Step In Style Faux Suede Loafers with Contrast Piping

Flat faux suede loafers with a line of contrast piping

These are flat faux suede loafers from Step In Style. You step in, there is nothing to tie, and the rounded toe gives your foot room at the front.

What sets them apart is the trim. A thin line of piping in a second colour runs along the top edge, and a strap with a small gold-tone ornament crosses the front. They come in beige, red, black and brown, in sizes 36 to 41.

At a glance

The piece: one loafer, four colour pairs

Step In Style is the maker's brand, sold through a Polish fashion wholesaler. The supplier describes these as women's loafers in imitation suede with a flat heel, rounded toes and a decorative detail on the front.

Each colour has its own trim, and the photos show it clearly. The beige pair has dark brown piping and a dark brown strap. The black pair has tan piping and a tan strap. The brown pair is edged in cream. The pair listed as red is a deep wine red in the photos, also edged in cream, so expect that shade and not a bright red.

Who they're for

For you if you walk a lot during the day and want a flat shoe that still looks dressed. A loafer sits between a trainer and a pump, and that is exactly where most working days sit too.

They also suit you if you like the matte look of suede and want an upper that is not animal hide. This is an imitation, and we say so plainly.

Closer look: what the photos and the maker's data show

• Upper in imitation suede (maker's data)
• Flat heel (maker's data); the photos show a low sole with a slightly raised heel
• Rounded toe (maker's data)
• Strap across the front with a small gold-tone ornament (photos)
• Contrast piping along the top edge and around the heel (photos)
• Sole in a colour close to the upper (photos)
• Tan-coloured lining and insole (photos)

The maker does not say what the lining, the sole or the ornament are made of, and gives no heel height. We leave those open instead of guessing.

Materials and build: imitation suede

The upper is imitation suede. The maker's own word for it is a marketing term we don't use, so read it as: a textile with a brushed, matte surface that looks like suede and is not animal hide.

In the photos the surface has the soft, slightly napped look you expect, and the piping sits flat and even along the edge. That is all the data we have on the build. There is no material list for the sole or the lining.

Size and fit: go by insole length

The maker gives one measurement per size, the insole length. Size 38 has an insole of 24.5 cm and size 39 has 25 cm. Note the step between 37 and 38: it is a full centimetre, from 23.5 to 24.5 cm, where the other sizes go up by half a centimetre.

The easiest check is to take the insole out of a flat shoe you wear often and measure it. A loafer has no laces to pull it tighter, so the length has to be right.

Size chart (cm)

Source: the maker's size table, insole length in cm. Compare it with the insole of a flat shoe that fits you.

Styling: let the piping pick the colours

In the photos the model wears them on bare feet with cropped beige trousers. That length is right, because the ankle stays free and the piping stays in view.

Use the trim colour as your guide. The beige pair with its dark brown line goes with a brown belt or bag. The black pair with tan trim works with a camel coat. Brown and wine red both sit well under dark jeans with a turned-up hem. With a skirt, pick one that ends at or below the knee and wear the loafers with thin socks or tights when it gets colder.

Occasions

The supplier suggests them for casual outfits and for more elegant ones, and that range is fair. Wear them to the office, to a lunch, on a city trip where you walk from morning to evening, or to a dinner where heels feel like too much.

Care: keep them dry and brushed

The maker's data has no care instructions. If the shoe box or the shoe itself carries a care symbol, follow that first.

For any shoe with a brushed, suede-like surface the general habits are simple: brush off dry dirt with a soft brush, let wet shoes dry at room temperature away from a heater, and store them out of direct sun. We can't tell you how this upper reacts to rain, because the supplier does not say.

The wow detail: a small gold-tone ornament

On the strap sits a small gold-tone ornament that hangs just over the front of the shoe. It is the only shiny thing on a matte shoe, and it is small enough to stay quiet. With the contrast strap behind it, it gives the loafer a face.

Fashion that gives back

5% of each sale goes to a cause you choose. The causes are matched to 11 of the 17 SDGs, the global goals set by the United Nations, and you decide where your share goes.

Our promise

Ships from the maker's wholesale partner in Poland, inside the EU, with tracking. The wholesaler lists up to 3 days to prepare an order; within the EU delivery usually takes 2–7 business days after dispatch. Delivery is free within the EU on orders from €69; below that it costs €4.95 in the Netherlands and €6.95 elsewhere in the EU.

You have 14 days after delivery to ask for a return, as long as the shoes are unworn and in their original box. Our promise is plain: if what arrives does not match what this page says, send it back within 14 days and we refund you.

More flats, boots and heels are in our women's shoes collection.