Welcome back to the Gentleman's Gazette
and our ongoing series, Is it worth it? In
today's video, we'll discuss whether or
not the iconic line of loafers from G.H
Bass and company known as Weejuns are
worth your money. The flagship product
line from GH bass & Company, the Weejun,
has been a staple of Prep and Ivy dress
codes since its original introduction
back in 1936. By the way, if you'd like to
learn more about the prep style or Ivy
style dress codes, you can take a look at
our videos on those subjects here. But
before we zero in on Bass Weejuns, let's
first take a moment to cover what
actually qualifies a shoe as a loafer.
You can find the most detailed
information in our loafer guide video
here but in the meantime, here are the
broad strokes of what a loafer is.
Firstly, and perhaps most obviously, a
loafer has no laces. Phrased another way,
it is a type of slip-on shoe. Also, a
loafer is a type of so-called
low shoe meaning that the ankle is
exposed and the shoe doesn't wrap snugly
around. Loafers will often feature a
heel with a relatively low profile
compared to some other dress shoe styles.
And while the upper vamp of a loafer
will often feature a moccasin like
construction, the sole of a loafer is
separate from its upper. By the way, if
you're unfamiliar with any of these
terms, you can check out our guide to the
anatomy of a dress shoe, here. Loafers
will sometimes, though not always, feature
an additional strip of leather across
the vamp referred to as a saddle. Those
are the general notes on what makes a
loafer a loafer. For more information on
how they were inspired by but are
different from moccasins, the full loafer
guide has you covered. Now, one more thing
to cover before we get into the specific
appraisal of the
models of shoe we selected for today's
video, that would be a brief
historical overview of G.H Bass and company.
George Henry Bass entered the shoe
business in 1876 as a junior partner in
the EP Packard company out of Wilton,
Maine. Within three years, he had assumed
full control of the company and given it
his name. Bass and company made moccasins
as early as 1906 which they dubbed the
"bass moccasin cruiser." Other moccasin
styles were also created which included
the Rangeley, the Ski Moccasin, and the
curiously named Woc-o-Moc. Upon George
Henry's passing in 1925, his sons John
and Willard would take over the company.
Bass was also well known for its
aviation and ski boots often used on
Arctic expeditions but they would have
their biggest success in 1936 with the
premiere of the Weejun loafer. The
moccasin inspired design of the shoe,
which included most of the features we
outlined above, did include a strip of
leather across the vamp with a
diamond-shaped cutout. Bass christened
their shoes weejuns to sound like
Norwegians. A nod to the roots of the
loafer style shoe and also to
differentiate their shoes from other
slightly similar styles that had already
hit the market.
From then on, weejuns became immensely
popular, particularly in America, and
especially with prep school students in
the 1950s. While students would
originally keep dimes in the cutouts of
their saddles in order to make pay phone
calls, the copper color of pennies was
more fashionable with the brown leather
shoes offered at the time and therefore,
they became known as penny loafers.
Bass and company was purchased by Chesebrough-Ponds Incorporated of Greenwich,
Connecticut in 1978 and would be sold to
Phillips-Van Heusen, later the PVH
corporation in 1987. And since 2013, the
brand has been owned by the G3 apparel
group. Today,
Bass has expanded the original range of
Weejun styles to include a much broader
range of options. There are weejuns in
the classic leather style, of course, but
also in patterned fabric, suede, faux
lizard skin, and more. They offer weejuns
with dyed or natural colored leather
soles, as well as crepe soles and rubber
soles, which have been dubbed easy
weejuns.
Additionally, the famous saddle strip has
also been supplemented by tassels, horse
bits, kilted straps, and more. And Bass has
extended its original product range to
include weejuns for women and children,
as well as men. For today's video, we
selected two different styles of weejuns.
First is the Logan which is billed as
the original style with a dyed edge
leather sole and a flat strap across the
vamp. For the Logan, we selected the
medium brown leather that was most
commonly seen in many vintage
advertisements for Weejuns. The other
style is the Larson in blue which
features a natural colored leather sole
and contrast stitching, as well as
decorations on the side of the saddle
strap, referred to in the loafer world as
beefrolls. Both of these pairs retail on
the Bass website for a price of 110
dollars. This is the standard price for
most pairs of Weejuns although Bass does
offer other styles for as little as 95
dollars and as much as 195.
Both of the styles we
selected today features smooth leather
soles with rubber top lifts on the heels,
as well as a handcrafted welt. As for the
build quality of the shoes, they both
seem fairly solid if somewhat
unremarkable.
There are a few oddly spaced stitches on
the welt of the Logan's and the beef
rolls on the Larson's do seem a bit
asymmetrical. The subtle color variation
in the medium brown of the Logan's is
pleasing, though they do have a slightly
finish that may suggest that the leather
was either treated or coated somehow.
Meanwhile, the blue Larson's have a more
understated matte finish to them. In
addition to the uneven stitching on the
sole of the Logan's, there was also a
slight tear in the leather on one of the
seams of the upper. There are a small
handful of quality American shoemakers
who still produce their products in the
United States. Allen Edmonds, for example,
makes most of their shoes in the US.
However, as with a great many number of
historic American brands, Bass, at this
point, has moved construction of their
shoes to other locations and in this
case, both of the pairs we ordered were
put together in El Salvador.
As for fit and comfort, both pairs fit
true to size.
I ordered an eight and a half in both
and they're fairly comfortable out of
the box. More comfortable and better
fitting, in fact, than the dark oxblood
penny loafers I recently ordered from
Allen Edmonds. Because by nature, a loafer
covers less of the foot however, fit will
vary not only from brand to brand and
style to style but indeed from pair to
pair. In this case, both of the styles we
ordered did fit me well. On the Bass web
site, most models are offered in full and
half sizes and some are also offered in
wider widths, though not all. Moving on
from build quality and initial
impressions then, let's answer the
question of how we think you might best
wear these loafer styles. Obviously, the
contrast stitching and natural colored
sole of the Larson's make them a more
casual loafer style. Really more in line
with something like a boat shoe. By the
way, if you'd like to take a look at our
guide to boat shoes, you can find it here.
And while it's obviously more
traditional, the Logan would probably
look best with a smart casual ensemble.
Its overall effect is a bit too mid level
in terms of style and formality to
really be paired with something like a
full suit. All of this then brings us to
our main question
for today, do we think that a pair of
Weejuns from G.H Bass and company are worth
it?
While the brand has maintained its
classic styles and also expanded into
new territory, we think that the models
of today are ultimately serviceable
shoes. That is to say, they're certainly
better than something like a cemented
sole model you would get from a typical
department store but there are also
higher quality options out there.
Something from Allen Edmonds in America,
for instance, or a brand like Loake in
England. On that note,
stay tuned because we've got a great
video covering the best men's dress shoes
in the $100 to $300 price range
coming soon. Generally then, we think that
the $110 price point is just about right
for a modern pair of Weejuns. If cared
for properly, they could certainly last
you for a handful of years and could be
resold by a skilled cobbler, assuming you
have leather soled models. Meanwhile, the
$95 easy Weejuns give off the impression
of being somewhat cheaper with features
like a small tag on the side of the shoe
and slightly chunkier rubber soles. And
assuming the same general build quality,
we'd say that the shoes at the higher
end of the line are probably priced a
bit higher than they're worth. It should
be acknowledged, of course, that we've
formed these impressions of the shoe
after only having them for a short while
and of course, to really get the full
experience, you'd want to wear them for a
longer period of time, at least a few
months. Overall then, we'd say that a pair
of Weejuns from GH bass and company is
worth it if you're looking to spend just
enough money to get a smart casual shoe
with solid but unremarkable built. This
historic brand fortunately hasn't become
a shadow of its former self but of
course, there are higher quality loafers
out there if you're looking to spend
even a hundred or perhaps even just $50
more. And one more thing here, be sure to
check out our full playlist of is it
worth it videos here for reviews of
other iconic brands and items. Today's
video features a summery casual outfit
with a color palette that's based around
the two pairs of Weejuns we selected. My
polo shirt is medium blue and there's a
slight color variance in the weave. It
also features a light blue inner placket,
dark brown buttons with white accents
and light blue contrast stitching. by the
way if you'd like more information on
polo shirts and what makes a good one
you can check out our guide on that
subject here. My trousers are plain brown
as is my belt which features a silver
buckle and my socks feature alternating
light and dark blue in a herringbone
pattern I won't go over my shoes here of
course because we've already discussed
them in depth and while today's outfit
is exceptionally casual and therefore
doesn't feature any accessories if
you're interested in different types of
menswear accessories such as
boutonnieres collar pins pocket squares
and so on you can check out the Fort
Belvedere shop here
