Loafers as a Fetish Shoe

Details

Loafers serve as a fetish 'bad shoe' for me in the same way that high heel stilettos do for women. But since off the shelf loafers are just somewhat bad at most (not nearly bad enough), I have devised methods of intensifying the bad. They're a shoe for my S/M fetish, so I start with something that I like the looks of and then up the badness quotient. This happens by wearing it down, degrading it and making adjustments to it that make it a more difficult shoe to wear -- or that can inflict some delicious pain and suffering. On other pages I discuss how I fixated on loafers as bad shoes. I discuss ways to alter them to take them from mildly bad to seriously bad S/M shoes. Below, on this page, I discuss what's hot about their looks and the way they lose their grip together with some of my history with them.

• How I Learned that Loafers Are Bad Shoes
• Making Loafers Badder

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Loafers - Sharp Looking Contrasts

The best looking loafers in my opinion are ones that lay long and low with a short vamp (explained below), straight sides (not arced or curved) and none of the front-side frou-frou like tassles, kilties or other dingle dangle tacked-on junk. I'm okay with a strap across the front, such as with penny loafers, though like even better the simpler, sleeker designs that go without. My favorites are "Venetian Loafers". They have a simple and clean design with sleek, straight linear cuts. I especially like a 'top line' that runs "visually straight" from the vamp, continuing along one side of the shoe, back around the heel to the other side and ending again at the vamp, on the other side. This is the visual defining line where the loafer meets the sock, and the lines on Venetian loafers are the straighest, cleanest and sleekest -- so to my mind, the 'purest' type of loafer.

Diagram of the types of loafers

Also, there should be no elastic, straps, hardware or anything else that would disrupt the lines. There's a picture of a Venetian Loafer below. Viewing it from the side, notice the long, straight sides of the shoe that lead down to a crisp V sillouhette at the tongue. And in front, no silly adornments, just plain and smooth.


Because they're fetish shoes, I like them best when they're no longer shiny and "factory perfect". I prefer them to have noticable stress marks and worn down heels -- signs of use and age that usually take some time to develop. However, I'm impatient and usually like to speed up the rate at which they experience wear and tear and stretch and loosen. I also like to tweak and adjust them in ways that perhaps would not happen "naturally", but can in this realm of S/M. The fun for me usually starts when they get loose enough to start slipping and popping off at the heels (a thing that can be made to happen, and then savored in a variety of ways).

Whether new or old, the loafers I prefer have low, long, sleek, sharp lines that are best seen contrasting against the socks they're worn with. For me, contrast here is hot. So a black loafer will find the greatest contrast against a white sock though many high contrast color combos can work and look good. Conversely, a black shoe against a black sock makes for a weak look, devoid of contrast -- it all melds together like a blob without definition -- like trying to not be seen.

This was the in-demand look of the early 60's when loafers were the style and all the hot guys had to be seen in them. Worn with contrasting socks, these shoes drew attention to the feet and to the clean, simple lines of the shoes. Worn that way they were meant to be eye catching.



Notice the straight lines of the sides contrasting against the white of the socks.



Note the sharp angle created by the juncture of each side and the tongue of the shoe.



Sharp and crisp lines -- even when the shoes are old and worn down.

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Designed for a Sleek Look

The look is about being sleek, smooth, and minimal. And it demands that there be no extraneous details that could interrupt the clean lines -- no unruly laces or jutting buckles or bulging straps – none of the things sometimes found on other shoes that could mar those sleek smooth surfaces. Visual clutter like that is just not present on a Venetian Loafer. But absent too is the functionality that some of that could add -- chiefly, a way for the wearer to retighten the shoe on his foot whenever it gets loose. As with other shoes, loafers get looser with wear. But other shoes are designed so that they can be retightened with the laces, straps, buckles they have for that purpose.

Young guy wearing sleek loafers

Without any mechanism to tighten them, loafers come from the factory with all the grip they’ll ever have. But as they get used (and abused), they’ll get worn down and bit by bit will start to lose that grip. You’ll notice that the grip on a new pair is most noticeable against the back and sides of the heels; the sides of the foot; and at the vamp, which squeezes down to press the foot and shoe firmly together there. At the heel and the sides of the shoe, a close fit is obtained by the squeeze and friction of the shoe against the sock. This keeps the shoe in place. All of this helps the shoe to hold on as the foot goes through the bending, arcing and up-and-down motion of walking.



Note the absence of strings, buckles, belts, straps or any other doohickies. Just smooth and sleek.



The straight-line contrast holds even in an old worn-down loafer like this.

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The Frumpy and Frou-Frou Looks I Don't Want

Frumpy grab-ahold loafers vs. sexy and risky show-off loafers. Sexy will look way hotter ('look no hands'), but won't stay on nearly as well. Frumpy stays on, but looks dumpy. Don't get the frumpy ones. If you want a shoe that stays on, why choose a FRUMPY loafer. Plenty of other shoe styles look better and stay on better. If you want the sleek, low, show-off look of a loafer, go with the sexy ones and pay the price for loss of grip.

Examples of Frumpy Loafers I Wouldn't Want
 
Frumpy Tassels and frou-frou. Frumpy dumpy rounded topline

 
A frumpy rounded topline. Frumpy too-busy clunkers

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Loafers Are Famous For Losing Their Grip

Of course, all of this factory-engineered grip will start to let go the more the loafer gets stretched and flexed from its normal wear. The heel and sides will start to fit less closely thus reducing the squeeze and friction there. Upward pressure exerted repeatedly by the foot against the vamp helps to gradually stretch the vamp with every step taken in normal walking. Over time, this stretching reduces the force with which the vamp presses against the top of the foot. As grip lessens on the foot, the foot is more able to slip around in the shoe -- back & forth and up & down. In turn, this additional movement further helps loosen the other grip & friction points, leading eventually to shoes that can no longer keep a grip on. And with no mechanism for tightening their grip, loafers just stay loose and get looser.

It often starts with quick, barely noticed slipping off of the heels every now and then. Eventually they'll get loose enough to pop off the heels on nearly every step. And eventually they'll lose all grip such that they won't be popping off any more -- they won't be gripping on at all, they'll just be flopping off. Every step will provide a showy display of heels in opposition. The heel of the sock rising up, out and away from the heel of the loafer. At the same time, the heel of the loafer flops down and off, briefly yawning wide and empty until the foot repositions back inside it on the next step. Loafers will normally stretch as they’re worn, but encounters with water and various chemicals can accelerate the stretching, as will any kind of rough play where the shoes get yanked and knocked about. This can also cause them to get torn (ripping the stitching that holds them together or ripping open the holes the stitching goes through) – lots of grip can be lost this way. There are many ways to ‘abuse’ a loafer and thus cause it to more quickly lose its grip. Lots of ways to get loose – but no way to tighten.

And this is the other fetish thrill at work here -- the loss of control. When the wearer opted for style instead of functionality he gave up any ability to tighten them and will eventually be forced to live with that choice.

Not just heels, but also instep and arch are lifted up & out of the loafer and are revealed in form-fitted contrast against the color of socks.


Exposing arch and instep


Dangling a loafer at you


Crouching down nearly always pressures the heel to pop off.


Just starting to pop out now and then.


Starting to pop off


Letting go, slipping out

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Low Vamp: Sexier Look; Looser Shoe

The vamp of a shoe is the part that encloses the toes and front part of the foot. Behind the vamp, loafers are open with upright sides and backs designed to extend around the sides and back of the foot and heel. When the vamp is noticably shorter than the open area -- or rather when the open area takes up much more of the shoe, then the shoe is said to have a low vamp. A low vamp is shorter, ending farther forward than a shoe with a normal or long vamp. This leaves more of the shoe open. More of the sock shows and it's a much sexier look. Of course, a shorter vamp means that the part of the shoe that extends across the top of the foot ends at a point that's farther forward. The farther toward the back that a vamp extends, the more of the foot it can hold onto and the greater its leverage will be. The less it extends back, the less its leverage, and the less able it is to hold on. Shoes with low vamps are likely to lose grip on the foot sooner than shoes with longer vamps. And when they do lose grip, they tend to flop wider, with a bigger air gap between shoe and heel. Shoes with longer vamps can also lose grip and flop off, but when they do, they tend to flop off in a more constrained manner since they're still resting on more of the foot. Naturally, I prefer low vamps -- both for the lower, sleeker, longer look, and for the more open, wider, loose way they flop off. Loose vamps provide a much better visual treat either way.

Standing shoeplay with low vamp loafers

This is another instance of ceding control. If control is taken to be keeping the shoe tightly on the foot so it doesn't flop off when walking, then here it's being ceded again for style. Since loafers with low vamps tend to lost grip more quickly than others, then ceding the grip for the style will eventually result in something the wearer will have no choice but to deal with sooner rather than later.



Very low (short) vamp -- leaving a very long opening that exposes lots and lots of sock.



The vamp not quite as short here, but still short enough for a visually striking look.



Two more short-ish vamps and the socks they expose.



Moderate vamp, doesn't flop open as much as the next two.



Low vamps on these shoes make for wide open flops.


Low vamps showing off lots of sock.



The lower the vamp, the wider and further the shoe can flop off the heel.
The wider the arc of the flop, the harder it will be to keep on walking in the shoes.
Whereas if you attempt to run in them, you're very likely to see one or both flop all the way off.
Now that's really ceding control -- you've essentially lost control over being able to run in your shoes.

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Cannot Tighten Them -- That's So S/M

Yes, I've gone over this before, but since losing control is so very hot as an S/M fetish, I'll say it again.

That they are purposely designed with no way to adjust the grip on them -- that just adds to their sex appeal for many people, myself included. You're forced to deal with your shoes getting looser and looser so that eventually they flop off your heels non-stop, with no way to avoid it or remedy it. And it's because you opted for shoes that offered a sleek and sexy style at the expense of basic functionality. You've chosen shoes for their sleek, contrasty look knowing that one day they'll be slipping, sliding, flopping -- increasingly difficult to walk in and even more so to run in. And you're unable to do anything about it as the look goes from simply sleek -- to sleek and flopping.

When they're new, people will notice their sleek looks. But they'll notice even more as those sleek shoes start to flop off your heels. Unable to tighten them, you'll wear them loose, and have to put up with them flopping off your heels on each step. Perhaps falling off entirely if you attempt to run in them. If they continue to get looser and looser, you'll have to walk more slowly and carefully to keep them from completely falling off. And you'll have to give up on running in them. Or if you do -- deal with one or both falling off -- hopefully not at the most critical of times, like when that bus is headed right at you. You have really ceded some control here!

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Loose Loafers At Rest

As they get looser, they'll increasingly expose more of the socks, contrasted and shaped to the form of your feet. Showing off your sock-covered feet can be something you can play with at times other than while you're walking. When seated, with shoe raised off the ground (say with one leg crossed over the other), you can dangle a shoe in mid air to expose instep and arch. Or, while dangling, if it should fall off entirely, then you expose the whole foot. While seated, you can pop the heels off by pressing the toes down and back against the floor while raising the heels up.


Loafer shoeplay at a mirror

Shoes are generally meant to cover and hide the feet, but with loafers you can play with that notion -- and ones that are too loose to stay in place on your feet seem to encourage that kind of play.





As the shoes loosen up, the sides will often bulge out to expose the curve of the arch just inside -- even while the shoe is still on the foot.

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Origins of this Fetish for Me

My fetish for this started way back in first grade, when loafers were all the rage and my mom refused to let me get a pair. Not just content to say 'no', she tried to make me see them as things that were actually bad for me -- designed to be bad, even. See this page for more about how she hated loafers and hated seeing men wearing loafers

I can see now that I was a budding masochist then. As such, I lusted for shoes that inflicted pain and did damage. I fetishized all this and I got hooked on the idea of mean, 'bad' shoes that looked hot and sexy and demanded a price from you for those looks. However, real world loafers didn't exude nearly enough of this badness, although there was still the badness of being purposely designed with no way to tighten them. So I could still take pleasure in being subject to an inevitable fate of loose, flopping shoes. Or I could artificially engineer some more bad into them -- something I discuss in detail here.

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Notable Loafer Scenes From Boyhood

 

Watching Guys in Loafers

I would avidly watch guys walking in loafers, taking great pleasure seeing any sign of their starting to slip -- and even more when I saw ones that flopped loose and wide. I was fascinated by how a loafer, even a brand new one, always seemed to pop off the heel whenever a guy crouched down in it. And I loved watching when guys would sit and play with their shoes, slipping them on and off, or popping the heels off. Following behind a hot guy who was wearing wide flopping loafers became a huge turn-on -- and back then such a sight wasn't at all difficult to find. Soon seeing or even just thinking about any of this would get me hard.

Hot young guy in tight jeans and low vamp loafers
 

Grocery Store Bagboys

There were certain places where I could almost guarantee finding erotic loafer scenes. Grocery stores used to have bag boys who would not only bag your items, but would also push them out in a shopping cart for you to your car where he'd help load them into the vehicle. It seemed that all the grocery stores in the area hired only the best looking high school boys for this job. And, even crazier, all these boys seemed to dress the same -- in jeans that were kinda tight and with very loose loafers. I always walked behind the bag boy, watching his loafers flop off loose and wide as he pushed the shopping cart to our car. They all wore loose loafers like that -- I don't recall having ever seen any of them wearing new ones that still had a grip. Don't know quite how they made that happen, but they did. I don't know how the stores consistently managed to have the best looking bagboys and what wonderfulness caused them to all dress the same way. But whatever it was, for me grocery shopping became an erotic adventure with these bagboys the main event.
 

The Laundry Delivery Guy

My father ran a motel and he got regular laundry service for it. Newly washed and folded towels and sheets would arrive and away would go the ones needing to be washed. For the longest time, the young guy who drove the laundry delivery truck also wore loose black loafers with white socks -- all the time. The truck he drove had a sliding door at the driver's seat which he always kept open, even when the truck was moving. So with that door open, when he drove up I'd clearly see him in the driver's seat with his loafers on the pedals. He did something to his loafers to make the toes of his shoes curl upwards to resemble the shoes of medieval court jesters and their up-pointing toes. He was definitely into loafers -- the sleek contrasting look, the looseness and the theatricality. And now also the up-pointing toes. He'd crouch and the heels of his loafers would pop off exposing more of the white socks molded to the shape of his heels or his arches, sometimes his soles. He'd stand, angling a shoe so that the up-pointing curl of the toe could be more easily seen and appreciated. As he walked carrying the laundry packages in and out, his loafers would flop loose and wide. I always looked forward to seeing him.
 

Playing Soccer At Recess - Loafers Go Flying

In grade school, before I was allowed to buy my first pair of loafers, I noticed and envied all the other boys who wore loafers. In those days, we went to school wearing only one pair of shoes all day – no gym shoes to change into. So at recess or during lunch, we played in whatever shoes we were wearing and the boys who wore loafers played in them. When we played soccer, boys would run around and kick the ball and sometimes after a kick you’d see the ball flying through the air followed by the loafer that just kicked the ball. If the boy who just kicked his loafer off was on the opposing team and we got to the shoe first, we’d grab it and toss it back and forth among members of our team, taunting him with his shoe. He’d be hopping around on one foot, trying not to get his white sock dirty. We’d act like we’re going to let him have it, have him hop over to retrieve it, then we’d toss it away to another boy. This would go on for about a while until eventually he got his shoe back and the game resumed. If he was on our team and we got to his shoe before the other team, we’d let him have it back with much less teasing.

Recess in loafers

Toes Clenched to Keep Them On

It was not until I got into 7th grade that I was able to overcome my mother's objections and get my first pair of loafers. She still fretted about how loose they'd eventually get and how they'd eventually just flop off my heels and how dangerous that could be. Since I didn't trust that she wouldn't make me get new shoes if she ever saw them flopping, I decided couldn’t let her see that. So when I was around her, I squeezed my toes and walked slower to keep them on so she wouldn’t see any flopping. But at school, in a classroom, I’d pop off the heels and toy around with them hoping that students sitting behind me were watching.

Showing off how loose his loafers are

Loafer Heel Stomping At School

One of my grade school classmates, Raymond, bought loafers once, but according to him, within a week they stretched ‘as big as elephants’ and started flopping way too soon for his taste. So he regularly dismissed loafers as a bad choice and made fun of anyone wearing them, including me. He would follow behind me and synchronize his steps with mine in order to put the toe of his shoe on the heel of my loafer at the precise moment when my heel was raising up to step forward. Of course this would pop my loafer off my heel. If it wasn’t loose enough to flop off and flop on, it woudn’t go back on my foot without my having to stop and use my hands to get it placed on my foot again. And he’d try to pop it off again. This was his thing and he did it to all the guys who wore loafers. It was kind of hot even though it was annoying.

As loose as Raymond's loafers?

I found it kind of erotic that I could wear shoes that could distress my mother as much as those loafers could. That was way hot and a huge turn-on! But I never found loafers that could bite my heel (unfortunately) -- and my feet developed just fine (which I'm very much OK about). By now, however, I've had several pairs of loafers. And with each pair, I've always made sure they eventually get too loose to stay on -- that is something that continues to be hot for me!

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