How to choose a Court colorway

Six colors, one shoe. The TREAD Court is identical in every one of them: same last, same full-grain leather, same cork-lined footbed, same $145. So the only real question is which one you will wear, and the answer is rarely the one that looks best sitting on its own.

Start with your trousers

Pull out the five things you wear most on your legs. The shoe has to sit under all of them, most days, for years. Mostly denim, and nearly any color works. Mostly tailoring, go dark. Pale chinos and cream, go light but not stark. A long mirror helps: stand back, look at the whole line from hip to floor, and see which color carries it without shouting.

The six, honestly

White: the sharpest and the most demanding. It shows every scuff, and a damp cloth takes most of them off.
Bone: white's easier cousin. Clean with light trousers, and it forgives a gray sidewalk.
Gray: the one you forget you are wearing. Hides dust, sits with anything casual.
Navy: dark without the severity of black, and the easiest partner for denim.
Chocolate: the warm one. Good with navy, olive and cream. One customer in Leeds bought Bone and came back for Chocolate a month later.
Black: the office and evening shoe, smartest with tailoring. It shows dust more than you expect.

Try two before you decide

If you are torn, order both. Returns are free within 60 days of delivery, as long as the pair has not been worn outside, so try them at home, on a carpet, with the trousers you actually wear. Keep the one your hand goes to on the second morning.

Or come to the shop at 41 Columbia Road and do it properly: one color on each foot, then look down before you look in the mirror.