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"FacebookPinterest\n\nPlanning on flexing your sartorial muscles in the blog arena? You'll need to come packing. And no, we're not referring to your pocket square game. Every week on The Eye, we'll cover a basic term you need to know right now... before you get laughed off the internet.\n\nOver the past few years we've seen a lot of iconic slip-ons rising from the archives to newfound popularity: penny loafers, tassel loafers, even Prince Albert slippers have seen a strong resurgence. And it seems that the next shoe in line is the venerable Belgian loafer.\n\nYes, Belgium...The land of chocolate, waffles, beer, and your next favorite shoe. On the feet of Italian tailoring heir, and #menswear posterboy Luca Rubinacci, in the pages of GQ sported by our own Glenn O'Brien (below), in the office of Club Monaco's Aaron Levine, the soft-soled slip ons are starting to appear everywhere. But, don't get us wrong, Belgian loafers are far from new. Like most of our favorite footwear, they were designed decades ago.\n\nIn the 1940s Henri Bendel (yes, that Henri Bendel, the first guy to bring Chanel to the states) designed an understatedly elegant loafer with a small, but unmistakable bow on the front. Bendel went directly to 300 year-old Belgian cobblers to produce the loafers using the meticulous \"turned\" method. This means that the shoes are sewn inside-out, and then flipped once they are completed, ensuring that each stitch is flawless.\n\nFacebookPinterest\n\nThe slip-ons become a WASP favorite (seen from Madison Avenue to Palm Beach) in the '60s as comfort and class were the themes of the day, but they fell out of more mainstream favor as styles changed. Despite the drop in popularity, Bendel's company, the aptly named Belgian Shoes, endured, keeping the same production techniques throughout the years. Now, the shoes' casual, yet stately aesthetic seems to be carrying them right back into the spotlight once again. More unique than a penny loafer, more comfortable than double monks, and backed by over fifty years of time tested craftsmanship, the Belgian loafer is a good way to add a touch of European elegance to your everyday grind. (And yes, real men wear ribbons.)\n\nJake Gallagher writes the blog Wax-Wane. He lives in Manhattan."^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
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