Nike launched the Blazer as a basketball sneaker in 1972, its identify a nod to the corporate’s residence basketball group, the Portland Path Blazers. The sneakers then shifted from the basketball courts to skateboards, and now they’re showing on common wearers who don’t pay very a lot consideration to sports activities in any respect (like myself).
Sure, I’ve thought of different footwear. Adidas’s Stan Smiths are too primary. A pair of Vans doesn’t at all times minimize it. And though Nike’s cumbersome Air Pressure 1 footwear have been a favourite among the many fashion-conscious (and are even a choose in Wirecutter’s white sneaker information), the Blazers are a much more fascinating and adaptable pair of Nikes that, I believe, have been unjustly neglected. I can put on mine with all of my denims, paired with any informal high, however additionally they work with slip clothes. I respect their classic really feel, which is much less excessive vogue and extra a design that’s in direct relation to its sporty roots.
Some recommendation for initiates to Membership Blazer: I put on solely the Mid, whose aesthetics I favor to these of the Low. The Mid feels extra paying homage to basic ’70s model, whereas the Low jogs my memory of a primary vogue sneaker, just like the notably clear authentic Adidas Stan Smith or Widespread Initiatives designs. The Blazers are comfy, too. The soles might lack Nike Air (except you get the SB Zoom model, which I don’t assume is critical), however they nonetheless present sturdy foot help and traction, because of a solid-rubber sole.
However let’s be trustworthy: I don’t simply put on them for a way they really feel. An enormous a part of the Blazers’ attraction lies in how they give the impression of being. And different folks discover. I’ve misplaced rely of what number of occasions they’ve gotten me compliments, from sneakerheads whose opinions I belief, from inventive associates who respect that they’re mainstream with out being pedestrian, and even from random folks on the road who inform me as they stroll by that they “love these Blazers!” Me too.