NO SNEAKERS ALLOWED

Sneakers are a staple of modern day fashion but so many "up-scale" clubs seem to always have an anti-sneaker policy. Some venues try to provide an overall aesthetic and ambiance and they feel that sneakers clash with that. Other venues feel like the people who wear them are the "trouble makers". Sneakers have been the scapegoat of violence in the club for many years now, "As if a guy who wants to tear the club up is going to let his hard bottoms stop him". As a guy who loves sneakers I pride myself in walking that fine line between sneaker and dress/casual shoes. So I am going to take this time to point out some brands that blur the line between sneaker and dress shoes and help you get past these guys.




First, lets look at the Clae Whitman.







This is a good example of a wingtip conversion sneaker. The toe box has the wing tip design of the popular dress shoes your father wears, but the sole of a sneaker. This isn’t the first example of this, Comme des Garcons eYe x Vans made a similar shoe, but Clae offers a more affordable shoe and it's accessible. Next, we have the Nike Air Max Toki.







This is the chukka/desert boot conversion sneaker. After I did a little research on Wikipedia, I found out that a chukka is the name of the periods in Polo and the desert boots are modeled after boots worn by British forces wore in the Western Desert Campaign of World War II. Just some interesting facts, its Wikipedia so forgive me if the information isn’t 100 % accurate, but it could come in handy as some nice convo in the club LOL. Nike does a great job in this conversion. This rust brown color way is a classic fall color and it can be paired up with almost any top. Leather is always a plus and the perforated swoosh is guaranteed to fool any bouncer or doorman at the club. You can see the similarities to the Clark desert boots.




Vans also makes their own chukkas that are very similar.




You might have to spend that extra cash for a Vans Vault Chukka, Vault is a more exclusive tier of the Vans Company, but at least you can go to club in a pair of shoes that you are comfortable wearing. COMFORT is a big factor when it comes to the consumers’ club experience. Everyone isn't comfortable wearing dress shoes. But we have take into account the clubs perspective as well. A club is a major operation but it all starts with a vision, and in some people's vision sneakers aren't part of the plan. I think my experiences being on both sides of the fence help me to understand both points of views and thanks to Nike, Clae, and Vans hopefully both parties can come to a compromise. So I suggest you give these shoes a try and see if you make it past those angry anti sneaker doorman. Hopefully they don’t tell you to KICK ROCKS.