ModernGear Men: Brad Pitt's fancy footwear for guys

Everyone keeps talking about Brangelina, aka Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt, on the red carpet yesterday in Cannes for Kung Fu Panda. The pictures speak volumes about their relationship as well as their personal sense of style. She looks like a Mother Earth goddess in a green Max Azria gown and just-right flowing hair and makeup, and Brad is well put together as always. There was one thing I couldn't get my eyes off of though, and no, that wasn't Angelina's fabulous twins-on-the-way cleavage (though it's quite yummy)...it was Brad's shoes.

You don't see that style of shoe on the average joe, and shoe lovers have been abuzz. I can't be sure of the designer he was wearing, but I can tell you one thing about the style...namely, that the strap that goes over the shoe is called a monk strap.

The design is based on one that monks used to wear centuries ago, and is considered to be casual, though I would describe these as more dressy, myself. It's probably best that I stop ruminating, though, and leave the rest to the shoe experts.

Some of the very best Monk Strap shoes are handmade in Europe (often by people who have made shoes for generations), and here are my favourites:

London, England
Designer: Edward Green Shoes
Walpole in Black Calf (with a great description of the model of shoe, click on picture to see larger)

Paris, France
Designer: Aubercy
Elmo model
Ashby

Designer: Pierre Corthay, whose ready-to-wear line debuted in 2001.
Modèle 6, Jouvet
Modèle 7, Montaigne
Designer: J.M Weston, French shoemaker since 1891
Monk Strap model, Derbies, model 531

Double Buckle Derby
England
Designer: Gaziano Girling
Carlisle in Vintage Pine

Windsor in Vintage Cedar
Carnegie in Bordeaux Calf

Milan, Italy
Designer: Santoni
Model 8507

Designers will typically have stockists lists you can refer to for where to find these, and in Canada and the U.S. I'd venture to guess they're at the finer clothing stores! I did find some Santoni monk strap styles with a quick search on Nordstrom's site:

Santoni 'Jadwin' Loafer
$575.00
Santoni 'Jaron' Cap Toe Monk Strap Oxford
$575.00
I think most fashion pundits are sort of missing the point when they're talking about the plug Angelina graciously gave for her shoes as we didn't get even a glimpse of them under her long dress - here's a picture:
and a link for those of you who are wondering what she chose (and I'll be blogging about them sometime soon). She said they were Cole Haan with Nike Air technology in the soles, and I'm sure the company is grateful for the shout-out but I'm more interested to see how the market and the public responds to Brad's dapper footwear choice.