Initial Impressions

Historically, White’s Boots doesn’t really like to change the way they do things. While some others in the Pacific Northwest, most notably Viberg, have very distinct lifestyle and work lines, White’s makes all of their boots to the same standards on the same lines. The difference this makes can probably be seen most clearly on this: The White’s MP Service Boot.

If you had asked me a few months what I thought of the J Crew Ludlow line of shoes, I would have responded with the same way I think about the Ludlow line of clothes. That is, a mall brand that sells affordable options. Great for most people, but not the enthusiast’s choice. However, then rumors began to fly that same factory that makes Grant Stone makes these. With the nearly ubiquitous sales, the possibility of getting Grant Stone quality for mall brand money was too tempting to pass up, and I placed an order for these J Crew Ludlow Tassel Loafers.

If I told you to picture a Peter Moore-designed shoe that came out to the public in 1985, the Nike Dunk Low is probably not the first one that comes to mind. Of course, the Jordan 1 is likely the first, but the Dunk High and others are more often thought of as the retro sneakers from that year. However, looking at the releases over the past year or so, Nike has sold far more Dunk Lows than just about any other hyped sneaker. And every time they’ve sold out, including this Nike Dunk Low Hyper Cobalt pair.

Jordan Brand and Edison Chen’s Clot have quite a lot of history already, so it makes sense that they are continuing this with another history-focused collaboration: the Air Jordan 14 Terracotta. Building on Chen’s Chinese history, these shoes are designed to resemble the Terracotta Army. This was a set of stone soldiers, who would watch over the emperor in death.

Most people would put the Jordan 11 among the best Jordans ever released, right up there with the 1s, 3s, and 4s. However, while we typically get 5 or more releases of those models every year (and in the case of the 1s that many in a month) the Jordan 11 is much rarer. Typically only releasing around the holiday season, this gets one colorway per year in the high. This year, the single Jordan 11 release was the 25th anniversary edition: The Jordan 11 Jubilee.

There are several classic shoes that can trace much of what makes them popular back to a single pop culture moment. Harrison Ford picking his old Alden 405s (now called the “Indys” in his honor) instead of the Red Wings on Raiders of the Lost Ark. Keanu Reeves choosing the Torsion Artillery Hi to match Bill & Ted’s attitude. All of those shoes are priced to match their celebrity status, but there is one classic that you can pick up for less than the price of getting Chinese delivered – The Vans Checkerboard Slip-Ons.

In honor of the 3rd Bill & Ted coming out this year, Kid Cudi and Adidas teamed up to release the original design on the Torsion Artillery Hi. With these still sitting on shelves, is this a worthwhile shoe to pick up?

Founded in 2014, Jay Butler was part of the crop of brands that started right when men’s fashion was really taking off again. Focusing entirely on loafers (at least from a footwear perspective), they have managed to keep everything but the exotic leathers under $200.

The original Jordan 1 Midnight Navy CO.JP is one of the rarest Jordan 1s to ever drop. A Japanese exclusive from 2001, the brand only released 3,000 pairs. Thankfully, in honor of the 2020 Tokyo Olympics that never happened, Jordan Brand and Nike are rereleasing several of the Japan-exclusive colorways of their sneakers.

Five years ago, if you went on most of the men’s fashion forums and asked which classic white sneaker you should buy you would have received one answer – the Adidas Stan Smith. Using google to search reddit, you come up with 63,000 posts mentioning them. While the hype has died down a bit, it’s hard to argue the impact this one sneaker has had.