just loafin' around

By Mia Nolen $59

No longer reserved to the flat variety, these loafer pumps and platforms are a great add to your fall wardrobe. Great shoe that moves seamlessly from day to evening. I'm in love with the Enzo's myself (see below)...I'm itching to get a pair!

A little penny loafer history from the penny loafer king, Ralph Lauren...

More than a century ago, Norwegian farmers first slipped on these styles—defined by the strap across the toe with a tab for the coin—to tend to their cows who were "loafing" out at pasture. It wasn't until 1930 that loafers entered fashion in the United States, as several shoe companies started producing American-made pairs—a tradition Ralph Lauren continues today—that became integral to the East Coast university look. The "penny" evolved from the 1940s and 1950s, when teenagers on dates would place a dime in their shoes (the price of a pay phone then) so they could call home for a ride. High schoolers later turned to copper-colored coins instead for a bolder statement, and style pioneers like James Dean and President John F. Kennedy helped popularize a more casual take on the loafer: worn without socks on weekends spent seaside. By the 1980s, this sockless styling (paired with pinstriped suits and tanned ankles) was key to the Ralph Lauren look that we still celebrate today.