The Gary Jobson is one of those boat shoes that people seemed to have slept on over the years, but perhaps now its time has finally come around.
A SHOE WHOSE TIME HAS COME?
Written by Jason Jules
It was first introduced by Sebago in 1977, the same year Jobson was the America’s Cup winning tactician with skipper Ted Turner. However, Jobson’s association with the brand seems to date back to the early 70s when Sebago first introduced Docksides and it quickly became a go-to shoe for both pro and amateur yachtsman alike. Themselves avid sailors on Lake Sebago, the company’s owners most likely made the Docksides with people like Jobson at the forefront of their minds.
In some ways you could say Jobson was to yachting what Michael Jordon would become to basketball, a larger than life figure who seemed to dominate every aspect of his chosen sport. In that respect, Jobson’s particular iteration of the Docksides is, symbollically at least, the brand’s equivalent to Jordon’s Air Force 1s. Inside the boating world the Jobson Docksides became a much loved shoe, due in no small part to the level of respect afforded to the man himself. However outside of that — in particular within the contemporary menswear world — over the years it’s been received with a mixed response.
There are many people who just don’t get it, seeing it as too much of a departure from the classic and instantly recognisable boat shoe silhouette we’re all familiar with. And then there are those who adorethe shoe, love its wedge sole, its sloping toe and bold metal finishes. They’ll point out how great it looks in nubuck as it does in supple, aged leather, sighting this as testimony to the quality of its design. They’d also point out that its raised sole combined with the Docksides signature comfort and ease makes it unique and unlike any other boat shoe on the market.
Personally, I’m a huge fan and over the years have experienced the various responses this shoe has elicited — from high praise and long enthusiastic discussions with those who get it, to the other extreme, side-on glances and equally long debates with those who ‘can’t see what all the fuss is about’. For many fans of the shoe, it’s one of Sebago’s best kept secrets, an insiders favourite, something we wait for the brand to reintroduce every so often — eagerly, quietly, patiently — a loyal following amidst an otherwise uninterested world. And then suddenly Miu Miu, whose collections over the past few seasons have been faultless, introduced something brand-new to many (but very familiar to some of us) as part of their Spring Summer 24 collection.
The sloping upper and fine moc toe stitching of Miu Miu’s new boat shoe is hard to distinguish from the Sebago original and totally respectful in its referencing. Even without the wedge sole, there’s no denying its singular beauty — in fact it’s what you might call the ultimate fan edit. Perhaps with this recent fashion-focused homage, the Gary Jobson Docksides’ time to shine has at last arrived? I hope so.
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