A Boat Shoe for the Landlocked: The Converse Naut-1

July 20, 2025July 27, 2025 by 100wears

Price: $80

Why Buy?

The Converse Naut-1 is a preppy pimsoll distilled to it’s essence.

Why Avoid?

The Converse Naut-1 comes in at a premium price for the style.

Specs:

Model	Naut-1
Height	Low
Materials	Canvas / Rubber
Size	13
Weight	466 g / 1 lb 0.47 oz
Construction	Vulc / Foxing Tape
Country of Origin	Vietnam

History

Even if it doesn’t seem like it today, the Converse Naut-1 has been around for a while.

Originally coming out in 1971, the Converse Naut-1 was really focused more as a gym shoe for kids in school. In fact, it isn’t hard to find pairs from the 1970’s still floating around on ebay. Before long, though, these ultra-minimalist sneakers fell out of favor—for both practical and stylistic reasons.

The Converse Naut-1 stopped selling, and with that, stopped production. Well, they stopped until 2025.

Tyler the Creator has long had a love affair with the plimsoll style sneaker. During his time at Vans, he regularly reached for the Authentic and Era as his go-to models. After switching to Converse, we saw more of the same.

However, for his most recent launch he really went for the New England preppy design. Pulling the Naut-1 out of the archives, eschewing his large flower logo, and adding more subdued colors. Still, the question remains: did Tyler the Creator go too far in paring things back? Let’s dive in and find out.

Looks

Upper

The upper of the Converse Naut-1 is just about as basic as you can get. Made up almost entirely of three pieces of canvas, you can tell that simplicity was the goal in its design. I will say, the blue that they used for this particular colorway is very nice. For some reason, nearly every other blue plimsoll goes for a deep navy.

One detail worth noting: the Naut-1 uses a closed lacing system, with the eyestay panels sewn beneath the toebox panel. It’s a small tweak, but it gives the silhouette a cleaner finish—though at the cost of some flexibility on sizing.

Beyond that, there are a few changes that make these feel a bit different. There is a small golden tag right at the bottom of the eyelets with a blue “La Fleur” logo. In addition, there are antique brass eyelets – slightly oversized.

The eyelets need to be a bit oversized due to the laces that come with these. The primary pair, and the one I went with, are a thick flat rope lace in a beige color with flecks of brown. This pair is very oversized for the style of sneaker, even in this size 13. The other option is a pair of semi-sparkly blue rope laces. That is certainly not the style I’d go for, but my wife does love them.

Inside, the sneakers are half lined with a beige canvas liner. One sneaker has the converse logo, the other the La Fleur logo.

Mid- and Outsole

The bottom half of the Converse Naut-1 is pretty basic. Most of what you see when you’re wearing the sneaker is a piece of thick foxing tape, which meets at a very clean line near the toe. Along the top edge of the tape is a navy blue line, and the bottom 3/4ths has a very minimal pressed pattern.

Up front, a piece of rubber is glued on to provide a bit more durability, and around back is the converse logo, also glued on.

Flipping the sneaker over, a herringbone pattern can be found across the entire brown rubber outsole. Along the edge, the Converse logo can be found repeated.

Summary

Altogether, the Converse Naut-1 does a great job of being a preppy option for a minimal sneaker. The color of the upper is light enough that it can be worn with navy pants or shorts, but avoids the all-white look.

While I probably wouldn’t have picked them if I was designing the sneaker from scratch, I really appreciate that the chunky laces create a different look. The beauty of this sneaker pattern is its simplicity. Going crazy with the upper would ruin the look. By using the laces to make this collab a bit different they managed to preserve the overall style.

These would look great on a boat, or if you want to dress like you should be on a boat. Even if you’re currently in Columbus, Ohio. These do have a particularly slim and pointed design, so I would prefer to wear these with thinner fabrics. The Converse Naut-1 would work great with linen pants or shorts of basically any kind.

Fit & Comfort

Fit

Like most Converse, the Naut-1 fits pretty long. That said, there are two caveats. First, these are pretty narrow. If you’ve got a wide foot, I’d go with your standard sneaker size. Second, unlike most All Stars and Jack Purcells, I would only go down a half size rather than a full size.

I originally bought these in my standard sneaker size. With my slightly wider than average foot they are wearable, but I do need to have on thicker athletic style socks. If I wanted to go with something lighter like no shows, or even no socks at all, these would be too big.

I typically wear a size 12 in most Converse sneakers, and a size 13 in most Nikes. I got these in a size 13, but likely could have gone with a 12.5 if they offered that size.

Comfort

The Converse Naut-1 is not a very comfortable sneaker. While it has a bit more of a midsole than something like the Chuck Taylor, it’s all hard rubber. The only thing providing padding is a pretty thin insole. The upper itself also has exactly zero padding in it.

In fact, in some ways it might be worse than the Chuck Taylor. Those are at least incredibly flexible if you want to go for something closer to a minimalist sneaker. The extra rubber on these makes them a bit stiffer than those.

If you’re going to be relaxing all day on vacation these will be fine, but I’d definitely reach for something else if you’re going to be putting the steps in.

Materials & Construction

Materials

The materials of this sneaker don’t have any major surprises, though that’s probably what you’re looking for.

The upper is made of a cotton/poly canvas. It’s a rougher texture with a wider weave than most canvas sneaker, but I think that was done on purpose to give the uppers a bit more visual interest. The throat of the sneaker does have a lining in a much finer weave, likely for comfort. The back half of the sneaker is lined with the same course weave as the upper, just in an undyed beige.

The eyelets are an exposed metal, and the beige laces are a sturdy cotton/poly blend. The navy laces are pure poly, as is the “Le Fleur” tag.

Inside there is a very thin heel cap. It’s tough to tell exactly what they used, but it could be a heavy-duty fabric or a soft clastic. Either way, it doesn’t do much other than keep the heel up while the sneaker is off.

Underfoot, an open cell insole gives you all the comfort you get with the sneaker. Below that, the outsole, foxing tape, and additions like the toe guard are all rubber. Some of the other sneakers in this price point – like Van’s higher end options – have structural reinforcements in the foxing tape, but not this pair.

Construction

These sneakers are made in Vietnam using a vulcanized rubber with foxing tape construction. This is one of the oldest ways of making athletic sneakers.

First, the rubber outsole is baked at a specific temperature to make it as hard and durable as possible. Then, it’s glued to the upper. Finally, a piece of rubber tape – known as “foxing tape” – is wrapped around the two panels in order to keep them together.

This style of construction is often picked for stylistic purposes. It allows the sneaker to sit very low to the ground offering a minimal silhouette. It’s also often used by skate shoes to maximize road feel. As for drawbacks, it’s one of the least durable options out there. Due to the design, the foxing tape flexes and stretches every time you take a step, putting lots of stress on the glue holding the sneaker together. This can result in the upper separating from the tape itself. Alternatively, if you drag your heel, it’s easy for the tape to separate from the outsole at the rear of the sneaker.

Pricing & Value

The Converse Naut-1, at least in these collab colorways, comes in at a $80 price point. Though, unless you just had to have them on launch day, it’s not difficult to find some ways to bring the price down. At time of writing, every Converse store has cards that offer $30 off $100, so you can get these and a t shirt for $70.

Still, even with these discounts, this represents a premium price point. It does match Van’s higher-end “OTW” collabs, though the Converse loses out on the more durable foxing tape and increased comfort those pairs offer. If you just want a basic blue pair of Vans with similar construction to these, you’re looking at a price point under $30.

I don’t mean to play down the costs that went into these. Converse needs to pay Tyler the Creator, and things like a nicer box, two sets of high-end laces, and creating a new pattern do add up. Further, nothing Vans offers currently hits that preppy aesthetic as well as these for any price.

Wrap Up

So, should you buy the Converse Naut-1?

If you’re chasing that preppy, minimalist look — something that slots in somewhere between boat shoe and beat-up Vans — this sneaker nails the aesthetic. The colors are well chosen, the silhouette is slim and intentional, and the chunky laces give just enough of a twist to feel like a thoughtful collab rather than a generic reissue. Visually, they hit their mark.

But looks are only part of the story. The rest is… fine. Not bad. Not great. Just fine.

Comfort is minimal, bordering on harsh if you wear thin socks. The construction is classic Converse: vulcanized rubber, glued-on foxing tape, and no real cushioning to speak of. It’s not a sneaker you buy to walk ten thousand steps in. And for $80 — or even a discounted $70 — it’s hard to argue you’re getting much value beyond the styling and name attached to it.