Hermes Izmir Sandal Men Matte Mississippiensis Alligator Black

From across a room the Izmir looks like a plain flat sandal; up close it is a black sheet of matte alligator with a letter taken out of the vamp. That cut-out gives the shoe its shape, and it is the reason this silhouette keeps coming back on my feet every summer.

The upper is matte Mississippiensis alligator with straight-cut edges, so the outline is crisp instead of rounded. The straight-cut edge is a detail you feel as much as see: no rolled hem, no padding, just leather ending cleanly. Sole height is a modest fourteen millimetres, thin enough to feel the pavement and thick enough to cross a city in.

Sizing runs 40 to 46 and the maker suggests going up half a size on this model. I followed that advice after a first pair arrived snug across the toes, and the extra half size puts my foot exactly where the cut-out meets the strap, with nothing pinching.

Matte black alligator is the most forgiving colourway and not the most carefree one: it blooms faintly if it gets soaked and looks dusty against dark trousers. Let it dry away from direct heat and brush the scales in a single direction. The H aperture also means less leather across the top of the foot, so air moves and the foot stays dry in serious heat.

I wear mine with tailored shorts and an open shirt for dinners that start on a terrace. The black keeps it serious, and the cut-out keeps it from being dull. I have talked two friends into the same model, and both now wear theirs harder than I wear mine.