We've moved beyond boat shoes being inextricably associated with frat dudes (I hope) and fully embraced the chunky deck shoe as a timeless prep staple, thanks in no small part to slick collabs like BEAUTY & YOUTH UNITED ARROWS' latest Timberland team-up.
Even as ivy league style faces a cultural reckoning — a fairly slight one, given that it's less of a movement and more of a generalized style of clothing — traits carry over into the current generation, like Timberland's 3-Eye Lug shoe.
Boat shoes, in general, are a certified ivy classic, having been around since JFK and the other WASPs were yachting around New England in the '50s.
Originally a functional bit of easy footwear meant for on-deck wear, the boat shoe eventually became such a stereotype by the mid-'10s — greek life is itself rooted in the same collegiate classism that birthed ivy style — that frat dudes had to be told that other shoes exist
Even in our more enlightened times, Timberland's 3-Eye Lug shoe is different. It stands tall on the lug sole that gives the shoe its name and its interwoven laces are frame a graceful moccasin-style toe.
Something about that elevated sole and pristine upper inherently separates the style from any potential stigma and BEAUTY & YOUTH's collaborative pairs really do the shape justice.
Available at UNITED ARROWS' Japanese stores for ¥19,800 apiece (about $160), the collaborative 3-Eye Lugs recall Timberland's other collabs with Aimé Leon Dore or BAPE, in that they all elevate the classic silhouette with top-shelf quality.
BEAUTY & YOUTH opt for a perfect seasonal textile: soft suede realized in versatile black or a pastel yellow that truly complements the sunny days that're on their way. Either way, can't go wrong for spring.
