes. However, when they’re crafted of buttery-soft Italian suede as these Ocean Drives from To Boot NY are, it’s difficult not to see them as a luxurious pair of shoes. Additional hand-stitched details and subdued stripe decorations on the side take these over top.
Often, the casual dress shoe is the one you chose when you have to run some errands. Whether you’re actually using these to drive or simply to help you look good while completing mostly mundane tasks, they’re undoubtedly a top choice.
- Style: Loafers
- Formality: Business Casual
- Pricing: $595 [Buy On Zappos]
The driver is a personal favorite of this writer, though the loafer is perhaps the epitome of the casual dress shoe. The style is so incredibly versatile that it can be worn with a pair of shorts or with a suit and appear adequate in both ensembles.
While you wouldn’t necessarily want to wear the Santoni Banker Loafers with a suit, they will add a significant touch of excellence to any casual outfit you sport. Santoni is world-renowned for their premium leather products and that’s exactly what you get with the uppers of the Banker Loafer.
Additionally, you have a leather insole and cushioned footbed to provide everlasting comfort along with the convenience that only a slip-on style can impart.
- Style: Chukka Boots
- Formality: Casual
- Pricing: $374.95 [Buy Now On Zappos]
While Bruno Magli is mostly known for sleek and dressy shoes crafted by hand in Italy, their Orlando Chukka Boot demonstrates that their skillset goes above and beyond hand-burnished leather.
The quality of the suede used in the Orlando Boots appears almost palpable through pictures. Unfortunately, you’re going to have to get these on your feet to be able to experience it in the flesh. However, if you do, you’ll also be greeted by the soft leather insole and lining, a durable rubber outsole, and waxed laces to tie up the entire package.
We’ve chosen to highlight the blue suede on our list, though a tan (“peanut”) suede option is also available. Admittedly, blue suede can be difficult to pair with other articles of clothing, but the hue used by Bruno Magli is on-point and we’d be remiss if we didn’t mention it.
- Style: Double Monk Strap
- Formality: Business Casual
- Pricing: $226.90 [Buy On Zappos]
Although offered at a similar price to Allen Edmonds, Magnanni’s Spanish-made shoes are produced with a Blake stitch. This stylistic choice provides a sleeker profile that affords the should a more elegant design.
Of course, some might scoff that it’s a little pricey given that there are cheaper Goodyear-welted shoes on this list. However, Magnanni is a celebrated brand for good reason. You’ll be hard-pressed to find such a beautiful wholecut shoe with the same level of visual depth thanks to the hand-painted finish.
- Style: Brogues
- Formality: Business Casual
- Pricing: $180 [Buy Now On Zappos]
In recent years, Cole Haan has found significant success with collections marked by sporty rubber soles on formal shoe styles. While these are somewhat attractive, we think they’re in a different category to the casual dress shoes we’re looking for. Instead, we’ve gone for the 7Day Wing Oxfords.
The sole on these is still a casual rubber, though in this case, it’s a bright orange that matches incredibly well with the decorated Soft Sage leather upper. There is also a very attractive leather welt with a contrasting stitch that imparts tons of formality.
Lastly, if you were looking for maximum comfort in the casual dress shoe category, then these are likely your best bet. The 7Day Wings boasts a cushioned Grandfoam (proprietary) footbed, shock-absorbing EVA midsole, and leather insole for best-in-class comfort within the casual-formal shoe range.
What Next?
Let us know in the comments section below what you thought of our picks or if you think there’s a critical type of casual dress shoe we missed. Otherwise, check out some of our other popular shoe guides:
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