One Good Mary Jane for Guys Willing to Get a Little Weird
You're reading One Good, a series shedding light on the tried, tested, and trusted products our editors can’t stop fawning over. For more recs on fashion, beauty, and tech, visit the Shopping tab or subscribe to our newsletter.
I don’t think I’ve worn a sneaker with a Velcro strap since I was a young lad. We’re talking single digits. Once you outgrew that stage, that was it, you were big and ugly enough to handle “real” sneakers. What self-respecting grown man would confidently rock a Velcro-strapped shoe? Apparently, enough of them to make it a thing again. And now, somehow, I’m one of them.
They had been calling out to me for a while. I’d see them on passersby. I’d write about them for all you sneakerheads, I’d even added a pair or two to cart at some point, but when it came to it, I couldn’t commit. They seemed wildly impractical. And yet, annoyingly tempting. There was the NikeSKIMS of it all, which alerted me to Nike’s own Air Rifts, of course, but they looked too chunky for my liking. Ms Kardashian’s latest pairs, on the other hand, are almost too slim. Clearly, there’s a sweet spot here. One that New Balance and Tokyo Design Studio seem to have struck.
So when the TDS MT2 came across my desk, I was intrigued. I’d already spent enough time looking at this kind of sneaker from afar, but this was the first pair that actually felt like something I could see myself wearing. The first thing that struck me was how little they actually feel like the Velcro shoes I remember. The strap is there, obviously, but it doesn’t have that school-shoe vibe I’d spent years associating with it. If anything, it reminds me more of those dorky shoes you’d wear into the sea on a rocky beach holiday, which somehow makes them even more appealing. It’s a surprisingly good excuse to make a sneaker a little more weird. And, as someone who usually leans towards a fairly straightforward (boring) sneaker, I’ve found myself reaching for them more than I expected.
I’ve always thought they were cool. But I’ll be honest, they seemed like the kind of shoe that’d look much more at home on anyone but a guy. Women seem to pull off this kind of sneaker without even thinking about it. For me, it’s been a little more complicated. There’s something about the shape that means you can’t exactly throw them on with any old pair of pants and call it a day. They need a bit more consideration than I’m used to giving my sneakers, which, depending on the morning, can feel like a lot to ask.
But regardless, they’re a damn fun shoe and one I’m absolutely going to put to work. Besides the perfect fall colorway and easy strap-in-’n’-go nature, they’re one of the most obscure pairs of Mary Janes I’ve seen in a long time. I wasn’t after a Samba Jane, no shade, but if I wanted a boring shoe, I’d commit to the bit and get an actual Samba. These are anything but.
So, I guess this is me reliving my childhood, just with slightly better taste and an admittedly modest upgrade in shoe size. I spent years thinking Velcro was firmly behind me. Turns out, I was wrong.
Highsnobiety has affiliate marketing partnerships, which means we may receive a commission from your purchase.
