5-4-2012
Buck Up
When, if ever, is it acceptable to wear bucks with a suit?—Greg, Baltimore, MD
Back in the 1800s the white buck was worn—literally—as a tennis shoe. So one might imagine it has certain “formal” limitations. But, nowadays, nothing could be further from the truth. Despite its humble beginnings the traditional white buck is the shoe that put the “white shoe” in the term “white shoe firm.” Meaning those 60s Ivy educated lawyers saw the shoe as a perfectly appropriate match to suit, tie and office. Those stubborn preppies not only began wearing white bucks with their summer suits, but also began to break the no-white-shoes-after-labor-day rule, claiming that their bucks—now dirty from summer scuffing—could be worn well into fall. Thus, the “dirty buck” was born and the shoe itself, now available in all the colors of the rainbow, has become a year-round presence. So, the buck does not stop here…or there. In fact these days the buck can go anywhere.
