Just In! The New Favourbrook Velvet Slippers

The History of the Slipper

It’s thought that the slipper, or at least shoes that we could define as being 'slipperish' (slippery?!), date back many centuries, perhaps as far back as 4700 BCE, when a similar style was worn by the Chinese. The word itself was apparently first used in 1478. Silk, velvet, or leather house slippers were worn by much of the European ruling class and the wealthy, as much for comfort as they were a status symbol. In Roman times, it was not uncommon for important people to be buried with their slippers on. The fact that they were so inappropriate for outdoor use only added to the status effect. Even today, they still represent a sartorial boundary between inside and outside, with slipper culture a very important part of everyday Japanese etiquette. 

The Favourbrook Slipper

When slippers aren’t padding around the house or pretending to be loafers, they are usually lording it up in the shape of the Prince Albert slipper, so called because Queen Victoria’s royal consort was rather partial to them (not to be confused with the Prince Albert piercing we might add). As mentioned earlier, the Albert slipper is a slip-on style with a heel, usually constructed from velvet and featuring an altogether firmer leather sole, wooden block heel, and a quilted lining. They were originally worn by Victorian aristocrats as house shoes, as a means of keeping the dirt out of their homes. A leather version of the Albert is actually called a Churchill, if you wanted to bore anyone with a useless fact, but for the most part, black velvet is the standard, with navy and burgundy also very popular, hence why they take their place in our collection. Embroidered styles are a fun alternative to the classic plain velvet option, which is why we created our rather flamboyant floral style, which offers a bolt of colour to black tie looks.

Our favourite way to wear velvet slippers is indeed black tie, whether classic black tuxedo jacket, or the more contemporary velvet dinner jacket option. The slippers bookend the look with a hint a colour and a modicum of rich texture, or in the case of our embroidered style, with a flash of vibrant pattern. They are typically worn with black silk socks but in the summer months you could certainly go sockless with an unstructured linen dinner suit for example. But it's not only black tie where the velvet slipper thrives. They can be worn with a smart pair of tailored wool trousers and a white dress shirt together with one of our velvet gilets for a relaxed formal lunch look. They really are quite versatile. Prince Albert slippers have made many an appearance at Pitti Uomo over the years, often styled with relaxed denim jeans and a blazer, which certainly ticks all the sprezzatura boxes, but it’s a look you need to be confident in wearing. It has modern dandy vibes, which in the right circles can be a great look.