Leather Oxford Men's Dress Shoe

The men's dress Oxford shoe is typified  by shoelace eyelets tabs which  are attached under the vamp of the shoe.   This  feature is  termed "closed lacing". This contrasts with Derbys, or bluchers, which have shoelace eyelets attached to the top of the vamp. It is likely the most commonly conjured image at the mention of "Mens black dress shoes".  Oxfords were initially plain, formal dress shoes, made of leather, but they have since evolved to occupy looks for formal, uniform, as well as businnes casual shoes.  Our Oxfords are made from a variety of materials, including calf leather, genuine patent leather, suede, and canvas.

Oxfords are of Scotish and Irish origin, where they are also referred to as Balmorals after Balmoral Castle. However, these men's dress  shoes were later named Oxfords after Oxford University. These archetypes of mens dress shoes arived in North America in the 1800s. In America Oxfords are known as  "Bal-type" as opposed to "Blucher-type". The French call them Richelieu.

Oxfords were derived from the Oxonian, a half-boot with side slits that gained popularity at Oxford University in 1800. Unlike early shoes, Oxfords were cut smaller than the foot. The side slit evolved into a side lace that eventually moved to the instep, as students rebelled against knee-high and ankle-high boots. The toe cap can either be lined with two narrow rows of stitching, perforated holes along the end cap stitching (quarter-brogue), perforated holes along the end cap stitching and on the toe cap (semi-brogue), or a semi-brogue with the classical wingtip design (full-brogue).