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" I&amp;#039;ve worn boat shoes\u2014Sperrys, in particular\u2014every year since fifth grade. I stick to shades of brown, occasionally venturing into a lighter tan hue, but I never deviate too far from the minimalist mocassin construction. Sperrys work. Back then, they worked with a Catholic school uniform five days a week. They worked at recess when running a slant or rebounding on an eight foot hoop. They worked at family parties, on Easter Sundays, or even wading through a Vermont trout stream when fly-fishing with my dad. They&amp;#039;re waterproof ... sort of. Mainly they&amp;#039;ll just give you a firm grip on slippery surfaces. Paul Sperry, a sailor, invented the shoes in the 1930s after watching how his dog handled icy surfaces, concluding that the cracks in a paw&amp;#039;s padding played a key role. So Sperry carved slits into his rubber soles, which are still part of the shoe today. Yes, they will get soaked from time to time, but they&amp;#039;ll dry overnight with a crumpled newspaper inside, and they&amp;#039;ll be good as new by morning. (It rained hard as fk in New York last night and I did that exact thing. It worked. I&amp;#039;m wearing Sperrys right now.) Moreover, Sperrys can be worn at least six months of the year. You can throw them on with nearly any outfit as you run out to grab a six pack before a barbecue or a football game. You can wear them to the beach to stave off hot sand, use them as weights on diagonal corners of a blanket, then easily shake out the sand and wear them on the boardwalk later that evening. You can slip them on and off in an airport security line, or shove them in the top of your duffel at the last moment. You can wear them to drive\u2014or walk\u2014very long distances in practically any part of the country. The rawhide laces won&amp;#039;t snap, but the heels will gradually recede. Yes, you&amp;#039;ll probably need a new pair every year. But at the standard price of $90, that&amp;#039;s very doable. And will hopefully be doable for years to come. "^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
<http://www.esquire.com/style/mens-fashion/a29570/sperry-boat-shoes-history/>