Inside the presidential atmosphere, the first lady is always the one to get all the attention and praise for her fashion choices and looks. For the presidents, it’s always a simple outfit composed of a suit and tie. While some notice the color of their tie, but their shoes go unnoticed.
Johnston & Murphy is an American footwear and clothing company that was founded on 1850 in Newark, New Jersey by William Dudley. Dudley first opened the store under the name “The William J. Dudley Shoe Company.”
The brand elaborates, “We’ve been to fit and fill some of the most important shoes for over 160 years. Or for those doing the math, that’s around 8 score and 41 elections ago.”
The first president to own a pair of handmade shoes from the brand was Millard Fillmore. The process of custom shoe making starts out by the designers taking actual measurements of the foot to create the shoes. But until a while ago, the president’s would tell their shoe size or they would trace their foot on a piece of paper.
Victoria Arenz, fourth-year interior design student said, “I’m not familiar with the shoe brand, but I bet they nail the shoe design to fit the president’s style and personality.”
Johnston & Murphy’s most memorable shoe designs are from president Abraham Lincoln who was a size 14, president Woodrow Wilson who liked to wear white shoes and president Rutherford B. Hayes who had the smallest feet in a size 7.
The shoe company concludes on their website, “Each one walked his own presidential path, but they all had one thing in common; they did it in our shoes.”
