Every time someone tells me that they’re interested in a (hype) pair of shoes ‘because they’re comfortable’, I always give them a bit of side-eye. Not that I don’t think they believe it, but something with the whole ‘comfort’ idea doesn’t really add up.
In 2006 or so, when those air max 360’s dropped, my gf (now wife) was watching me try on the Kashima Antlers pair asking me if I really needed another pair of $180 shoes… I knew the answer to that, but had to justify it. I looked her in the eye and said ‘babe, these are like sex for my feet.’
But were they?
At the time, in that shop, I think I believed what I was saying (at least enough to shell out the $200), but after a couple of wears in the real world, I found out quickly enough that it was a lie.
Most shoes are comfortable enough - but anything that is *really* comfortable probably isn’t going to end up on any of these hype lists…
It made me think - if there were such thing as a blind shoe test, how many of us would actually be able to tell what we had on feet? Obviously, eras and categories matter…like a vintage Nike shouldn’t go against a newer Hoka…but, for shoes in a similar group - could you actually tell the difference in a blind shoe test?