The moment the heating goes off and I'm digging sandals out from under a winter's worth of boots, tan is the pair I want within reach first. Not the black ones, which I always think I'll wear more and don't, but the tan ones, because they go with everything I own without a second thought.
That's the real case for tan over any other colour here. It sits with navy, white, denim, khaki, every washed out summer dress and every pair of linen trousers that have gone slightly see through in the wash. It doesn't compete with a print the way black can, and it doesn't show dust the way pale nude does within about an hour of walking anywhere that isn't carpeted. Leather is what you want for the upper, proper leather, because it takes on a bit of colour variation as it wears and starts to look better rather than worse, whereas the bonded or coated stuff tends to crack at the crease by the second summer and never looks right again after that. Check the lining too. A leather lined sandal moves with a sweaty foot in a way that a plastic lining simply doesn't, and by August that difference is the whole story. Stitching should be even and the edges of the sole should be finished, not just glued and left raw, because that's usually the first place a cheap sandal lets go, right at the toe where the sole peels forward after a few weeks of pavement.
The buckles and any metal hardware are worth a proper look as well. Brass or a decent plated finish will survive sweat and seawater without going green or leaving a mark on your skin, where the cheaper plating does both by the second wear.
Tan earns its keep from the first warm weekend right through to the end of September, which is longer than most sandals get credit for. It's smart enough for a lunch you haven't fully dressed up for, relaxed enough for the sort of day that's mostly walking and standing around, and it reads as considered rather than lazy even with the simplest dress. If you're starting from nothing, go for a flat or a low block heel in a style with a proper strap across the front of the foot rather than a slide, because that's the one that will actually stay on your foot on uneven ground, cobbles, gravel, the lot, and it's the one you'll reach for on the most ordinary days, which in the end is most days.
Tomorrow I'd put mine with a pale linen shirt left open over a vest, straight leg jeans rolled once at the ankle, and nothing else decided yet.
Picked by Fiona Haigh. More in Sandals.
