February 8, 2012 world of men's style / fashion / grooming RSS
“Canvas Sneakers”
07/12/11
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Paint it Blue

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Ladies and gentlemen, the perfect pair of shorts.

Now that we’ve sharpened up our dyeing skills, Tenue de Nimes has a handy reminder that all those tricks will work on canvas sneakers too. These white chucks were plunged into denim dye, resulting in the spotty blue you see here. If you want to pick up a pair, you’ll have to jet out to Amsterdam and hope you’re one of the first 50 people in line—so you may be better off with a fresh pair of sneakers and a dye bucket.

Check out Tenue de Nimes dye setup after the jump»

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06/24/10
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The Sockless Life

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Now that it’s warm enough to make every square inch of exposed skin count, we thought we’d offer a few helpful tips on going sockless. As you can see above, it’s a pretty great look when executed properly—somewhere between an Italian painter and an unusually stylish surf bum—but the key to this particular move is finding the right shoe. That means boat shoes, moccasins, loafers, bucks, bluchers and anything canvas. By the same token, we’d stay away from sneakers, wing-tips and anything more formal. And remember: life’s too short to worry about a little sweat.

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04/29/10
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Getting Creative

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Most summer sneakers fall squarely in the stripped down, retro-minded bracket, so it’s nice to see someone push against the edges. This pair from Creative Recreation adds a few well-chosen bells and whistles along with an unexpected patch of velcro. Well played.

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03/22/10
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The Shoes of Summer

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One of our favorite parts of summer is going sockless, so it’s good to have a pair of canvas sneakers around. This Chukka-esque pair just arrived from zuriick, and it might be our favorite of the season—especially now that the canvas oxford gold rush seems to have tailed off. And if you’re wondering why it’s so much more than a pair of Chucks, take a look at the sole: that slab of leather should be going strong long after the rubber equivalent has gone to pieces.

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03/23/09
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Up Front

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There are big changes afoot in the sneaker world, but so far, it hasn’t been clear what was going to trickle down to the Reeboks and Converses of the world. But, opinionated gentlemen that we are, we have a thought or two on the subject.

Ladies and Gentlemen, we present the canvas oxford. If it hasn’t gained serious ground in the shoe racks of the world by next summer, we’re going to be very disappointed.

We expound on the matter still further»

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03/13/09
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Off White

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The season for white canvas shoes is almost upon us, and luckily F-Troupe is fully prepared.

Of course, you’ll have to manage bringing it over from Paris (and navigating the European shoe sizing chart), but the flash of color in the laces and soles should make it worth your while. There are also blue, green, and purple versions, but we’re going with the one that matches our Thriller jacket.

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06/26/08
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Drille-ing Down

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With sockless weather in full swing, we’ve been rediscovering an Iberian alternative to mandals or the usual deck shoe. Welcome to the wonderful world of espadrilles.

A footwear tradition in the Pyrenees—where rugged ventilation is a necessity—espadrilles date back to the 1300s, but recent years have seen them adopted as a unisex shoe by high fashion crowds. While they’re a common sight on the streets of Paris, they’re still catching on stateside. The trick to the canvas wonders is the braided jute rope bottoms, both surprisingly soft and slick enough to keep the shoes from getting too funky over the course of the summer.

More on the rope-soled moc»

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06/11/08
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Blue Serge Shoes

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An iconic French tennis shoe worn by the likes of style heros Serge Gainsbourg and JFK is finally making its way stateside for fall.

Ironically, La Tennis Bensimon, as they call it back home, was originally inspired by American Army surplus following World War II. Made of canvas and suede with rubber soles and a hand-finished look, they have a classic, timeless quality; unsurprisingly the women’s version was a fave of Brigitte Bardot and Jane Birkin. We like the basic navy blue cotton toile version pictured here, which comes in 10 colors and several variations.

Canvas sneaks are enjoying something of a vogue at the moment—hello Steven Alan—but we think these puppies will probably outlast the vagaries of fashion.

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