Lemaire Women’s Flat Piped Slippers- Black

This is the piped slipper built as a proper flat. The upper is the same idea, supple leather cut close enough to stay on without a fastening, with corded piping run along the seam to stiffen the opening and draw a fine line around the shoe. What changes is underneath, and it changes everything. A leather sole is thin, firm, and quiet in a different way from crepe: it puts the foot closer to the ground, it gives the shoe a cleaner edge because there is no soft rubber bulking out the welt, and it can be resoled indefinitely by a good cobbler, which a crepe sole cannot in the same way. It also means this is a dry weather shoe. A leather sole on wet pavement is slippery and wears quickly, and that is not a flaw in the shoe; it is what a leather sole is. The trade is deliberate. You give up all-weather wear and get a flatter, finer, more formal shoe that can be kept for years.

A leather-soled slipper is a dress shoe pretending to be a soft one, and that is a genuinely useful thing to own. It is also the version that can be resoled.

The same piped construction Lemaire uses across its slippers, built here for a finer sole.

Supple leather upper and a leather sole, with piped seams. Made in Portugal. We hold no composition and no leather type for this shoe.

A leather sole has no give underfoot at first and will feel firmer than a crepe one until it has been worn in, after which it molds. With no fastening the shoe stays on by cut, so it should be close over the instep from the start. We do not hold a size chart for Lemaire footwear.

The flatter profile makes this the one that goes under a tailored trouser or a long skirt cleanly, where a crepe sole would read as casual. Black on black means the piping is the detail.

A leather sole needs a dry night between wears and should be kept off wet pavement, and it is worth having it protected or resoled by a cobbler before it wears through rather than after. Wipe the uppers, condition sparingly. Our fabric care guide covers leather, suede, and nubuck.

The Men's Piped Crepe Slippers is the crepe-soled version. In a flat, the Micro Ballerina Flat and the Square Flat Ballerina. Everything we carry from Lemaire is listed together.