The best men’s slip-on shoes are like dudes who meditate: they’re calm, chill, at ease, enlightened. The world is complicated enough, they seem to suggest—why muddle it further with laces? Add slip-ons to your daily wardrobe, ridding your routine of the extraneous steps separating you from making the train (and the IRL meeting you’re hightailing it to), and you’ll gain more than a crucial few minutes. Free your hands and your mind will follow, they gently assure us.
Slip-on shoes, we’ll grant you, tend to skew a bit more casual than their lace-up counterparts. But for every chilled-out Vans sneaker, there’s an equal and opposite Bass penny loafer. So we slipped on all of ‘em to ID the crême de la créme of each category, from the sporty to the dressy to the outdoorsy and every superlative version between. Below are the men’s slip-on shoes our feet appreciated most.
The Best Slip-On Shoes for Men, According to GQ
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Best Slip-On Sneakers: Vans Classic Slip-On
If we’re talking the best men’s slip-on sneaker, would you expect anything other than the Vans classic? The SoCal stompers are archetypal to an entire genre of footwear and have become a staple in every wardrobe from skaters to the nurses that treat their broken ankles. Since their introduction in 1977, the Vans Slip-On has only grown more popular thanks to its super simple design. They may be better for skating than they are for walking, but if you know anything about the sport, it’s all about style. So, even if you can’t push a board down the street without falling, your slip-ons will at least make you look good on your way to the ground.
Best Slip-On Shoes for the Gym: Nike Metcon 9 EasyOn
Pros
- Suitable for any workout in your regimen
- Breathable, comfortable, and supportive
- Pretty handsome, as far as gym shoes go
Cons
- Best worn to the gym, and the gym only
- Colors are limited
The Metcons won our editors over and earned them the spot as the best cross-training shoe, so it’s only natural that their slip-on brethren would earn bragging rights here. If you’re confused, don’t worry. Yes, they do have laces, but they’re not exactly lace-ups. See, the magic comes with Nike’s EasyOn design which makes the heel collapsible and even hands-free. You’ll only have to adjust the laces once and you’ll be set forever—kinda like a car with memory seats. The breathable mesh uppers keep your feet dry and the supportive midsole and arch support ensure each stride and squat are stable. If you need a pair of lightweight shoes to rock as your running shoes as well as throwing iron around but can’t bring yourself to tie a couple laces, then these are for you.
Best Slip-On Loafers: G.H. Bass & Co. Weejuns Heritage Larson Leather Penny Loafers
G.H. Bass & Co.
Weejuns Heritage Larson Leather Penny Loafers
Pros
- Unimpeachable pedigree
- As classic as loafers get
- Easily repairable soles
Cons
- Leather can be tough before breaking in
- Vamp is a bit wider than we’d like
Most menswear roads lead back to the loafer. And not just any loafer, but the ubiquitous Bass Weejuns. They made waves in the United States after WWII to become a staple of preppy dressing. Nowadays, they’re everywhere from finance bros to fashion obsessives and everyone in-between. That’s because they manage to balance casual and dressy like no other shoe, so you can really wear them for almost any situation. Job interview? Yes. Quick corner store run? Yep. Fancy date? You bet. Skateboarding? Probably not, but it would look sick. The loafer’s versatility is unmatched and whether you need a pair of dress shoes to match your suit or just some casual slip ons to pair with your vintage jeans, you’d killing more than two birds with one shoe.
Best Slip-On Hiking Shoes: Merrell 1TRL Winter Moc
The laziness ease of a slip-on shoe sounds counter to the essence of hiking. And yet, we find ourselves drawn to the trails just as much as we’re drawn to the idea of not having to untangle a bowl of spaghetti. In reality, a laceless closure is just one less barrier between you and Mother Nature. The trick is…most slip-on hiking shoes look like ass. We understand that there’s a sort of ugly duckling charm that comes with the gorp-y gear, but there’s a limit. Thankfully, Merrell’s 1TRL sub-label has been cooking up some tasty kicks with all the trail qualifications of their main line and these Winter Mocs are a prime example. The hairy suede and the sleek silhouette make ‘em easy on the eyes and the gravel-gripping rubber outsole and arch support make most treacherous terrain feel like a walk in the park.
Best Slip-On Walking Shoes: Hoka Restore TC
Pros
- Unimpeachable pedigree
- Cushier than a memory-foam mattress
- High stability and traction
Cons
- Not for the faint of heart (or dainty of feet)
- Colors are limited
Hoka has consistently been one of our favorite brands for getting your steps in (just peep our best walking shoes article) and the Restore TC brings all of the brand’s stellar comfort and support to a laceless design. These recovery shoes come with heaps of cushioning in a breathable sock-knit upper for one of the most comfortable slip-ons, if not most comfortable shoes you’ll ever feel. Are they more for recovering after a brutal run? Sure. Does that mean you can’t wear them on your daily walks? Surely not.
Best Slip-On Shoes for Menswear Guys: Plasticana Gardana Clog
Plasticana
French Garden Clogs
There’s no dearth of trendy shoes right now. But perhaps the most pervasive—and yet indie—shoe spreading across fashion circles is one that costs just about sixty bucks: the Plasticana Gardana clog. The little-known French shoemaker crafts these funky gardening shoes out of rubberized hemp which gives them not only a jelly-like quality and waterproofness, but a unique look speckled look. Because of their natural materials, no two pairs look alike, but every pair carries that same handsome shape that’s part loafer and ballet shoe. Pro tip: err on the side of slightly large and add your own insole.
Best Slip-On Shoes for Summer: Nisolo Huarache Sandal
Pros
- Ethically-sourced and made
- Cushy, comfortable, and unbelievably breathable
- Peak rich-guy-on-vacation vibes
Cons
- Won’t play nice with water
- Perfect for sandy boardwalks, but best left off the trails
If you want to feel the breeze between your toes without treating strangers to a free show, we suggest some kind of woven leather sandal. And it’s hard not to mention the Nisolo Huarache sandal. Beloved by style god Chris Pine, these traditional Mexican sandals feature a slim sole and handsome woven leather uppers, not a single shoelace in sight. Slip them on with a pair of short shorts and a camp shirt or rock them with some billowy pants and a rugged denim shirt. And don’t be afraid of the tan lines.
More Slip-On Shoes We Love
How We Test and Review Products
Style is subjective, we know—that’s the fun of it. But we’re serious about helping our audience get dressed. Whether it’s the best white sneakers, the flyest affordable suits, or the need-to-know menswear drops of the week, GQ Recommends’ perspective is built on years of hands-on experience, an insider awareness of what’s in and what’s next, and a mission to find the best version of everything out there, at every price point.
Our staffers aren’t able to try on every single piece of clothing you read about on GQ.com (fashion moves fast these days), but we have an intimate knowledge of each brand’s strengths and know the hallmarks of quality clothing—from materials and sourcing, to craftsmanship, to sustainability efforts that aren’t just greenwashing. GQ Recommends heavily emphasizes our own editorial experience with those brands, how they make their clothes, and how those clothes have been reviewed by customers. Bottom line: GQ wouldn’t tell you to wear it if we wouldn’t.
How We Make These Picks
We make every effort to cast as wide of a net as possible, with an eye on identifying the best options across three key categories: quality, fit, and price.
To kick off the process, we enlist the GQ Recommends braintrust to vote on our contenders. Some of the folks involved have worked in retail, slinging clothes to the masses; others have toiled for small-batch menswear labels; all spend way too much time thinking about what hangs in their closets.
We lean on that collective experience to guide our search, culling a mix of household names, indie favorites, and the artisanal imprints on the bleeding-edge of the genre. Then we narrow down the assortment to the picks that scored the highest across quality, fit, and price.
Across the majority of our buying guides, our team boasts firsthand experience with the bulk of our selects, but a handful are totally new to us. So after several months of intense debate, we tally the votes, collate the anecdotal evidence, and emerge with a list of what we believe to be the absolute best of the category right now, from the tried-and-true stalwarts to the modern disruptors, the affordable beaters to the wildly expensive (but wildly worth-it) designer riffs.
Whatever your preferences, whatever your style, there’s bound to be a superlative version on this list for you. (Read more about GQ’s testing process here.)
