The Alden Leisure Hand Sewn, or LHS for short, has a bit of a cult following, particularly in the “trad” or “ivy” community. It’s considered the end goal or grail for a lot of people. However, even among the range of $500+ loafers in the LHS line, one in particular stands out to the navy blazer wearing crowd – the unlined shell cordovan model.
Perhaps fittingly, while the lined shell model is available at almost every Alden retailer, the unlined version has traditionally been exclusively offered at another brand associated with the navy blazer, Brooks Brothers. In fact, the shoe wasn’t even branded as an Alden, instead featuring the Brooks Brothers logo throughout and coming in a different box without any hint of the Massachusetts-based shoe company.
Like it or not, when the average person thinks of a Yeezy sneaker, they are thinking of the 350 V2. According to StockX, there have been well over 50 colorways of the sneaker released so far and even with the supposed replacement in the 380 nearly a year old, it doesn’t appear like Adidas is planning on slowing down any time soon.
To many, the bit loafer is a slightly garish middle finger in a wardrobe. The loafer version of Nantucket Red pants. To others, it embodies connotations of men who are the human equivalent of Pepe Le Pew – and not in a good way. Either way, bit loafers generally don’t fade into the background. Rancourt does a few things to try and put their thumb on the preppy/academic side, trying take it away from the more negative connotations this style of shoe might have.
Adidas’ Boost technology was completely revolutionary. It was comfortable, unique looking, and sold out in almost every shoe it was attached once Kanye wore those classic white Ultraboosts. Unfortunately, this left Adidas in a tough position: what do you do next? How do you build upon something that changed the industry? The answer was the introduction of what Adidas calls “4D”.
Rancourt’s history is an interesting one. The current company is one of the newest companies making shoes within the United States, being founded in 2010, but that only tells part of the story. The Rancourt family has been making shoes in Maine for decades.
The Vans Old Skool, originally known as the #36, is one of those classic shoes that everyone has probably owned at some point. One of the later designs from Van’s classic line, the shoe took what worked from previous skate shoes they have made – the padded collar, the thin sole, etc. – and added the leather strips on the side for additional wear protection.
Oak Street Bootmakers is now one of the most established names in the American-made footwear market. In fact, by late 2018, the brand was so large it was able to save a storied Maine factory that at one time made handsewns for Alden, Red Wing, Sperry, Sabago and others by simply buying it when the previous owners were unable to keep the lights on.
Shoes with Quoddy stamped into the sole have been around since just after the end of WWII, but like many of the other Maine-based companies, that iteration of the brand doesn’t exist today. The current owners of Quoddy started far more recently in 1997, with the goal of reviving the nameplate in order to sell shoes in their small knick-knack store that also had “Quoddy” in the name.
For many within the United States, Allen Edmonds is one of the most storied shoe brands. Starting off in 1922, the company has put shoes on the feet of every President from Reagan through W., Prime Ministers of Canada, LeBron James and Jack Nicklaus, and probably hundreds of thousands of 18 to 21 year olds trying to get their first “real” jobs.
The Sperry Top-Sider has been a staple of those who want to look like they could jump on their yacht at any moment – even if the closest they’ve been to a large body of water is Point Place in Toledo, Ohio. Most people will point to 1935 as the year the Top-Sider was introduced, but that isn’t exactly true.