The Written Word

Another one from my Summer Wish List can now be checked off.  I have been searching for a good deal on some penny loafers for awhile now, and finally found some.  I purchased them on ebay, brand new, for over 50% savings off of the regular price.  These are the J.Crew Bass Weejuns from last spring,   making it over a year now of me keeping an eye out for these.

The penny loafer, specifically the Bass Weejun, is one of the few items that just screams American prep, which is odd considering their history.  The first loafers were made in Norway, and sold throughout Europe in the 1930's.  American tourists began purchasing these loafers and bringing them to the United States, creating a demand here for these loafers.

G.H. Bass started producing the shoe stateside, naming it the Weejun, after the Norwegians that created the loafer.  Bass however, was the first to add the strap, making what is now known as the "penny loafer."  It was not until the 1950's when prep school students began inserting pennies into the strap.  This trend has stuck, and the penny loafer has been a prep essential ever since.

Finally, I can now take part in this prep tradition, albeit with a slight change.  I have chosen to insert gold dollars in mine, a little play on the classic penny.