Long Term Review

LL Bean’s Bean Boots are as ubiquitous as falling leaves or pumpkin-spice everything during Fall in many parts of the United States. However, while they have been knocked off countless times, many people don't know that the Bean Boot itself is a copy. Leon Leonwood Bean first came out with these, the Maine Hunting Shoe.

The Quoddy Blucher is really a combination of two styles of shoes – the boat shoe and a ranger moc. Taking style ques from each, and sometimes splitting the differences down the middle, the shoe acts as a bridge between the two styles and can have a very different impact based on the color choices the consumer selects.

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.

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.