In Review: Jack Erwin Decker Driving Loafer

Jack Erwin Decker – $188

• Style: Penny strap driving loafer with deck-shoe style soles (driver nubs on achilles but not underfoot)
• Materials: Suede upper (6 colors), leather lined, rubber soles.
• Cushioning/Comfort? Yes, in a lightweight way. Cushioning is by way of “Arneflex micro-foam for support and comfort.”
• Construction: Hybrid? Uppers are stitched to the outsole with the insoles glued down to the leather lining. But there’s a cutout in the leather lining under the ball of the foot where the topside of the rubber outsole makes direct contact with the underside of the foam insole.
• Made in: Brazil or Portugal (pair tested were made in Brazil)
• Sales? Rarely.
• Sizing: Whole sizes only, size UP if in between. “This style is cut slightly narrow, as the width will stretch after a few wears.” Wide widths are out of luck.
• TL;DR Grade: 7/10 if you get your sizing right.

Six different shades to pick from

Penny loafers are fine but can look out of place in warm weather. Drivers are comfortable while driving, but some can lack longer term “walk around” comfort due to their funky nubby soles. Deck shoes are preppy classics… but not everyone wants to be preppy.

Enter Jack Erwin’s Decker, a footwear style Frankenstein trying to serve all our needs, while avoiding those specific penny, driver, and deck shoe drawbacks.

Driver heels, deck shoe soles.

It’s a chimera, but somehow it all works. Even the rubber nubs on the heels and the flat deck-inspired soles seem to go together. (So it’s driving AND aquatic inspired? RADDDDD.) And the materials they use are nice. Nice suede to the uppers, leather linings are soft and smooth, and even the rubber soles feel like good quality.

The fit and comfort is where things get a little weird.

Leather lined. Made in Brazil. 
Whole sizes only. No half sizes. SIZE UP if in-between.
And the width runs noticeably slim.

They’re only sold in half sizes and the width is significantly trim. Complicating this is the penny strap, which otherwise looks good in a  smart-casual-versatile way, but acts as a seat-belt, really restraining those of us with slightly wide feet from comfortably slipping into these slip ons.

Suede uppers are nice and soft.
“Camel” shade is noticeably lighter in person.

Jack Erwin’s site says they run purposefully trim because they’ll stretch out, but if you find yourself caught between sizes, you may find yourself out of luck. Example: I’m a 10.5 D (borderline wide width) and I struggle to get my foot into a size 10. Yet a size 11 is longer than normal for me, which can lead to slippage when you’re talking about loafers. YMMV of course, but know that their returns/exchanges process isn’t super accommodating:

• Returns/exchanges have to be executed within 14 days
• A $14 shipping and processing fee will apply to all returns/exchanges.
• You can waive the fee by opting into something called “Checkout+” for $7.98 (sorry, wut?)
• They require photo uploads for all return and exchange requests (ah c’mon, really?)

Jack Erwin says they run slim to accommodate breaking in/stretching out,
but the well anchored penny strap restrains a lot of potential flex.

The leather topped foam insoles are comfortable enough, but the rubber soles, as quality as they feel, are pretty hard. And those rubber insoles make direct contact with the underside of the foam inserts under the ball of the foot. Peeling back the glued down insole reveals a hole which has been cut in the leather lining towards the front of the shoe. That leaves the stitching which attaches the uppers to the outsoles anchored by just a slim stretch of leather, and the underside of the foam insoles resting directly on the hard rubber outsoles:

Leather lining gets cut out at the ball of the foot,
where the top of the outsole directly meets the underside of the foam insoles.
Odd?

No doubt Jack Erwin has hit on a design which combines the best of three different loafer styles into one versatile warm weather pair of shoes. But the slim fit & no half-sizes, disincentivizing returns/exchanges process, and odd construction make for a combo of a different sort. And their reluctance to run sales + an MSRP starting to creep up on $200 will lead a lot of us looking elsewhere.