Super Stylish Shoes (Levi's Shoes Horse Denim)

Member Name: Recon

Product:	Levi's Shoes Horse Denim
Date:	19/02/08 (1907 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Stylish, Unique, Good quality, Comfortable, Great design, Go very well with jeans

Disadvantages: Blue colour runs ever so slightly onto beige parts (read drawbacks in review)

Before I start, I would like to make it clear that I am reviewing one of the current latest style shoes by Levi. I bought these shoes after seeing some guy wearing them and glancing at the Levi logo on his shoes. I remembered seeing them in a shop one day beside a hefty price tag, but in the end I just bought them as they are excellent shoes and really trendy. They are very unique, and being made by Levi, they are of excellent quality although I did find one drawback that I'll touch on later.

~~~~~
Design
~~~~~

First off, these shoes are available in a range of adults' sizes; I haven't seen them in children's sizes anywhere, but if you have good size feet, you should definitely be able to find a pair. In general, they look like canvas shoes but can be worn a unique way to any other shoe I have seen, which I find stylish and cool. They are actually available in many different designs and colours, but I am reviewing the blue denim horse shoe. Don't know why they are called 'horse shoes', but that's their name.

Like most modern-day canvas shoes made by 'Converse All Star' as one of the most popular sellers; the front of the shoe is actually made of rubber, whereas the rest is made from the material, which is denim in this case. Kind of hard where I should start to describe, so I'm going to start underneath. The underneath has little grip, but no canvas shoes really do have any grip. Rather than a repeating pattern, there is a little variety. On the bottom, there are chequered lines at the front, which move onto a more complex pattern of diamonds, and a similar bit at the back with the middle being unique that runs round the outside. They don't give much grip, but they are not winter shoes or hiking shoes by any means!

Moving up onto the base of the shoe, there is a rubber base that runs round the side of the shoe at the bottom. It has a red stripe that runs right round this beige rubber at the top, in between the rubber and the upper shoe. There is also another red stripe running through the middle of the rubber band, until it is obstructed by the front where a textured pattern is, and the back where the Levi's logo lies.

The rest of the shoe is a lovely navy denim colour and contrasts brilliantly with the beige laces and other features. On the inner side of the shoe, there are two holes for air circulation with a bronze circle round them, which adds style to the shoe. On the outer side of the shoe, there is a rather old and original logo that looks great and reads 'Original Riveted... Quality Clothing XX... Trade Mark...Patentedinus May 20th 1873'. This is done in beige writing, not threaded but stuck onto the denim like a stamp, so it is clearly visible. This logo can be seen from the outside, and is very fashionable and shows off the original design logo.

The shoe is quite tall, shaped like a boot but with very flexible and soft denim that will droop down when the shoes are not being worn. There are 8 lace holes down each side, but one of them is a button on one of the sides, which is for use with one of the ways you can wear it (more on that later). The laces are a light beige colour, and have a good size width that gives them a lovely look when done up.

The special design of the shoes means you can fold over the back of the shoe at the top and round the sides slightly to reveal the inside beige colour and also a Levis logo, which cleverly comes down to show itself the correct way up in red, bold writing. The inside of the shoe has a lovely thick sole with the Levis logo dotted around equally in a pattern in alternating angles, which looks great! The inside of the tongue also has the same trademarked logo as on the outside of the shoe, which folds down and clips to the button when worn.

Overall, the design is very unique and fashionable. The colours are great with a variety of navy, beige and red. They contrast each other well and stand out brilliantly.

~~~~~~~~~
Ways To Wear
~~~~~~~~~

You may be wondering why on earth I am devoting a whole new topic title to 'how to wear a shoe!' Well, stupid as it seems, there are a couple of ways you can wear this shoe. It's not actually stupid, but stylish and unique. Here are the two ways:

1 - Do the shoe up as normal with the laces right to the top. Then loosen the laces, slip your foot in and tighten it up, tying a bow to finish it. The laces may be a bit long, so I tuck them in the shoes. This is how you wear any other canvas shoe with the boot shape. It seems to be better with straight-leg trousers/jeans rather than the second way to wear, which looks bad with straight-leg trousers. This way, you can fit the trousers over the shoe at the bottom, and they look good.

2 - Do the laces right the way up but leaving two holes on the top free at each side. This enables the tongue to be lifted down and with ease, it is attached to the button as there is a large hole on the tongue, but so obvious/visible when it's done up like a boot. Once you have clipped down the button to the shoe, you take the back part of the shoe and fold it back, so that the Levis logo is showing at the back of the shoe. The beige inner part of the shoe with the big red Levis logo looks excellent and this is a really stylish and unique way to wear a shoe. It seems a bit weird at first, because your sock/foot seems exposed too much. In the shop, this was putting me off buying them, but they really don't show when you are wearing most jeans, and they just look cool and unique. Don't have any doubts about this style - just do it because it looks brilliant!

The fact that there are two ways to wear the shoe is excellent and definitely a selling point. They are almost always advertised with the tongue down and the back folded over to reveal the Levis logo. I tend to wear it like a boot with straight-leg trousers, because the top of the shoe fits well under the trousers. Mostly, I wear it the more stylish way with the tongue and back down as it looks much better.

~~~~~
Quality
~~~~~

The quality is very good, as they are made by good quality designers. The actual shoe is made from soft, durable denim that I haven't had any problems with. The front of the shoe on the bottom has the textured part, which is good as you might hit your foot on the ground by accident, and this seems to stop it marking or getting ruined, also looking cool too. The laces are wide and strong, and I put them in the washing machine and they were fine. You may think it is a delicate shoe with a button on the front, but this is very securely fitted and it works well. The levis logo on the bottom back of the shoe (along the rubber base) is still in mint condition, whereas it totally faded off with my Converse shoes somehow, before the whole piece just fell off as a rectangular piece of rubber. You can see and definitely tell that the shoe is of good quality. It feels good too when you are wearing it or just checking out the material.

You may have expected the rich colours to run down a bit or the inner sole to fade away, however none of this has happened! The shoe is almost in mint condition! The inner sole hasn't been damaged by hot sweaty feet at all, and the patterned sole looks good as new! The front rubber bit on top of the shoe has become a bit stained over time with dirt and so on, but this can mostly be washed off with water, and you would expect marks with all shoes anyway - it's up to the way you walk and wear them and WHERE you where them - not the shoe quality. After all, I think it would be pretty hard to make un-markable shoes.

~~~~~~
Comfort
~~~~~~

Like all shoes, I found them a bit uncomfortable for the first few times I wore them. I wore them the second way stated above, which I preferred. I found that the tongue seemed to create a small bulge where it was folded, that dug into my foot. However, this was easily fixed by simply pulling up the tongue far enough and folding it as straight and clean as I could, which wasn't hard to do. In the end, the shoe was comfortable either way to wear and still is! The inner sole is pretty thick and very comfortable to wear. With the soft and high quality material used to make the shoe, the comfort is of excellence. The shoe seems to mould into my foot's shape, and now feels comfortable and natural every time I wear them. The comfort is great, and your feet wear into them very quickly because of the soft, yet durable material they are made of.

~~~~~~~
Drawbacks
~~~~~~~

I have only found one thing that was a minor disappointment for me. This is that the colour of the blue denim seemed to run onto the shoe laces, and it seems like it has stained the front upper rubber part of the shoe from the inside! The laces have been washed, and this came off with ease, leaving them good as new. However, with a sharp eye, you can still see the hint of blue in the beige rubber bit on top of the shoe at the front. Therefore, the colours do seem to run ever so slightly, but it is nothing major. Only ever so slightly have they run, and this is due to my hot sweaty feet and the way the shoe is worn, the tongue folds back over the laces, which is navy denim itself, so if it is hot and sweaty, then this may wear the colour onto the laces a bit. It's a disappointment, but not the end of the world, and is barely visible, and only occurs slightly anyway. This is the ONLY problem I have found with the shoe that probably COULD be helped.

~~~
Price
~~~

Wow, what a great shoe eh? Must come at a hefty price then? They aren't the cheapest shoes you will find, but at around £45 or Euro58, the price isn't bad at all. For the quality you get, the comfort you can enjoy, and the style that is so unique, the price just doesn't seem too bad. These are an excellent pair of shoes and I am sure they will last you a long time and give you ultimate pleasure to be wearing such wonderful shoes! They can be bought at any Levis store if in stock, as well as most good shoe shops that stock designer shoes. Prices may vary, but on average they sell for around £44.99.

~~~~~~~
Conclusion
~~~~~~~

To sum up, I would highly recommend you check out these shoes and simply buy them if you like them. Don't let anything draw you back, as they really are superb shoes. They are made with excellent quality and they are very durable. The quality is proven by the fact that the shoe is in immaculate condition considering how much I've worn them, and I'm not always a sensible wearer! The sole is in remarkable condition with no fading at all, after my sweaty feet have been on them so much. The rest of the shoe looks great too, almost like new. They can be worn two different ways - one of which is very stylish and unique! They have the Levis logo and trademark logo clearly visible all over in different parts, making great designer shoes. They are very comfortable and fit to your foot extremely well within hours of wear. They are much better quality than the Converse range and just as stylish in a different way! At around £45, they aren't too expensive as you are getting such superb shoes for your money that will last you ages! Unless it snows, they are pretty much suitable for any time of year and any weather, although I wouldn't like to wear them in heavy rain.

As for other people's views, I have constantly received comments on how nice my shoes are. People seem to love the style and want a pair themselves! They are very unique, and not a lot of people have them. One thing I haven't mentioned is that they go excellently with all kinds of jeans! They look really good! They don't totally blend in as they have a unique denim look and colour, but they tone really well and look superb with jeans! Overall, highly recommended you look into these shoes, but don't all get a pair or they won't be so special!

Thanks for reading,

- Recon -

Summary: These are super stylish shoes, and well-worth the money! Great quality and unique!