The beauty of being a woman is that we can wear men’s fashion without looking silly (assuming you do it in a stylish manner, of course). There’s the boyfriend shirt, the boyfriend blazer, and to some extent, the boyfriend trousers or jeans.

Another example of men’s fashion being adopted by women is the use of wingtip shoes, more popularly known as Spectators.

Man in Spectator shoes

Spectators have been in fashion since time immemorial. My memories of this shoe style go back to old movies. More popularly known as Brogues in the US, Spectators were originally worn by men.

Spectators are actually different from Oxfords. Spectators are defined by its two-tone color and wingtip toe cap, as supposed to the conventional toe cap (or the absence thereof) common in Oxford shoes. Spectators are also less formal compared to Oxfords. However, the distinction between the two has somewhat disappeared over time.

Generally, Spectators are considered as a subgroup of the Oxford shoes. Nowadays, more women are seen wearing this shoe style, using it as a statement piece to complete their outfits. Here are a few examples of the updated and fashion forward women’s Spectators:

Stay hippie chic with this Harajuku Lovers Packard boot, available at Zappos.com

A modern and edgy take is the open-toe Charles David Canny Spectator boot from Heels.com

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