The Best Leather Sandals for Men Are Like Loafers With A/C

Rather than being extruded in a factory, Luca’s version is made in Portugal from full-grain Italian leather and set on a forgiving crepe rubber outsole for a little bounce. The supportive cork footbed is like a good pair of raw denim, molding to every curve with each wear. But the real draw is that a leather slide plays nice with everything in your warm weather wardrobe, but looks genuinely sharp with all types of summer pants and dress shorts. Very much unlike those shower slides.

Best Leather Fisherman Sandal: Vinny’s Fisherman Sandal

You don’t need to know how to tie a sailor’s knot to pull off a pair of fisherman sandals. With a caged upper and closed toe, they’re the closest thing to a shoe that a sandal-curious person can wear—and take to socks almost as well as they take to docks.

The Danish shoe brand Vinny’s has been making waves the past few seasons with their loafers, boat shoes, and—most recently—pebble grain leather fisherman sandals, which may be the posterboys for the fisherman’s sudden rise to prominence. The black work with damn near anything, though we’d grab the burgundy (if we could find them in stock) just for something a little special. Either one will have you reeling in the compliments.

Best Leather Huaraches: Chamula Cancun Huaraches

Even if your Spanish is limited to saying “gracias” with flair when you order tacos, the least you can do is wear a pair of huaraches made in the same country as a stylish olive branch. Chamula’s vegetable-tanned leather uppers are hand-cut, hand-dyed, and hand-woven in a classic round-toe design by Indigenous artisans in Central Mexico. With a slip-on silhouette and shock-absorbing EVA soles, these are equally at home beachside or navigating cobblestone streets in search of your next margarita. Pair them with dress shorts and breezy camp collars, and you’ve got a fit trifecta worthy of a postcard—or at least a few approving nods from stylish locals.

Best Suede Sandals: Todd Snyder Nomad Suede Crossover Sandals

Todd Snyder cooks up some of the best-knit polos and khaki-colored chinos in the game, but his quiet foray into footwear has turned out some of the finest sandals this side of the Amalfi Coast. All it took was supple suede and a little criss-cross to make the boring two-strap sandal feel a little sexier.

Speaking of Italy, these sandals are Italian-made with a molded foam footbed and stitch-and-turn construction—meaning the seams are hidden on the inside, giving you a smooth, polished finish on the outside. They’re ultra-light, done up in a sun-kissed sand color that would look chef’s kiss perfect with a beautiful linen suit.

Best Dressy Leather Sandals: Loewe Paula’s Ibiza Ease Buckled Leather Slides

Loewe’s collab with the legendary ’70s boutique Paula’s Ibiza taps into that groovy era when the shop was outfitting icons like Jean-Paul Gaultier and EDM hadn’t taken over the island.

The sandals feature thick, crisscrossing straps, a blindingly shiny buckle on one side, and a squarish asymmetric toe, as per Loewe’s signature style. (Plus a hidden flex: Loewe’s logo scribbled on the bottom of the outsole.) They pair well with louche suits, yacht parties, and flutes of Perrier-Jouët.

Best Leather Flip-Flops: Hari Mari Fields Leather Sandal

GQ’s group chat is buzzing with Y2K-levels of flip-flop enthusiasm. If you’ve ever wanted to unleash your inner Chad Michael Murray, now’s your moment. While Havaianas still hit, we’d opt for a grown-up pair of leather flip-flops that have some actual substance—like Hari Mari’s Fields leather sandals.

For one thing, they’re more comfortable. You get a memory foam wedge that sits snugly between your toes to prevent chafing, while the soft nubuck leather, arch support, and memory foam footbeds keep your feet feeling cossetted.