Leather Soles Vs. Salt: One Man's Struggle

Navigating city streets in a time of ice melt.

My Boston neighborhood is separated from the rest of the city by three concrete bridges spanning the highway. Due to—laws?—the sidewalk portions of said bridges are covered in road salt from November to March. And I mean “covered”: this is no sprinkling, but rather several upturned buckets, constituting a man-made beach of leather-eating ice preventatives.

For years, I’d try to sneak around the salt, hopping from leather sole to leather sole on those few portions of bald concrete. But inevitably, my Aldens would strike salt, prompting a dressing-down from my cobbler the next time I needed my Leisure Handsewns resoled.

In time, this fostered a dangerously reactionary position in my mind to road salt generally. I’d force my wife to listen to long harangues on how a municipal zeal for salt at the first rumor of a snowflake had forced men to abandon their leather-soled footwear, putting us on the road to a dystopia where only Crocs remained. This attitude was corrected by a winter trip to Portland, Maine, where I was free to skitter and slip on unsalted sidewalks for an entire weekend.

All of this is a long way of saying that I’ve made my peace with road salt, and may even become grateful for it should I live to that ripe old age when hips are in constant danger of breaking. And instead of complaining about it, I’ve built up a stable of sidewalk-safe footwear for the salted months, which I’ll share below.

For Casual Wear

I’ve become a big fan of the Clifford boot and Crosby boot from Drake’s; the former has a crepe sole, while the latter comes in crepe and Dainite-style rubber-soled iterations (I also own a rubber-soled version of the Clifford, which sadly seems to be discontinued).

I’ve also gotten good wear out of the two commando sole Alden styles I own: a snuff suede Indy boot I bought from David Wood in Portland, and a Color 8 shell Chukka boot made for Drake’s (and scooped up on eBay in a virtually unworn state). While fantastic, both of the Drake’s boots are pricey, and more affordable versions can be found via Astorflex.

For Formal Wear

I’m a stickler for a classic leather sole, and had previously bought my dress shoes accordingly. But this season I finally broke down and bought two pairs specifically for stepping over road salt on my way to a tie-mandated occasion: the Connaught 2 oxford and Cavendish tassel loafer from Crockett & Jones, both with their thin “city rubber” soles. For a more price conscious option, I’d recommend Morjas, whose more generously shaped tassel loafer and oxford can be purchased with rubber soles.

For Actively Awful Weather

If it’s wet out and there’s road salt, I’ll avoid wearing any kind of leather footwear if I can really help it. If an occasion requires it, I’ll just throw my oxfords or loafers into a bag and take to the streets in my L.L. Bean Gumshoes. Yes, I have the boots, but these only come out a few times a year, in the case of real snowfall. Otherwise, the gumshoes are just so much easier to slip in and out of.

Cut, Make & Trim

• I’ve written a few pieces for Robb Report related to the topic above, namely Dainite soles and the commando sole.

• I’ve had a quite busy month with work, which is why this space has been so quiet lately. At Robb Report, I’ve written up a new innovation in suiting from Robert Spangle; Chipeta’s informed approach to selling Native American jewelry; The Armoury’s new MTO program for Koji Suzuki shoes; The opening of F.E. Castleberry’s New York store; and the inside story of off-white jacket in Masters of the Air.