12 Best Leather Sandals for Men 2026, According to GQ Editors

If the only sandals you’ve worn were on trips to your dorm’s shower, it might be time to raise your game. The best leather sandals for men are more dignified and more stylish than those grubby slides you remember: These days, tasteful men from the runway to the red carpet are waltzing around in all kinds of open-toed kicks, from sleek, sultry slides to fisherman sandals with a crazy amount of old man swag. All because leather sandals make up, in our estimation, some of the best sandals. Period.

Now, if you’re like me and have a slight fear of sandals (no free feet pics, please), there are two simple steps to ease yourself into flashing some toe. Step one: get a pedicure. Seriously. Just like a fresh haircut elevates your whole fit, professionally-tidied toenails do the same for your sandals. It’s not about having raptor talons (we hope that’s not the case), so much as knowing your foot is looking its finest. Step two: avoid rubber sandals. While I previously pushed the flip flop agenda, a leather sandal still stands head and shoulder (heel and ankle?) above any footwear that touts “they float!” as a selling point.

Leather sandals are elegant. Slide in and suddenly you’re saying “holiday” instead of “vacation” and sipping espresso in Portofino—not pounding soda in Gatlinburg. Grab a pair (or two) and you’ll wear them with everything from swim trunks and linen pants to a breezy summer blazer or even a beach wedding fit.

The Best Leather Loafers, According to GQ

Best Overall Leather Sandals

Birkenstock Arizona Sandals

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Best Leather Fisherman Sandal

Vinny’s Leather Fisherman Sandals

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Best Leather Huaraches

Chamula Alejandro Woven Leather Huarache Sandals

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Best Suede Sandals

Todd Snyder Nomad Suede Crossover Sandal

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Best Leather Flip-Flops

Hari Mari Fields Leather Sandal

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Best Dressy Sandal

Hereu Alaro Sandals

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Best Overall Leather Sandals: Birkenstock Arizona

Tina Turner once sang “Back Where We Started,” and she might as well have been talking about Birkenstock’s classic Arizona sandal. Whether you go for the iconic oiled leather version or the classic summer suede, the Arizona has been embraced for generations—from free-spirited hippies in the ’60s to city-dwellers who style them with linen shorts, tanks, and yes, socks. It’s gone from crunchy to culturally omnipresent—and once you’ve tried the brand’s signature contoured cork-latex footbed, your arches will never let you go anywhere else.

That’s because it molds to your foot over time, making Arizonas all your own. And when your Arizonas get cooked—and they will, because you’ll find yourself slipping them on as a default from May to September (possibly more, depending on your latitude)—you’ll be happy to discover that plenty of cobblers can rebuild them from the ground up.

Best Leather Fisherman Sandal: Vinny’s Fisherman Sandal

You don’t need to know how to tie a sailor’s knot to pull off a pair of fisherman sandals. With a caged upper and closed toe, they’re the closest thing to a shoe that a sandal-curious person can wear—and take to socks almost as well as they take to docks.

The Danish shoe brand Vinny’s has been making waves the past few seasons with their loafers, boat shoes, and—most recently—pebble grain leather fisherman sandals, which may be the posterboys for the fisherman’s sudden rise to prominence. The black work with damn near anything, though we’d grab the burgundy (if we could find them in stock) just for something a little special. Either one will have you reeling in the compliments.

Best Leather Huaraches: Chamula Cancun Huaraches

Even if your Spanish is limited to saying “gracias” with flair when you order tacos, the least you can do is wear a pair of huaraches made in the same country as a stylish olive branch. Chamula’s vegetable-tanned leather uppers are hand-cut, hand-dyed, and hand-woven in a classic round-toe design by Indigenous artisans in Central Mexico. With a slip-on silhouette and shock-absorbing EVA soles, these are equally at home beachside or navigating cobblestone streets in search of your next margarita. Pair them with dress shorts and breezy camp collars, and you’ve got a fit trifecta worthy of a postcard—or at least a few approving nods from stylish locals.

Best Suede Sandals: Todd Snyder Nomad Suede Crossover Sandals

Todd Snyder cooks up some of the best-knit polos and khaki-colored chinos in the game, but his quiet foray into footwear has turned out some of the finest sandals this side of the Amalfi Coast. All it took was supple suede and a little criss-cross to make the boring two-strap sandal feel a little sexier.