Living in New England means a lot of different footwear depending on the season and the weather. I love it because you can never get bored with your wardrobe, just when you think you can’t bear to put those boots on again, its time to take out your Palm Beach Sandals! A hole in my wardrobe recently has been a nice pair of casual canvas sneakers. There are a lot of choices out there, but I got these Backyard Footwear sneakers that I found on @dave_money3‘s insta. I didn’t want to do white because I KNOW I would get them so dirty, but these gray ones were perfect for me. The sizing is European as they are from Denmark, and I am a size 8 which translates to a 38. They were a little snug so I sent them back for a 39. They were $60 with free shipping and they can also be purchased on Amazon! They are gray canvas with little blue suede inner toe patches and the rubber soles are molded up around the toe, so the rubber isn’t glued on.
These are some of the other options out there that I checked out before purchasing my Backyard sneaks. Let me know if I forgot any!
LLBean sells Superga sneakers here. They are $65, free shipping, and come in some nice colors. My problem with these is I like a rounded toe to my sneaks and these have more like a square/trapezoid shaped toe I guess? They look like fabulous sneakers though.
Sperry has some beautiful canvas sneakers too here in many colors for $60 with free shipping. I really liked these because they have the traditional topsider laces, but they have a similar toe box to the Superga sneakers AND I felt like I saw these everywhere this past spring and summer, so I wanted to find something a little different. I have a friend who has them in navy and said they are wicked comfortable.
J. Crew sells a couple different canvas sneakers. There are the SeaVees for $78 and then the TreTorn sneakers for $68. I sort of crossed these off my list because they were more expensive and some of the colors are backordered.
Of course, there are Keds which are the classic canvas sneaker. Here is a link to the canvas sneaker page because honestly its pretty cool to see the whole collection. They have so many colors!! The sneakers run from $45-60 for the most part. I had Keds growing up, and loved them…but I kicked the crap out of them ha. I remember retiring many pairs of Keds with holes in them and the rubber around the sides coming off. The quality might be much better now…hopefully it is because they are more expensive now than I remember…but I guess I have those memories and wanted something more sturdy.
Converse Chuck Taylors are also a nice classic canvas sneaker for a great price at $50. My sister has a pair of these and loves them. I like them and have a pair of the taller Chuck Taylors in green.
I am looking forward to wearing my Copenhagens on days when I don’t want to wear sandals, am not ready for boots, my neon blue/green running sneakers would be a little overkill. They are handmade in the same factory in Europe since 1972 in an eco-friendly way and they are cushioned for wear all day. Lets be honest, I kinda want them in every color.
The Superga, Tretorn, and Sperry sneakers all sort of flare out to the toe. I like the Seavees, Keds, Chucks, and of course the Backyard sneakers because they taper to the toe. I suppose its personal preference.
What is your go to sneaker??
Those look really nice! I love that they’re made in Europe and without glue!
Those Tretorns, though! I’m going to get those next spring! I prefer a larger toebox, room to spread out, probably from years of stuffing my feet into tiny ballet slippers.
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Thanks for reading! Yes! I totally feel like the style of toe box is all about personal preference. Oh my goodness, ballet! I go a few times a year and have to utmost respect for your pain tolerance haha 🙂
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Yeah, I did ballet from age two until age sixteen. I tried again a few years ago… I was out of shape, not as flexible, and not a scrawny kid anymore – it was really hard as an adult! I want to go back though, because dancing is the only form of exercise I like. That’s the only thing I did consistently as a kid. I like hiking. You do some serious mountains! That’s awesome!
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Thanks Kaela! Have you ever tried one of those barre classes? I have been doing them just once a week at a place up here in NH and I can see someone who did ballet really liking it/being really good at it!
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I have done barre classes. I found some parts of it fun, but overall I didn’t really like it. I didn’t like that the theory (at least where I went) is to work the muscles to exhaustion. That doesn’t feel good or right to my body. Also there wasn’t the same attention to details, like technique, as ballet – which is really fine because it’s not meant to be ballet, but to my ballet brain, it just didn’t sit well. I maybe did four classes before deciding it wasn’t for me. It’s definitely challenging, though! I give it that! Since the Olympics I’ve been on a kick of watching rythmic gymnastics videos on YouTube. Those girls are insane!! I tried a “warm up” video and that was my workout for yesterday. Yikes!
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oh my goodness, just watched a rhythmic gymnastics youtube video, I am sore and exhausted just from watching!! So awesome! Good luck lady 🙂
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