The history of white buck shoes

Towards the end of last week we took a gander at classic mid-century schoolgirl inspired ensemble in the latest installment of Vintage Fashionista Friday. Today in the ongoing spirit of the return of classes for many this week, we're going to delve into the history of buck shoes, which were especially popular with students during the 1950s.

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Though they were never (in no small part because of how tricky they were to keep pristine looking) quite as widely loved and worn as their similar looking cousins, saddle shoes, bucks were nevertheless one of the most commonly sported styles of shoes amongst the younger crowd during the mid-twentieth century.

Bucks, so named because they were sometimes made of made of buckskin (but more commonly suede), found a large following with male, and to a considerably lesser extent, female wearers, and though they were often seen on those in their high school and college years, they also had a fan base with snappily dressed gentlemen of almost all ages.

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Though bucks were most commonly found in white, similar (if not identically styled) suede shoes were also a hit during the rocking days of the 1950s, when none other than Elvis Presley himself made blue suede shoes an immortal classic with his wildly successful 1956 song of the same name (which, interesting, was actually recorded first by Carl Perkins the year before, though it's Elvis' version that most people think of when picturing this toe-tapping tune).

Suede shoes could be found in a range of other colours as well, but ultimately it was white bucks that - despite being a significant challenge to keep clean - proved most popular, no doubt in part because of the fact that they were often sported by another successful singer (and teen heart-throb) of the era, Pat Boone.

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So well known was Boone, in fact, for his passion for this particular type of footwear, that he was sometimes called The Kid in the White Bucks, and numerous images abound of him sporting an always immaculate pair of these sturdy white kicks.

Much like Pat Boone himself, white bucks carried with them a natural sort of ingrained air of being clean-cut, presentable and youthful. Looking back on the decade more than half a century later, it's anything but a stretch to say that in a way bucks represented the wholesome image that youth culture - and by extension society itself - was supposed to represent. Good kids who did they civic duties with a smile, went to every pep rally, and were keen on using words like "gosh" and "golly".

Though a certain percentage of the younger generation did indeed fit this mold, it was not representative of the all teenagers, and thus - fittingly, one might say - intentionally keeping your bucks scuffed and dingy during the 1950s was in fact seen a sign of rebellion in some circles.

Most people at least gave keeping their bucks looking ship-shape a fighting change though, often employing a pencil eraser to remove stains, followed by a good rub down with a moist towel, sponge or scrap of soft fabric, with especially persistent stains getting treated to a scrubbing using white vinegar (then, as now you call also buy a product called a Buck Bag, which is designed specifically to help keep your white bucks in tip-toe shape; here's a vintage example of a different brand, which was rather charmingly called a Bunny Bag.).

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While bucks are most commonly associated with the 1950s, they sprang onto the scene earlier on in the century (for example, they appear above in this Regal shoe ad from the forties, complete with classic red rubber soles) and quickly grew to be associated with another (at least on the surface) clean-cut segment of the population: preppies (some of whom they remain a hit with to this day) and by extension, well-to-do college students.



{These particular bucks more mushroomy-grey than white, but the text in the ad makes it clear what kind of demographic they're appealing to all the same. Image source.}



Much akin to white attire frequently sported for activities like tennis and polo, the wearing of white bucks not-so-subtly implied that one wasn't about do anything with their day that was likely to soil their sparklingly pristine snow white footwear. They were, in that sense, the ideal casual shoe for the man or woman of leisure and means.



{For the kind of look an Astor would no doubt have approved of back in the day, pair your snazzy white bucks with argyle socks, as suggested in this vintage illustration. Image source.} 

Are bucks still on the market today? You betcha! Brands ranging from J. Crew to Cole Hann, L.L. Bean to Orvis have, and/or still do, produce white bucks, which really do make for a splendid choice of stylish summer footwear.

For those hoping to score the real mid-century deal, vintage pairs can still be found both online (etsy, eBay, etc) and off, though the fact that they were so tricky to keep clean means that you may have a harder time tracking down a pair than you would of saddle shoes from the same era.

As mentioned earlier (and highlighted by the images in this post), bucks were primarily a man's shoe, though one does occasionally see vintage pairs of lady's white bucks and bucks in white, brown and assorted other colours are still produced for women to this day (for example, I have a darling pair of vintage appropriate pale pink suede bucks that I bought in gently used condition on eBay a couple of years ago). By and large though, saddle shoes were much more common amongst teen and college aged gals during the 1930s through to the early 60s, when both styles of began to die down in popularity.

Though bucks may never again surge to the level of popularity they saw during the 1950s, they remain an endearing, classic footwear style of the era and one that works especially well if you're aiming to put together a vintage school fashion inspired ensemble.

Just make sure you pick up an extra pack or two of erasers if you do, so that you can keep your white bucks in as picture perfect condition as Pat Boone did his. :)