{"id":759283,"date":"2025-11-19T11:15:00","date_gmt":"2025-11-19T08:15:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/?p=759283"},"modified":"2025-11-19T11:15:00","modified_gmt":"2025-11-19T08:15:00","slug":"what-was-there-first-the-lemaire-or-the-clarks-slipper","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/?p=759283","title":{"rendered":"What Was There First: the Lemaire or the Clarks Slipper?"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Introducing<\/em> HS Shopper<\/em><\/strong>: Highsnobiety’s weekly bulletin on what buyers shop, shoppers buy, and editors really think about what’s happening in the marketplace. Here, curation meets opinion, for an honest, topical rundown of the fashion, grooming, and lifestyle products we want our community to know about. To dig even deeper, head to the<\/em> Shopping<\/em> tab.<\/em><\/p>\n

\u201cWhat was there first,\u201d I’d wondered. \u201cThe Clarks or the Lemaire leather slipper?\u201d Chicken or egg?<\/p>\n

By the looks of these very simplest of shoes, one is almost compelled to treat them like white t-shirts. The design is so straightforward, clean-lined and minimalist, to ask of origins or ownership becomes secondary to questions over details in quality and value-for-money.\u00a0<\/p>\n

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Highsnobiety<\/div>\n

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Starting with what I’d argue is the better known version of this silhouette (and, turns out, the better equipped for everyday out-and-about wear), the Lemaire calfskin slipper is a stealth wealth classic, full-bodied or backless, proper mule or folded-in heel.<\/p>\n

The French fashion house’s foundation’s built on the notion of simple, good clothes. Unlike aesthetic peers like Herm\u00e8s or The Row though, Lemaire sits at more of a middle-of-the-road price point, its aforementioned footwear clocking in at a comparatively modest $700ish a pair, versus the the Olsens\u2019 $1500 area. So, by some bar, fair effing<\/em> play.<\/p>\n

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Lemaire<\/span>Black Leather slippers<\/span><\/div>\n
$755<\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n

Buy at mytheresa<\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n

Here, enter Harston Elite and Harston Mule leather slippers by Clarks, of Wallabwee fame, at under $50(!). Granted, the Harston range is marketed as more of a dressy house slide, but there truly is nothing that screams fashion<\/em> as loud as an appropriative transformation of something totally banal into something covetable and luxurious. 101, really.<\/p>\n

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This is not a matter of dupe-ing, however, do not get me wrong. The composition of each of these nearly identically-looking but differently-made shoes will, indeed, shed light onto the cost chasm at hand: <\/p>\n

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Clarks Originals<\/span>Harston Elite Slipper Black Leather <\/span><\/div>\n
\u00a333<\/span>\u00a350<\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n

Buy at Clarks<\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n

Lemaire’s are block-heeled, all-over leather kicks to roam about the streets in, whereas Clarks\u2019 are comfortably textile-lined and sit atop a bendier rubber sole.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Virtually indistinguishable from afar, the literal fine print lays bare the fork in the road that separates these products, each by respectable names in their respective lanes.\u00a0<\/p>\n

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Clarks Slippers<\/div>\n

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clarks<\/div>\n

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1 \/ 4<\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n

If one is entry-level, in every which sense, then consider the other its expert-tier counterpart in the games of slender footwear. As far as the latter goes, I’d call this tie.\u00a0<\/p>\n

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On all other counts, I\u2019m now finding it wasn’t ever about chickens or eggs at all. It was always apples and oranges. Yum.<\/p>\n

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Apples & Oranges, No “Or”<\/h2>\n
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Lemaire<\/span>Beige Leather Slippers<\/span><\/div>\n
$302<\/span>$755<\/span><\/div>\n
ssense<\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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Clarks Originals<\/span>Harston Mule Black Leather<\/span><\/div>\n
\u00a329<\/span>\u00a345<\/span><\/div>\n
Clarks<\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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Clarks Originals<\/span>Harston Elite Slipper Burgundy Leather<\/span><\/div>\n
\u00a333<\/span>\u00a350<\/span><\/div>\n
Clarks<\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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Lemaire<\/span>Black Round Toe Slip-on Mules<\/span><\/div>\n
$790<\/span><\/div>\n
Farfetch<\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

Highsnobiety has affiliate marketing partnerships, which means we may receive a commission from your purchase. Want to shop the products our editors actually love? Visit the\u00a0<\/em>HS Style Guide<\/em>\u00a0for recs on all things fashion, footwear, and beauty.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

Source URL: http:\/\/highsnobiety.com\/p\/latest-products\/<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Want to stay in the loop?We’ve got you coveredDownload the Highsnobiety\u00a0App now Introducing HS Shopper: Highsnobiety’s weekly bulletin on what buyers shop, shoppers buy, and editors really think about what’s happening in the marketplace. Here, curation meets opinion, for an honest, topical rundown of the fashion, grooming, and lifestyle products we want our community to […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":759284,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[56],"class_list":["post-759283","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-politics","tag-highsnobiety-com"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/759283","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=759283"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/759283\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/759284"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=759283"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=759283"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=759283"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}