Take a Hike to Stay in Step With Footwear

It’s a Saturday night and guys, you’re invited to a party. Casual, says the host. For about a decade now, you’ve been pulling out your jeans, a shirt, a blazer and a pair of lightly broken-in high-top sneakers for events like these. In recent years, it’s become known as the “Seinfeld” look, and the trademark is those white, too-hip-for-the-room athletic shoes.

Lately, however, you may have noticed that those sneakers are getting a little tight. They don’t seem to go with those poplin slacks or green denims like they used to. You try a new pair, a different brand. Yet they still seem a little “funny.”

Finally, you realize what the problem is. There just aren’t as many Seinfeld look-alikes as there used to be. While Jerry’s TV ratings are still in the stratosphere, white athletic shoes are bombing like a Chevy Chase late-night show. Guys have abandoned the “one shoe for every occasion” philosophy and are trying other styles.

“Athletic shoes are finally being put back where they used to be,” says clothing consultant Brian Mayne of Mission Viejo. “They’re being worn for exercise, running errands and working around the house.”

As an alternative, think back 20 years ago or so when you wore hiking boots. “That outdoorsy, hiking look has a real appeal now, and it’s being used in lots of different styles,” says Dave O’Brien of the Army-Navy store in Orange. “The manufacturers are taking that rugged style and incorporating it into a casual shoe.”

These “hiker lites” are being made in slip-ons, Oxfords or high-tops, and they have that well-known waffle sole. “They kind of have their own character,” Mayne says. “You can’t say that about tennis shoes.”

Although you may be reluctant to give these a try after remembering those wrenching walks through the woods in summer camp, hiker casuals aren’t as demanding. “They’re not really made for rigorous hiking, so they’re softer,” O’Brien says. “They have more give and are as comfortable as any other shoe.”

The brown tones in smooth and nubuck leather are popular, but if you want a more dramatic, younger look, try black. “Black goes with most everything, and it makes a big contrast, especially if people are used to seeing you in white,” Mayne says.

If you want to jump from your Cons to cutting-edge, don’t be swayed by the heavy, big black Dr. Martens you’ve been seeing lately. “They’ve become trendy, which means a lot of people who wore them before have stuffed them into their closets,” O’Brien says. “The latest look is the black six- to eight-inch work boot or the military-style boot.”