Thursday Women’s Sneaker Review | Does the “Premier” Live Up to the Name?

Never in the history of our planet has the line between workout sneaker and fashion sneaker been as blurred as it is now. Shoes once relegated to the darkest depths of your dad’s gym are now paired with all manner of dresses and skirts and giant kewl kid pants.

You know this. You’ve seen them.

But for those of us who find the more extreme versions of said line-blurring a little cringey (fellow millennials, I’m talking to you), a more classic and minimalist fashion sneaker option is an easier, goes-with-everything choice. And that’s where Thursday’s Premier Low Top Sneaker comes in.

The Company: Thursday Boot Company

Back in 2014, friends Connor Wilson and Nolan Walsh started Thursday Boot Company with the goal of selling high-quality, long-lasting boots at reasonable prices. They started out with classic men’s styles but once they’d built a reputable brand, they branched out to women’s boots and, eventually, the fashion sneaker market.

The reason you’ve heard of them more than other brands in the space is their supernatural ability to keep prices low: their resoleable boots are about $100 less than comparable products and the same goes for their leather jacket I reviewed.

The Style: Thursday’s Premier Low Top Sneaker

• Minimalist leather sneaker
• 12+ leathers and colors to choose from
• Upper is both glued and stitched to the sole, so it won’t peel off as quickly as most sneakers

The Premier Low Top Sneaker (PLT) is a study in minimalism. Where trendy, borderline-cringe styles of the past few years went bigger and louder and chunkier, the PLT goes understated and sleek.

But that’s not to say these shoes are boring. They’re giving “Heritage Americana” (in the words of Thursday), and I’d say that’s a pretty accurate description.

The sneakers come in a wide range of colorways and materials. The “Classic Collection” features the most color options (including pink!) and different kinds of leather like shiny ones, matte ones, and even snuff suede.

I personally love and tried out the Classic Collection‘s black leather shoe (the color’s just called “Black”) for this Thursday’s women’s sneaker review, which pairs nicely with jeans or long skirts and dresses in the winter or shorts in the summer — a true jack-of-all-shoes.

But we all know that white sneakers have a foothold in the scene, so there’s a whole line of “Gum Sole” Premiers (they seem to be the same ones they call their “Legacy” sneakers elsewhere on the site) that have white uppers with small heel accents in different colors. (Including pink!)

The last line of Premiers, the “Heritage Leathers” collection, tries something very unusual: they’re sneakers made with boot leathers. The “Waxed Roughout” pictured above is one of the best known models.

If Nick‘s article on the men’s version is anything to go by, you can expect more of a break in with the boot leather sneakers.

The Sizing & Fit: Thursday’s Premier Low Top Sneaker

• Fits true to size
• The leather is a bit stiff at first, but softens
• Flat and minimalist look means not a lot of arch support

My usual size 9 fit just right with these when I wore them with standard thin cotton socks, and while the leather was a bit stiff at first and takes some time to soften, they were quite comfortable for walking right out of the box. By that I mean while they were stiff, they weren’t blister-giving stiff.

However, you won’t find the cushioning and flexibility here that you can expect from your dad’s gym shoes, so keep that in mind. As a high-arch person, I’d pop in some arch-supporting inserts since the bottoms are pretty flat, which tends to hurt my knees after a good bit of walking.

The Materials: Thursday’s Premier Low Top Sneaker

• Smooth full-grain leather
• Leather certified by the Leather Working Group

The black leather version of these sneakers are made of butter-smooth full grain leather. “Full grain” means the leather includes the outermost layer of the animal’s skin, which a lot of brands shave away or “correct” for smoothness and thinness.

This means the leather on these sneakers is thicker than some of the typical dress leathers you’ll find out there, and thus will last longer and hold up better to the elements. It is the result of a leather designed to improve rather than degrade with age. A buttery soft leather interior lining also adds a good deal of comfort to the inside of the shoe.

You can also feel good about the provenance of this leather: it is ethically sourced from Tier 1 USA cattle, and produced exclusively at tanneries with high marks for their environmental practices, according to the Leather Working Group.

The Soles: Thursday’s Premier Low Top Sneaker

• Italian “Vachetta” leather insoles
• Foam footbeds absorb shock well

More leather! The Premier Low Top Sneaker boasts an unusual Vachetta leather insole with shock-absorbing footbeds for bounce and comfort.

Vachetta is a kind of vegetable-tanned Italian leather typically found in luxury handbags, but Thursday has made a habit of using it to line their footwear when they want to minimize break in. It usually comes from the animal’s shoulder, making it tougher and more durable than the average leather, but it’s also soft and supple, making it an excellent material for a sleek but comfortable insole.

Again, these are dress sneakers, not basketball sneakers, so don’t expect the kind of cush and arch support you’d get from a Nike, but this kind of leather construction means they’ll mold to the shape of your foot more than athletic sneakers, so you’ve got a different kind of “comfort” waiting for you once you’ve put in some wear.

Construction: Thursday’s Premier Low Top Sneaker

• “Cemented” (glued) and stitched
• Stitching means the sole won’t peel away as quickly as most sneakers
• Still, don’t expect to be able to resole these sneakers

Of course, because these are sneakers, the soles are cemented rather than welted. (Translation: The top of the shoe is glued directly to the sole instead of connected with a bunch of heavy layers of material in between.)

This means you can’t resole them, but who resoles a sneaker? The operation would cost more than a new pair. Plus, when compared to welted footwear, cemented sneakers are lighter and more flexible.

The Premiers have an advantage over most sneakers, though: they’re both glued and cemented, like luxury Italian sneakers. That still doesn’t mean you can resole them but it does mean the sole is attached more securely and it won’t start peeling away after a year of wear like Chuck Taylors or practically every other sneaker I’ve ever worn.

Who Should Buy Thursday’s Women’s Premier Low Top Sneaker?

• Women looking for a fashionable and minimalist sneaker that goes with everything.
• Anyone who’s sick of the sole peeling off their sneakers.
• Ladies looking for a range of colors and leather types to choose from.

Who Shouldn’t Buy Thursday’s Women’s Premier Low Top Sneaker?

• Anyone who needs more arch support or more performance than a casual sneaker offers.
• Women who don’t fit Thursday’s size range of 5 through 12.
• People looking for a sneaker that’s very flashy or eye catching; these shoot for the more “timeless and subtle” design.

Wrapping Up: Thursday Women’s Sneaker Review

If you’re looking for an everyday sneaker that’s elegant enough to wear to work (even if you work somewhere kind of stuffy) but chill enough to sport all weekend, the Premier Low Top Sneaker is your girl.

And at $129, the price is very right. It’s clear to me from watching the level of quality that these shoes will last a long time—and never go out of style. That’s it for my Thursday women’s sneaker review!