Published on July 21, 2025
Illustration by Chandler Bondurant
Few items in the annals of fashion have made such a spectacular comeback as the boat shoe. Associated with frat boys and less-than-desirable foot hygiene until seemingly yesterday, they’ve suddenly been co-opted by European luxury brands and sighted on runways.
But long before their rise-fall-rise, they were simply useful. Their progenitor, Paul Sperry, sought a solution after slipping out of his boat one day in 1935. Inspired by his cocker spaniel’s grippy footpads, he took a knife to his shoe’s outsole and made small incisions to give it traction on a wet deck, creating the first non-slip sole in the process.
Nearly 100 years later, a non-marking (typically white) rubber outsole with small “siping” incisions remains the hallmark of a true boat shoe, along with a leather upper, a moccasin stitched toe, and a “360-degreee” lacing system that sees its laces—often rawhide—loop from the tongue to the back of the shoe via small metal eyelets.
Along with the eponymous company Paul Sperry founded, other American brands like Sebago emerged to champion the boat shoe, making it a key part of the preppy look in ‘70s and ‘80s and culminating with its canonization in Lisa Birnbach’s 1980 The Official Preppy Handbook.
The boat shoe seems to have benefitted from the current prep revival but is also being taken in interesting new directions from contemporary brands and designers, including Todd Snyder and Saman Amel, and is even getting a nod from upscale British shoemakers like John Lobb and George Cleverley. Nautically inclined or not, you’ll want to scope out the options below.
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Carmina Custom Boat Shoes
Image Credit: Carmina Spanish shoemaker Carmina sneakily offers a boat shoe through its online customization program, which offers dozens of leathers across categories including vegan, suede, cordovan and even alligator. So, if you’ve ever dreamed of a navy alligator boat shoe, here’s your chance.
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Todd Snyder x Sperry Vachetta Leather Boat Shoe
Image Credit: Todd Snyder Sperry refers to its two-eyelet boat shoe as the “Authentic Original”: as strong a sign as any that it doesn’t feel the need to reinvent it. But it has linked up with designers to give it a new spin now and again. One such example comes from Todd Snyder, whose take on the A/O gives it a second welt for more cushioning, a slightly higher profile and more luxurious vachetta leather upper executed in a solid colorway that’s a little more city and a bit less beach.
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George Cleverley Devon Full-Grain Leather Boat Shoes
Image Credit: George Cleverley London’s George Cleverley is best known for its bespoke program—and having once designed an original shoe for Winston Churchill—but is not immune to the boat shoe craze. Its maiden voyage into the style, the Devon, deviates from the norm by ditching a 360-degree lacing system for a pair of simple cotton laces, and by opting for a simple apron toe rather than a moccasin-stitched one.
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Saman Amel City Moc
Image Credit: Saman Amel Minimalist-chic Swedish tailoring house Saman Amel is among the last places you’d think to shop for a boat shoe. So that it offers one in the form of its “city moc” is a powerful indicator of how internationally popular the style has become. Naturally, Saman Amel is doing theirs the Saman Amel way, meaning sleeker and sexier with an unconstructed make, minimal toe spring and a rich suede upper with a cashmere-like finish.
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Sebago Portland Waxed
Image Credit: Sebago Founded in Maine in 1946 as a maker of beef roll-style penny loafers, Sebago got into the sailing shoes business in the 1970s with its Docksides collection of boat shoes. While the business is under new Italian ownership today and produces its shoes largely in Central America and the Caribbean, it continues to make core Docksides styles like the Portland, which features a beefy, unlined leather upper, rawhide leather laces and a non-marking sole.
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Quoddy Head Boat Shoe
Image Credit: Quoddy Quoddy is among the few Maine-based moccasin makers left today, having been originally established in 1947 and then revived by a husband-and-wife team in the 1990s after a long period of dormancy. Its Head boat shoe is fully handsewn and made from a substantial pull-up leather that will experience natural color variations with time and wear. With an eye towards longevity, Quoddy offers a resoling service to extend each pair’s lifetime.
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Rancourt Read Boat Shoe
Image Credit: Rancourt A third-generation family business based in Lewiston, Maine, Rancourt has been making handsewn moccasins since 1967. Included in its range is the Read boat shoe, which takes a more rugged tack with a pull-up leather upper and chestnut leather laces but retains the nautical feature of a non-slip, non-marking rubber sole.
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Yuketen Boat Shoe Chromexcel Leather
Image Credit: Yuketen Established by the maverick Japanese designer Yuki Matsuda, Yuketen pays tribute to the rugged charm of handsewn American moccasins. Available made-to-order (and fulfilled in 8-10 weeks), its boat shoe is handsewn in the U.S. on a 1950s last and made from full grain chromexcel leather sourced from Chicago’s legendary Horween tannery.
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Officine Creative Heritage Flex 001 Brushed-Suede Loafers
Image Credit: Officine Creative Officine Creative’s Heritage Flex 001 is indicative of the less nautical, more urban direction that many designers are taking the boat shoe in today. Made from brushed suede with the recognizable features of a moccasin-stitched toe and 360-degree rawhide lacing, the style trades out the non-slip sole for chunky treads.
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Castañer Nemo Suede Boat Shoes
Image Credit: Castañer Catalan-based Castañer is credited with having brought the espadrille to international attention, having put the style on Yves Saint Laurent’s radar in the 1960s. Which makes it the perfect brand to blend the traditional Spanish style with the boat shoe, which it’s done in the form of its Nemo. The suede shoe’s soft structure and jute-wrapping retain the traditional charm of an espadrille, while its rawhide laces and rubber outsole provide a nautical note.
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John Lobb Foil Suede Boat Shoes
Image Credit: John Lobb If anything signifies the boat shoe’s recent turn from frat boy-staple to fashion darling, it’s the style’s adoption by none other than John Lobb. The ultra-high-end English maker’s Foil boat shoe is as luxurious as you’d expect, made with a velvety suede upper set on a closely welted rubber sole for a decidedly smarter look.
