It’s a Boot Time
Hi, I’m Nick! I spent weeks researching my first pair of boots, scouring Reddit and message boards and seemingly-paid-for magazine articles. But what I wanted was an authority, a resource where I could read the most in-depth reviews and stories about boots, a place that explored not only the manufacturing and the welting but also the culture and philosophy behind the boot.
What makes one pair different to another? What’s the story behind them? I don’t just want to know what they’re made from, I want to know what made them. Many years and endless new pairs later, I still couldn’t find the kind of content I wanted to read.
That’s why I created Stridewise.
Our guide will teach you everything you should look for when shopping for a pair of boots.
Have you noticed that a lot of newer boot companies are moving away from your traditional cork-and-leather construction and are using more novel materials? Thursday Boot Co has DuraEVA strips in the midsole. Wolf & Shepherd use HDEVA in their heels. Oliver Cabell makes use of Vibram’s Morflex outsole, not to mention materials like Texon
There is a new minimalist white sneaker in town. Well. new-ish. Oliver Cabell launched in 2018 with the goal of making shoes that are more “honest” than the bigger brands. Their whole schtick is that most brands don’t tell you how much their markups are, but they painstakingly list every item in their production process:
Shark skin leather has a long association as a “fancy leather good.”(1) After an MTO boot company’s shark leather boot caught my eye, I decided to find out more about this exceptionally unusual animal skin that mat just be king of the ultra-masculine-leather category. Cuit Ortiz, founder of John Doe Shoes helped me answer a
The Rhodes line of boots is a product of Huckberry, an online men’s store that the founders envisioned as “equal parts store, magazine, and inspiration.” It’s very mensy and very heritage, with a lot of old fashioned outdoorsy stuff like waxed jackets, leather jackets, selvedge jeans, and, of course, boots. While most of their inventory
