中年男人买鞋记

If there is one great thing about being a middle-aged man, coming in to work every day, rain or shine, it is this: you don’t ever have to worry about how to dress. It’s a no-brainer. A well-cut suit, plain shirt, subtly patterned tie and formal, polished shoes. That’s it. There are small variations to consider, boldness of tie pattern, width of shirt collar, sobriety of sock. Hefty magazines are devoted to these infinitesimal themes, contradictory arguments shooting back and forth with the fervour of a medieval theological debate. But the commandments are pretty much set in stone. It’s hard to go wrong.

对每天风雨无阻去上班的中年男人来说，要说人到中年有啥值得炫耀之事，那就是从来不必担心自己的穿着。可以说不费吹灰之力——一身做工精良的西服、素色衬衣、精细图案的领带以及擦得锃亮的正式皮鞋，仅此而已。当然有时需要略微做些改动——领带图案需醒目些，衬衣领口要宽一些、袜子得庄重些。大量杂志专门在这些鸡毛蒜皮的细节上做文章，就像中世纪吵得不亦乐乎的神学辩论一样，东忽悠一下，西忽悠一下，前后自相矛盾。但穿衣戒律仍是基本保持原样，很难会出啥差错。

Come the weekend, however, and the headaches begin. The scariest phrase in the English language, if you are a middle-aged man, appears on well-intentioned invitations: SMART CASUAL. That’s just like life, waiting until you are sliding into downtime before it tosses an oxymoron into your sleepy brain.

但一到周末，头疼事出现了。如果您是中年人，最让人担惊受怕的英语短语出现在善意的广告中——时尚休闲()。它与生活一样，不知不觉到了周末，就让你懵懵懂懂的大脑立马做出两难抉择，简直让人措手不及。

By far the trickiest part of weekend dressing is footwear. Look: there is no smart casual in footwear. Smart is what you wear to work. Casual is trainers: comfortable, fashionable. A chairman of the Royal Opera House once declared that he never wanted to sit next to anyone wearing trainers. He was ridiculed. It was a seminal cultural-podiatric moment. We are the generation that invented trainers, and now we had earned the right to wear them, whenever, wherever.

迄今为止，周末着装最难定的是鞋。诸位请看：鞋，不存在时尚休闲这一说。时尚牵扯的是你穿啥衣服去上班，休闲牵扯的则是运动鞋：得既舒适又新潮。皇家歌剧院(Royal Opera House)一位负责人曾公开说自己永远不愿意坐在穿运动鞋的嘉宾旁。他的话招来一片嘲笑声，因为当时正值社会关注生殖文化与足疾，我们现代人发明了运动鞋，因此理所当然能在任何时间、任何地方穿它们。

Joe Ottaway, personal shopping consultant at Selfridges, grimaces. “I’m not a great trainer fan, he says. He admits that weekend footwear can be a thorny problem. “What is important is to find something that is age-appropriate. It seems, not for the first time, that I have missed a key trend in men’s fashion. “The age of the well-dressed, well-groomed man is coming back. And it means, beyond a certain age, no trainers. What age might that be? “25, says Ottaway. Chilling: I could have a son who is too old to wear trainers.

伦敦塞尔福里奇(Selfridges)百货店个人购物咨询员乔·奥特维(Joe Ottaway)故作痛苦状。“我不是太喜欢运动鞋，他说。他承认周末穿啥鞋是件棘手事。“关键是要穿适合自己年龄段的鞋。看来，本人不是第一回没跟上男士主流时尚了。“男士穿着考究入时的年代已经卷土重来。这意味着超出一定年龄，就不能再穿运动鞋了，那么定在什么年龄呢？“25岁为界，奥特维说。这让人都不寒而栗：我的儿子都已超过穿运动鞋的年龄了。

Ottaway, who supervises the store’s personal shopping service for men, is in a position to help. I’m here on the opening day of Selfridges’ new men’s shoe department: more than 15,000 sq ft featuring 250 brands and 72,000 pairs of shoes. We are in search of the perfect weekend shoe: something “sharp, smart, practical, hard-wearing, a soft brogue, a casual boot. Rather than a Nike Air Max.

奥特维是塞尔福里奇个人购物咨询部负责人，他可以给我“施以援手。塞尔福里奇新款男鞋部第一天开张时，本人亲临现场：15000多平方英尺的营业面积、250种品牌以及72000双鞋。我在物色最适合周末穿的鞋——时髦、漂亮、实用又耐穿，软皮布洛克鞋或是休闲皮靴都行，而不能是耐克Air Max气垫鞋。

There is the sublime and the ridiculous in the lavishly scaled hall – but I am not sure which is which. It is an undeniably impressive, airy space, which sets me thinking: could men’s shoes become the new women’s shoes? Is there a male equivalent of the fetishistic high heel, the all-purpose ballet pump, the giveaway blood-red sole? I am sceptical. For the record, I have never, ever engaged in a shoe conversation with a male friend. But times change, and to be well-heeled these days requires one to be well-heeled. For the hell of it, Ottaway shows me a ￡8,195 pair of crocodile-skin loafers from Tom Ford. I flee, heading for an extravagant collection of trainers. “Off limits! he says. Now here is the problem, I protest. The concept of the perfect weekend shoe depends on what constitutes the perfect weekend. Mine may include a football match, a church service, shopping for art in Hoxton, taking long walks in the Cotswolds.

店面装潢精美、营业规模大，里面既有高档次鞋，也不乏荒诞的款式——都把我整得云里雾里。不可否认，整个场景恢弘、壮观，不由得让我胡思乱想：男款鞋有朝一日会变成新女款式样吗？男人是否也会盲目痴迷高跟鞋与通用型芭蕾舞鞋、喜欢上免费赠送的血红色鞋底？我对此持怀疑态度。有据为证，本人从未与男士聊过鞋的话题。但此一时彼一时也，现如今，穿得该考究就得考究。更好玩的是：奥特维给我看了一双标价7185英镑、鳄鱼皮做的汤姆·福特(Tom Ford)乐福鞋。我立马“抱头鼠窜、直奔奢侈款运动鞋专柜。“禁止入内！奥特维对我说。我就到此处买鞋，我立马抗议道。周末最适合穿啥鞋取决于周末要做啥事。我的周末包括足球赛、教会服务、到霍斯顿(Hoxton)去买艺术品，还有就是去科茨沃尔德（Cotswolds，英国西部）远足。

He is unfazed. He shows me a tan pair of brogues by Grenson (￡205). “They are versatile, refined. You can go out in the evening with these. I would always recommend a great tan brogue. Not great for muddy fields, I say. Over to a strapping pair of fur-lined Boss boots in chocolate brown (￡365). They are seriously comfortable, and rather dashing. Prada offers its customary mix of conceptual genius and ferocious impracticality. I finger a pair of sturdy-soled black shoes with stylised daisies all over them (￡870). “Perfect if you are a fashionista, says Ottaway. “You have to go with the whole look to do it justice.

奥特维显得不慌不忙，给我看了一双Grenson的棕褐色布洛克鞋（售价205英镑）。“这双鞋做工精细、功能齐全，你可以傍晚穿着出去应酬。我总爱推荐棕褐色布洛克鞋。它并不适合在泥地里穿，我对他说。于是他转而向我推荐了Boss一款深棕色衬毛皮的系带靴（售价365英镑），试穿后既庄重又舒适，而且还很时髦。普拉达(Prada)推出的还是集天才设计理念与毫不实用于一身的款式。我手指一双通体缀着固定雏菊花样、黑色耐磨底的皮鞋（售价870英镑）。“你若是时尚达人，那么穿它就再适合不过了，奥特维说。“但要穿出效果，你得兼顾整体形象。

There is a corner devoted to Italian elegance: the pimply Tod’s driving shoes and their imitators. I spy a pair of leopard-skin loafers. “He has a house on the C?te d’Azur, and a yacht waiting for him, says Ottaway. We linger over desert boots: “Indie music, Steve McQueen, cardigan, Triumph motorbike. He is no longer using verbs. We are in dreamland. It is time to narrow down our choice. I plump for the brogues and the boots, which covers pretty much everything you could do over a weekend. The only time I will ever need trainers again is to go jogging. And that’s not the point of a weekend at all.

店面有一个拐角专售意大利经典鞋——带疙瘩的Tod’s驾驶鞋以及其各种仿版鞋。我瞅见了一双豹皮乐福鞋。“他在黄金海岸(C?te d’Azur)都有别墅及游艇，奥特维说。我俩徘徊在沙地靴专柜：“回想着史蒂夫·麦奎因(Steve McQueen)身穿羊毛衫、听着独立音乐(Indie music)、骑着Triumph摩托的经典画面。他连动词都不用了，我俩都徜徉在梦境中。时候不早了，看来我得缩小选择范围，最终选了布洛克鞋与皮靴，周末穿着它们，做任何事都很方便。看来唯一再次需要穿运动鞋是去慢跑，而那压根不该是周末的事。

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