fall checklist: the loafer

It's official: Fall's go-to flat is the loafer. (As I previously posted, they're hugely popular across the pond.) I prefer ones that are not super heavy and clunky, but rather slender and feminine, much like Alexa Chung's pair, above. No matter how you slice it though, loafers have a decidedly tomboy-ish appeal, and they look cutest when counterbalanced with feminine accents. Among my favorites are these ones by Dolce Vita, Steve Madden, Valentino (a splurge but so awesome--or similarly spirited but less expensive from Rowen Hindman), 3.1 Phillip Lim and Rosegold (in black suede).