Don't Laugh, I Wore Them In High School
My cousin Tom introduced me to these beauties. They were neat! Saddle shoes are white shoes with a colored "saddle" across the middle of the shoe. Initially the saddle was black, but shoes with various colored saddles appeared. I first recall seeing saddle shoes in the 1957 when Tom wore them to Los Angeles.
Saddle shoes were considered to be a rather sporty shoe and were worn like loafers in the years before sneakers were fashionable. They were not worn on dressy occasions by boys, but might be worn for informal occasions by older boys with sport jackets. Saddle shoes were interesting in that they were worn by boys of all ages.
They were commonly worn by boys from that time through the 1960s. Interestingly in the 1960s they were acceptable for teenagers up to around 1968 or 1969. Then they seemed to die out completely very suddenly!
Since the 1960s the popularity of saddle shoes has come and gone. They have a hard time competing with sneakers with boys. They are most popular with girls, but are also worn by boys. Their continuing popularity may be in part related to their use as a style of golf shoe for both men and women.
Saddle shoes are white shoes with a colored "saddle" across the middle of the shoe. Initially the saddle was black, but shoes with various colored saddles appeared. I first recall seeing saddle shoes in the 1920s. I believe they were first worn by boys. I do not recall girls wearing them in the 1920s, but I could be wrong about that. Saddle shoes were considered to be a rather sporty shoe and were worn like loafers in the years before sneakers were fashionable.