The Leonard Cohen Shoe Shine Edition

On rituals, floor sitting, and Foamtreads.

Louis here. I’ve recently been in the market for some black dress shoes. And given Leonard Cohen’s predilection for fine tailoring—the man described himself as a “lazy bastard living in a suit,” after all—I thought I’d Google to see which black shoes he wore.

Why is this interesting?

Because the image search result for “Leonard Cohen dress shoes” wasn’t, as I expected, pictures of the man onstage in full garb. Instead, it was a ton of pictures of him sitting on the floor of hotel rooms, shining his shoes himself. (Mostly via the now-defunct Cohen treasure trove, AllanShowalter.com). Here’s one: