For a No-Toe-Show Summer, Get a Pair of Friulanes
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It’s the time of year when it’s icky, sticky, and there’s no telling what your toes will touch when you leave the house, be it agoldfish puddleor thefriendly neighborhood rats. The standard-issued Havaianas, aBirkenstock-likeCamper, or Sarah Jessica Parker’sDr. Scholl’scan’t help you. Neither can aPlasticanafisherman. It might just be time to go close-toed this summer — and that’s where a friulane comes in.
As the story goes, the friulane (orfurlane, or occasionallyscarpetandscarpa,literally “shoe” in Italian) originated in theFriuli–Venezia Giulia regionof Italy around the 19th century, and the first ones were lined with bed-sheet scraps. They became the slippers of the Italian gondoliers (as much a signifier of a gondolier as thestripes) after World War II. Now, decades later, they’re known affectionately as “Venetian slippers,” and they’re to Italy what espadrilles are to Spain. The biggest difference between the espadrille and friulane is the sole: Traditionally, espadrilles have a rope sole, whereas friulanes have a rubber one (often from recycled bicycle tires).
In fact, while I was reporting our guide toespadrillessomething interesting happened:Not sure they’re espadrilles, but …was a common refrain emailed back to me, with a link to a friulane. I could say it was a coincidence once or twice, but enough sources told me this that I wondered what was afoot. (I had seen theSea x Flabeluscollab recently, too.) To quote Carrie Bradshaw, I couldn’t help but wonder:Are friulanes the answer to the closed-toed summer-shoe question?Meaning a shoe that reads summer, and doesn’t show toe? Unlikemesh flatsand thewater-sandal-hiking hybrid, they won’t reveal a lack of pedicure or cracked heels, either. And so, I present: some friulanes for consideration.
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“I have walked many, many steps in many pairs of these,” saysElizabeth Cardinal Tamkin, author of the newsletterCorner Boothand content director atKule. Tamkin describes them as the “perfect vacation shoe” for packing in a suitcase and also easy to clean, with dabs of Tide to Go getting out the little stains gotten along the way. She’s worn them so much she actually had to get them resoled.
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It turns out thatVictoria Filippini, a content creator and writer of the newsletterTaking Notes, is actually from the same region as the friulane on her father’s side of the family. Fittingly, Vibi Venezia’s Nero went with her to thebel paesethis past September. “If they’re good enough for the Italians on their bumpy roads, they’re good enough for me,” Filippini tells me. That’s not to say they’re anArcopedico. “They wouldn’t be my first choice to walk 10,000 steps in,” she adds. “They’re definitely more of aleisurely strolltype of shoe.”
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If I were to get some Vibi Venezias for myself, I’d get thisBrigittepair, which are seemingly out of aSwan Lakeproduction.
[Editor’s note: The company lists its prices in euros, so this is an approximation to dollars.]
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Strategist senior editorHilary Reidwore these “for a full day around town and they stayed securely buckled in place” — an impressive feat. “They don’t exactly have foot support, but they don’t feel totally flat,” she says.
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Flabelus Ribbon
The beribboned ballerinas from Flabelus are, as artistMaggie Mae Featherstonedescribes, “whimsical, Coney Island–strolling shoes that scream double gelato scoops and lazes by the lake.” These come in “all the colors of the rainbow” including a delightfulcherry red with bubblegum-pink pipingandpetrol green with teal. Their bottom helps “if you’re ever caught in a classic New York monsoon,” Featherstone explains. These do the zhuzh-ing up while she’s on a grocery-store run or taking a walk through the park. Just note that Featherstone recommends sizing up, as the shoes run about half a size smaller.
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Of course, Sea’s creatures (fish, deer, and duck) are embroidered onto this Flabelus pair.
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Piedàterre’s been in the friulane business since 1952. ArtistMelly Wirtesordered a pair around five years ago, back when a 41 was the largest size they offered in women’s shoe sizes. Nowadays, the sizing is more unisex, going up to a size 48. Her husband hasthesehimself. “Once, we attended a holiday brunch whilst unknowingly matching slippers,” she says. “Someone pointed it out to us and we had a chuckle as they say you start to look like your partner after a while.”
[Editor’s note: The company lists its prices in euros, so this is an approximation to dollars.]
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Reid also has some Piedàterres that she picked up in Venice a couple of years ago, in the line’s non-mary-jane style.
[Editor’s note: The company lists its prices in euros, so this is an approximation to dollars.]
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These remindHappy Medium’sHazel Fergusonof Onitsuka Tiger’s Mexico 66, famously worn by Uma Thurman inKill Bill.
[Editor’s note: The company lists its prices in euros, so this is an approximation to dollars.]
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And while Wirtes’s Piedàterres are lined in velvet, which can get hot while not wearing socks, these Sveti Stefans have a cotton lining that “feels better when barefoot.”
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I don’t understand why Le Monde Beryl refers to its friulane as an espadrille? It’s not an espadrille — it’s a friulane!
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Cayuma Pagliacci
Cayuma’s Pagliacci, as seen in a recent installment of Jane Herman’snewsletter. They’re available in hues of blue, green, yellow, etc. (Herman’s areburgundy.)
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And a particularly appealing fruilane cousin, thanks to the rubber soles: these Viani Milano hybrid boat shoes, which Tamkin compares to Keds.
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