The most common question on the ground floor is some version of the same thing: can I wear trainers to this? It is usually a wedding afters, a restaurant, a work day with no fixed dress code, or a christening. The honest answer is that it depends less on the event than on the shoe, and most men own the wrong one for the occasion they are worried about.
What "smart casual" actually means
On an Irish invitation, smart casual means: do not wear a suit, and do not wear runners. That is the whole instruction. It leaves an enormous middle ground, and the shoe is what decides which side of the line you land on.
The test is simple. If the shoe looks like it was designed for sport — a chunky sole, mesh panels, bright colours, a visible air unit — it reads as a runner no matter what you wear it with. If it is leather, low, and clean, it reads as a shoe. A white leather court trainer with chinos is smart casual. The same outfit with a running shoe is not.
The three tiers
Trainers. Court shapes in leather or suede — the Lacoste Carnaby, the Tommy cupsoles, the Ecco and Bugatti leather styles. These go with jeans, chinos and shorts, and at the smarter end they hold their own at anything short of a church. Shop men's trainers, or the Lacoste trainers specifically.
Smart casual shoes. The tier most men skip, and the one that solves the most problems. Leather shoes that are not formal — loafers, leather lace-ups on a rubber sole, Chelsea boots, suede derbies. They work with chinos and dark jeans, they work under a sports jacket, and nobody will ever think you underdressed. Shop smart casual shoes.
Formal shoes. Black or dark brown leather with a leather or thin rubber sole — Oxfords, brogues, derbies. These are for suits, weddings, funerals and interviews, and they look wrong with jeans no matter how often the internet says otherwise. Shop formal shoes.
If you only buy one pair
Buy a dark brown or navy leather shoe on a rubber sole — a loafer or a plain derby. It covers more ground than anything else: fine with jeans, fine with chinos, fine under a jacket, and fine at a wedding afters. A white leather trainer is the second most useful pair, and a black formal shoe the third, because it does exactly one job.
The pair most men buy first — a sport runner — is the least useful of the four, because it only works with one kind of outfit.
Colour, briefly
Brown shoes go with more than black ones. Navy, grey and olive trousers all sit better over brown leather, and brown is the correct choice with chinos and with jeans. Keep black for suits and for genuinely formal days.
Wet feet
Worth saying, because it is Ireland. Leather soles are not for winter — they soak through and they are lethal on wet tile. If you want one shoe for October to March, get a leather upper on a rubber sole, and keep any leather-soled pair for dry occasions. A pair of proper boots is the other honest answer.
Sizing
Our sizes are UK. Most brands here run true to size, but Lloyd runs narrow, Ecco and Anatomic run generous through the width, and Lacoste court trainers are cut narrow through the toe box. If you are between sizes in a leather shoe, take the larger — leather gives across the width but never across the length.
Browse all men's shoes and boots, or call in to us on High Street in Ennis and we will measure you properly. Free delivery on orders over €89 across Ireland, and click and collect on everything.