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 GQBest Overall Leather SandalsBirkenstock Arizona SandalsRead moreBest Leather Fisherman SandalVinny's Leather Fisherman SandalsRead moreBest Leather HuarachesChamula Alejandro Woven Leather Huarache SandalsRead moreBest Suede SandalsTodd Snyder Nomad Suede Crossover SandalRead moreBest Leather Flip-FlopsHari Mari Fields Leather SandalRead moreBest Dressy SandalHereu Alaro SandalsRead moreOur Favorite Leather SandalsMore Leather Sandals We LoveHow We Test and Review ProductsHow We Make These PicksBest Overall Leather Sandals: Birkenstock ArizonaBirkenstockArizona SandalsProsFootbed molds to your feet over timeAvailable in narrow and regular width optionsResole-able in many casesConsSizing can make it tricky to find the right pairBuy one pair and you’ll find an excuse to get anotherHeavier than other sandalsTina 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 SandalVinny'sLeather Fisherman SandalsProsToe coverage means more protectionSolid construction and durabilityConsMight need bandages on-hand for the break-in processYou 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 HuarachesChamulaAlejandro Woven Leather Huarache SandalsProsMade by Indigenous artisans using traditional techniquesLightweight and svelte profileMega comfortableConsLulls you into daydreaming about vacationEven 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 SandalsTodd SnyderNomad Suede Crossover SandalProsVersatile design that's both dressy and casualSupple suede uppers and footbedConsMust beware of bodies of water big and smallTodd 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.Speaking of Italy, these sandals are Italian-made with a molded foam footbed and stitch-and-turn construction—meaning the seams are hidden on the inside, giving you a smooth, polished finish on the outside. They're ultra-light, done up in a sun-kissed sand color that would look chef’s kiss perfect with a beautiful linen suit.Best Leather Flip-Flops: Hari Mari Fields Leather SandalHari MariFields Leather SandalProsThe toe post is super comfyWill mold to your feet thanks to the leatherConsEven fancy flip flops still don’t belong anywhere regular ones shouldn’t beDon’t love the multicolor outsole…but we can live with itGQ’s group chat is buzzing with Y2K-levels of flip-flop enthusiasm. If you’ve ever wanted to unleash your inner Chad Michael Murray, now’s your moment. While Havaianas still hit, we’d opt for a grown-up pair of leather flip-flops that have some actual substance—like Hari Mari’s Fields leather sandals.For one thing, they’re more comfortable. You get a memory foam wedge that sits snugly between your toes to prevent chafing, while the soft nubuck leather, arch support, and memory foam footbeds keep your feet feeling cossetted.Add a baseball cap, cargo shorts, and a cropped tee, and you’ll be climbing into a time machine headed straight for 2004. Or just add these to your regular summer fits and try not to pity the flip flop fools stumbling around on thin slabs of rubber.Best Dressy Sandal: Hereu Alaro SandalsHereuAlaro SandalsProsElegant silhouette and constructionLuxurious materialsConsCost of a trip to Spain (one-way)Hereu's slate of Spanish-made sandals are some of the most gorgeous shoes on the market, combining generations of shoe-making expertise with elegance and finesse. While we're more than happy to spotlight any of Hereu's shoes on this list, our favorite of the season is the Alaro. The premium leather uppers pair with cotton cord in a silhouette that splices the DNA of a fisherman sandal with a T-bar Mary Jane. The result is a sultry take on a sandal that's primed for calimochos on a Basque beach with nary a Slack notification in sight.More Leather Sandals We LoveAncient Greek SandalsDiogenis SandalsAncient Greek Sandals—the brand, not the archaeological subgenre—already makes some of our favorite flip-flops, so why not let it take over more of your summer footwear selection? They’re twice the price of Birkenstock Arizonas, but a thousand times less ubiquitous, and the hidden buckle system on the bigger strap keeps them looking extra clean.LunaLuna Equus 2.0 SandalsLuna's Equus 2.0 sandals feature, well, not much at all. And that's the point. The barefoot-style sandals have a leather sole as thin as a cracker and a simple leather strap no thicker than bucatini with foot health at the forefront. That said, the ultra-slim sandals just so happen to be right in line with the teeny tiny shoe wave we're experiencing.Bedrock SandalsRockhound Leather Flip FlopBedrock Sandals' technical take on open-toed shoes is a refreshing reminder that your feet are built to handle tough terrain. The brand's flip flop mixes Vibram lugged soles and durable nylon straps with a plush leather footbed for what amounts to the Land Rover of sandals.Jacques SolovièreBiarritz SandalsLooking for a pair of sandals that hide your toes and won’t turn your feet into blistered beasts? Jacques Solovière has you covered thanks to a double-padded insole, grippy rubber outsole, and a crisscross design that keeps the piggies hidden under layers of ridiculously soft, lavish suede.Kika NYEgyptian SandalsMade by hand in Brooklyn, NY, Kika's sandals feature full-grain leather uppers and soles, cut, molded, skived, and nailed one at a time. The result is a sandal that's as tough as it is elegant.Bottega VenetaIntrecciato Leather SandalsBottega Veneta's signature intrecciato motif looks especially good in these simple leather slides which could probably get you into a Michelin-starred restaurant despite your toes being on full display.How We Test and Review ProductsStyle is subjective, we know—that’s the fun of it. But we’re serious about helping our audience get dressed. Whether it’s the best white sneakers, the flyest affordable suits, or the need-to-know menswear drops of the week, GQ Recommends’ perspective is built on years of hands-on experience, an insider awareness of what’s in and what’s next, and a mission to find the best version of everything out there, at every price point.Our staffers aren’t able to try on every single piece of clothing you read about on GQ.com (fashion moves fast these days), but we have an intimate knowledge of each brand’s strengths and know the hallmarks of quality clothing—from materials and sourcing, to craftsmanship, to sustainability efforts that aren’t just greenwashing. GQ Recommends heavily emphasizes our own editorial experience with those brands, how they make their clothes, and how those clothes have been reviewed by customers. Bottom line: GQ wouldn’t tell you to wear it if we wouldn’t.How We Make These PicksWe make every effort to cast as wide of a net as possible, with an eye on identifying the best options across three key categories: quality, fit, and price.To kick off the process, we enlist the GQ Recommends braintrust to vote on our contenders. Some of the folks involved have worked in retail, slinging clothes to the masses; others have toiled for small-batch menswear labels; all spend way too much time thinking about what hangs in their closets.We lean on that collective experience to guide our search, culling a mix of household names, indie favorites, and the artisanal imprints on the bleeding-edge of the genre. Then we narrow down the assortment to the picks that scored the highest across quality, fit, and price.Across the majority of our buying guides, our team boasts firsthand experience with the bulk of our selects, but a handful are totally new to us. So after several months of intense debate, we tally the votes, collate the anecdotal evidence, and emerge with a list of what we believe to be the absolute best of the category right now, from the tried-and-true stalwarts to the modern disruptors, the affordable beaters to the wildly expensive (but wildly worth-it) designer riffs.Whatever your preferences, whatever your style, there's bound to be a superlative version on this list for you. (Read more about GQ's testing process here.)