13 Best Boat Shoes for Men in 2026, According to GQ Editors

Bottom line, the boat shoe is the sneaker of the seas; a casual, daytime-skewing piece of footwear best enjoyed without socks or Slack alerts. None of this is written in stone anywhere (that we know of), and you retain your legal right to freak anything, anytime. But if you’re in doubt about the boat shoe’s sea-worthiness at an establishment or event, we’d suggest going with something even slightly more formal to avoid any “uncle who only wears Hawaiian shirts” energy.

What to Wear With Boat Shoes

As per our previous section, you can pull off boat shoes with most of your closet. Shorts or a bathing suit are absolute no-brainers. (Nothing goes from beach to boardwalk like boat shoes.) As are jeans — maybe in white or off-white, because it’s summer, and why not — as well as trousers, linen pants, and every type of chino under the sun, wide-legged or straight, pleated or flat, beige or covered in small embroidered whales.

Up top, if you can wear it with jeans or chinos, it’ll go great with boat shoes. Tees, polos of all types, camp shirts, crewneck sweatshirts, button-front shirts (tucked or untucked; white, Oxford, or other)… all besties with boaters. A sport coat with jeans and some boat shoes for a chill brunch? Ahoy-hoy! We love it. You will, too.

If we had to make one of those warning signs near the lifeguard chair, the kind with all the DON’Ts written in red text, the list would be small: no black tie or business suits. Otherwise, go forth and live your best boater life.

What to Look for in a Great Boat Shoe

If you’re wearing a boat shoe while sailing on an actual boat, you’ll want what originally made the shoe distinct: a siped rubber sole designed to grip a slippery wet deck.

But we’d wager that 99 percent of boat shoes wearers will never reef a mainsail, so you’re really looking for good construction and easy comfort.

Quality leather is a good place to start. Anything from Horween, the heritage leather tanner in Chicago, means your feet are in good hands. Thicker leather will take a bit to break in, and may chafe at first (shout out to Dr. Scholl’s moleskin, savior from achilles burn), but it’ll hold up well and eventually fit your feet like a glove. Waxed leather will shrug off most water short of you falling overboard. Suede, on the other hand, is suede: it’s not so hardy, but it’ll be soft on your dogs, and particularly supple from the box if you opt for a boat shoe without a lining.

Genuine moc(casin) stitching, like in the Yuketen pair above, means the upper’s leather folds under the footbed. You’ll feel the extra softness in every step. You’ll also pay a bit more, because genuine moccasin construction requires more leather and more work.

Finally, a note on fit: When you try on a pair, try them on the way you plan to wear them. If that’s without socks, do it without socks. Leather shoes will stretch a little bit, particularly as you wear them throughout a wet hot American summer.

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