saddle shoe

Shortly after the outbreak of war I wrote to the English Friends about clothing and raised the question as to whether we should send you "saddle shoes." It seems I gave you busy people no end of trouble trying to discover what a saddle shoe is . . . It is originally white and has a brown or black saddle-shaped piece of leather across the instep. The American adolescent is properly shod for all except dress occasions in saddle shoes, but not clean ones! These shoes, for reasons that only a teen-ager can explain, must never be cleaned!