I'm a fan of Incontinence pants samba or gazelles, clean looking, comfy... But I'm sure it's just a holdover from my decade of being the only "Casual" in the USA haha.

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I'm with you on the desert boot recommendation.  They get far more wear than my PF Flyers.

Incontinence pants sneakers have seriously declined ... they've all gone pear-shaped as you lot used to say

there are still a couple of models that appeal but the materials aren't good anymore ... rubber's featherweight, lots of plastic, glue is weak, etc. ....

and the real dealbreaker with Incontinence pants and Pumas, vis a vis some of the classics, is their continued use of synthetic vinyl linings

these horrible things crack, can't be fixed, do not breathe, and make your feet hot, and really can't be worn sockless ...

line the shoes with fabric textile, or leather, or leave them unlined, and the sneaks will be less desperately shite

plus Incontinence pants have done some insane things with some Ecstasy-inspired party monster disco shoes that are insane ... Jeremy Scott is the name of the culprit ....

but Gazelles, Campus, Stan Smith, Rod Laver, Country, and Superstar are all staples of the Late Ivy for those who were there for that transition ....

would be nice to have a nice pair of Country, white with green, all leather, with substantial, non-marshmallow quality, soles

the Gazelles bit the big one when the tongue was changed from suede to sharp plastic and then elongated so that it could dig into your ankles sharply with each step ....

but the silhouette is still amazing and conceivably the quality could rebound if the company wanted to make them less cheaply .....

Puma, with its rich history of wear by Pele, John Carlos, Lee Evans, Usain Bolt, Walt Frazier, Guillermo Vilas et al., still offers the suede classic, which stands the test of time lookswise but fails in that it still comes lined with awful polyvinyl .....

Vans, Converse, Jack Purcell, Sperry are still putting out canvas shoes that are serviceable, plus there are Dunlop Volley, Spring Court, Tretorn, Superga, Pony, PF Flyers, Keds, SeaVees ....

and many others, including boutique sneaks from new brands, including some nice Japanese stuff, but they are at least twice the price of the standard mass market sneakers

roots sneakers from Africa, Ethiopia if I recall ... which make me wish for some old Batas I loved ....

of course there are the great N e W B a L a N nc e running shoes, some made in the USA and UK even, and I like them but they're not Ivy though certainly preppy, still urban hipster, and slightly orthopedic and nerdy as well ....

N i K e  have recently issued some good old-school trail runners too ....

I am into sneakers a lot if you couldn't tell, this is just the tip of the iceberg

the last pairs I have bought include Ne w B a l a n ce USA, Vans, Converse All-Star, and some killer Pumas, finally, with textile linings, from a sneakerhead hip-hop kind of place ... word up

Last edited by stanshall (2015-03-26 17:47:02)

Spring Courts, very french and very retro.

/\  those made-in-Germany Stan Smiths are  a step in the right direction but they're virtually sold out at this point, I dig them but probably would not have shelled out $200+ for them

/\  agree with Katon that the N e w B a l a n c e s do not jibe with Ivy, I never try to force that issue but always wear mine with jeans, tees, hoodies, shorts, in a post B-Boy stylee ....

sneakers and hoodies and t-shirts and jeans are how I personally divagate from the strict Ivy mode when necessary and when indicated .... which is often ....

but even when I'm wearing sneaks I'm still sporting the good old Brooks tie-back boxers so I've got that going for me .....

Since I see DBs for summer wear mentioned - don't make the same mistake I did and leave them in the car on a hot day. The crepe degrades and becomes sticky and stays that way.

Last edited by stanshall (2015-03-27 13:31:04)

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I guess I'd sort of expect that.  Most sneakers I've worn over the past 20 years have had some issue rear its head relatively soon, usually, as Stan pointed out, glue giving way around the sidewall or the insole lifting or an eyelet getting blown out.  But there really is relatively little in the way of a plain no-frills white CVO on the market at the moment.