Fidelity for Sperry Top-Sider: Nautical and nice

Cozy yet cool peacoats for the feet? That’s essentially what Sperry Top-Sider and Fidelity Sportswear have created with their fall 2012 collaborative capsule collection that hit retail this month.

The shoes marry Sperry’s classic silhouettes to Fidelity’s melton wool peacoat fabric on the outside and diamond-quilted linings on the inside and details including anchor-detail buttons and rawhide laces.

Though you’re probably familiar with Sperry’s contributions to shipboard life (its distinctive white outsole was developed to provide deck traction without scuffs and marks) you might not know Fidelity, a New England based made-in-the-U.S.A. outerwear company that dates to 1941 and is known for its melton wool Navy-inspired peacoats.

Two versions -- Sperry’s classic two-eyelet boat shoe and seven-eyelet boots -- are available for men and women, while the guys get an additional option, a woolly version of Sperry’s CVO sneaker (the acronym traditionally stands for Sperry’s Canvas Vulcanized Oxford silhouette).

Retail prices for the Fidelity for Sperry Top-Sider footwear collection range from $80 to $165, and the shoes can be found at Nordstrom and Urban Outfitters bricks and mortar stores and websites, and Sperry Top-Sider’s website and standalone stores (including Westfield Century City locally), which also stock a few of the capsule collection’s collaborative outerwear pieces.

One choice you won’t have is color -- the kicks come in a single shade of navy blue that’s so inky dark at first glance they appear black.

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