Skip to main content
  1. Home
  2. Fashion & Style
  3. Evergreens

La Canadienne’s Alberto penny loafers offer a modern take on a classic slip-on shoe

Why you should buy La Canadienne's Alberto loafers

La Canadienne Loafers
Nate Swanner/The Manual / The Manual

Do you know how penny loafers got their name? Back in the 1930s, a payphone would cost a measly two pennies to make a call. Penny loafers featured a slot in the tongue that could hold a penny in each one, just enough to cover an emergency phone call home if you needed. While classic shoes have developed over time, they have largely stayed the same. La Canadienne has found a way to upgrade the penny loafer and declare the return of the classic shoe.

La Canadienne Loafers
Courtesy of La Canadienne / La Canadienne

Back with class and style

We know what you’re thinking: these are my grandfather’s shoes. There is a reason that, even after retirement, Grandpa still wore a luxurious pair of men’s loafers both in the house and with his suit. The La Canadienne Alberto showcases a timeless style and slightly more oversized silhouette than its predecessors. Still, it retains the classic look that our fathers, grandfathers, and great-grandfathers came to know and love.

Recommended Videos

Like all shoes from La Canadienne, the Alberto is built to be worn around the city. The soft and light sole keeps the shoe as comfortable as a slip-on can be without being a slipper. The suede uppers feature the company’s revolutionary City Dry technology and will be suitable for either rain or shine. The penny loafer may have had a down cycle through the 2000s and 2010s, but La Canadienne is paving the way for the classic men’s slip-on shoes to make a giant comeback.

La Canadienne Loafers

Add some color to your shoe wardrobe

What makes these loafers feel like a significant upgrade over anything else on the market, other than the City Dry, is the color. While most others will be stuck in their black or brown leather penny loafers, you will be sporting the rich blue color that will keep you more stylish than the rest. The Buy at La Canadienne is the perfect fit for a casual moment or a unique choice for a dress-up event.

La Canadienne Loafers

How to wear the Alberto

These shoes will be suitable for nearly all moments you decide to wear them this summer. If you are headed to a barbeque, toss these on with a pair of shorts and some no-show socks for the ultimate casual look. If you are headed to a summer wedding, the loafers will look great with a linen suit. The Alberto will work best in the in-between moments when you wear jeans or chinos with a polo or a button-up shirt. If you stick to slim-cut jeans or chinos, these will be the perfect finishing touch to your outfit.

This summer, you will be tempted to stick to the usual white sneakers, sandals, and dress shoes. However, La Canadienne has made it easy to invest in one pair of shoes that can replace all three with style and panache. The Alberto signals the return of the penny loafer.

Buy at La Canadienne

Mark cut his teeth in the men’s style world when he sold suits first at box stores such as Men’s Wearhouse and Jos. A. Bank… Read Full Bio
Topics
&SONS brings back the jacket Steve McQueen wore in “The Great Escape”
Clothing, Coat, Jacket

Can you even call yourself a menswear brand if you don’t have your own leather jacket?

British label &SONS just came out with theirs, and it’s a doozy. They teamed up with The McQueen Estate to build a version of the A-2 flight jacket, aka the jacket Steve McQueen wears in The Great Escape.

Read more
Bulova’s new Shelby Racer Chronograph is inspired by the Daytona Coupe
Car, Watch, Man

We are fully in race-car-watch-season, and Bulova is joining the pack with their newest release. The New York company is back at it with Carroll Shelby Licensing for a new limited-edition chronograph.

This one’s the Shelby Racer, built around the 50th Anniversary Aluminum Edition Daytona Coupe. That’s the aluminum-bodied version of the car that made Shelby the only American manufacturer to win the FIA Sports Car World Championship in 1965. (If you’ve seen Ford v Ferrari, you already know the rivalry — that movie covered Shelby’s Le Mans campaign a year later, but the Daytona Coupe is where the beef with Ferrari actually started.)

Read more
The Gentleman’s Guide to Wedding Attire
Wedding toast

As a menswear writer, I take pride in snazzy dressing. You can imagine my chagrin when I showed up to a recent wedding as the worst-dressed groomsman. It had been a perfect storm of sartorial mishaps. I’d slimmed down since the last time I wore black tie, leaving the jacket and cummerbund baggy. My favorite cuff links had vanished on a work trip. To complete the fiasco, my tuxedo shirt bore an archipelago of merlot stains from a Christmas party in late ’25.

Fortunately, I had the chance to salvage my dignity at another wedding a few weeks later. I rallied like Rocky. Rush alterations. New cuff links. A crisp Marcella shirt. Polished black shoes. I went from disheveled schlub to black-tie stud.

Read more