The Best Ways To Wear Boat Shoes For Autumn 2026

While certain trends have a limited shelf-life – “mob wife” and “tomato girl summer” spring to mind – the preppy style mood prevails for 2026, with rugby tops, riding boots and boat shoes repositioned as fashion items. As is so often the case, ever since Miuccia Prada sent boat shoes down Miu Miu’s spring/summer 2024 runway as the footwear of choice for a dishevelled modern-day prepster, they’ve been a hit – but the boat shoe’s viral status isn’t just down to the fact that Miu Miu stylist Lotta Volkova knows how to stoke an online shopping commotion.

Today’s take on collegiate style is simultaneously paying homage and making light of an early 1990s look that many thought wouldn’t see the light of day again: the Sloane ranger. This preppy mood continued in 2025, as Jonathan Anderson experimented with loafers in a nautical white and navy colour palette in Loewe’s spring/summer 2025 collection. The most recent reimaginings of the shoe for autumn, however, come streamlined and supple, with extra flat soles, spotted at Bottega Veneta in polished black and at Issey Miyake in spritely pastels.

It takes intentional styling to steer them away from their Sloane Ranger past – unless, of course, you want to lean into the King’s Road look. It’s generally best not to take the trend too literally and wear one or two preppy pieces with your everyday look, pairing your Sebagos with denim, tailored trousers and miniskirts, rather than chinos or anything tweed. You want to dial down the nautical connotations, and style them as you would a classic pair of loafers within your autumn wardrobe.

Scroll on for ideas for how to style boat shoes in autumn 2026.

The out-and-about boat shoe

The relaxed boat shoe

The dinner-ready boat shoe

The sports-inspired boat shoe

The office-appropriate boat shoe