Jerry will be familiar to many regulars who read the Herring Shoes Journal. He has been a contributor to our blog pages for many years with his sage and wise musings on style and footwear. We thought it was time to introduce him to you properly now that he has collaborated with us on a new pair of two-tone brogue boots…called Jerry.
Born in Australia and of Greek heritage, father-of-three Jerry lives in Melbourne and is an experienced chief operations officer. While he could be your everyday middle-aged professional, this man is not your average Joe…he is your flamboyant Jerry.
He has always liked clothing with an eccentric flair. The advent of the web offered Jerry an opportunity to look further afield for clothes and footwear that would meet his style requirements.
“I fell into loving the English eccentric style and I have been dressing that way for the last 20 years.”
This is how Jerry discovered Herring. Having already found an Australian company that sold Loake shoes, Jerry began to investigate other British-made footwear brands. In Herring, he found whole ranges of spectators and brogues to fall in love with.
“Ever since then, I have been buying shoes from Herring a number of times a year to build up a collection of eccentric and flamboyant styles.”
Jerry’s dress-sense originates from watching old movies and period dramas, such as Sherlock Holmes, and his passion for photography, particularly vintage images from the early and mid-20th century. However, he rarely makes the conservative choice despite those influences.
“I do not own a pair of the quintessential black Oxford caps, but I do own a brown pair. I like anything with colour or tweed. I love a hat and waistcoat; I like to dress myself up. A few years ago, I had a burgundy fedora hat made for me and I was asked if I wanted a feather, but I said no. With time, you become more confident and more daring, so I now have an aubergine fedora…with a feather!”
A self-confessed modern dandy, Jerry blends old style with new, usually a pair of jeans, often raising a few eyebrows along the way.
“I do stand out. That’s good and bad. Sometimes I attract a few contemptuous looks; sometimes people come up to me and tell me they love my style. Also, in my line of work, which sees me visit industrial environments, people there often struggle with my style, but then if I am willing to think about my style in a different way then that says I can address issues in the workplace from a different angle with diversity in mind.”
As an experienced dresser in all situations, we asked Jerry for his top recommendations for footwear for the following scenarios:
Wedding guest: “Choose the Chamberlain. It’s very classy and does not compete. The wedding is not about you. You are the guest, and you want to look good, but do not want to stand out; that’s for the bride and groom.”
Job interview: “Same as above. It is a beautiful shoe.”
Going out: “I wear spectators when I am going out.”
The Chamberlains make Jerry’s top three of favourite Herring shoes at number two. At three, are double monk shoes: “They are not too flamboyant. In fact, they are quite conservative but are still daring.”
The top spot had to go to the new Jerry. He has worked alongside us at Herring to create this new style boot that has been lovingly made by Cheaney in two colourways: burgundy calf with blue suede, and navy calf and suede.
“I am over the moon with the Jerry. A lot of my friends think it’s incredible that some guy in Australia has got himself involved in designing a boot in the UK! I am not sure which one I love the most. I think most people will be drawn to the navy as it is not as flamboyant, but I love burgundy!”
The launch of Jerry marks more than a decade of a close relationship between Herring and our Melbournian sole-mate.
“I have a genuine rapport and friendship with the guys at Herring. They deliver great customer service and have a family vibe. They are very professional about what they do and I think they do a great job. It is fabulous being a part of Herring Shoes.”
Jerry normally signs off his blogs for us with the phrase, “Be daring… be dashing,” but we feel this little snippet from his life sums him up nicely.
“I was on a tram once and a young guy said to me, ‘When I get to you age, I want to dress like you.’ I told him he did not have to wait!”
We love this attitude and love your style, Jerry. Never change!
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