Modern Sneakers Explained in 15 Minutes

Man, I remember the week leading up to the first day of school. I remember my parents used to let me pick two new pairs of shoes that I get to wear leading into that school year, right? Start on the right foot, if you will. And you know, I was kind of stupid as a kid, but I remember even then trying to reverse engineer, simulate every social situation that I might have, and then pick what two shoes would be best for these situations, and also have the longevity to last onto Christmas break, both stylistically and quality-wise. There was a science to this. Truly, there was a whole game to this. And if you think that I'm being a little too extra for someone in eighth grade picking shoes, then just say that you never had the mentality to win, all right? This was like 15 years ago. How long ago was that? Goddamn. 2010. Damn, that was 15 years ago. So I remember this like it was yesterday. I pulled up to school wearing a pair of Nike Shox with a sky blue heel. I don't know if that model exists anymore. And man, 15 years later, I'm still riding that high. At the time, this was a social signal to all the boys, essentially saying, you know, this guy knows ball. It was a great pick. I was breaking necks all day at the plaza. I remember I was at the bus stop and these high schoolers tried to run me for my pair. And dude, I mean, and I felt like the ----. So I was like, so I started fake crying because I was like, man, and you know, like, and it kind of worked though because eventually they got uncomfortable and backed off because what are you supposed to do? But the thing is, right, they had no idea that I was actually real crying. And remember, there are two pairs and the other pair has to work in tandem with this one. So this was favorable to the ladies, a pair of red Vans Authentics. Again, at the time, very meta pick. And I feel like nothing has done more for me than this duo right here. Eighth grade was my social prime, I think. Anyways, the reason I bring any of this up for whatever reason is because I want to express honestly how great it is having an exciting rotation of shoes that just works well for you. And with the unfathomable amount of types of sneakers out there right now, it's infinitely harder to even start out much less pick a brand, right? And then much less pick a model and then much less pick a color. And then you have to go and afford this idea. I'll fake cry right now. I'll fake cry right now. So instead of doing that, I'm going to just do all the work for you right here. And I'm going to cover all of this just for you in. All right. But honestly, I'm at this point in my life where I don't mind being given just a few options and then just kind of being okay with my choice. Man, like when I go to a restaurant and they got like three things like this is the best ever. I personally kind of hate the free will a little bit. And at the end of the day, there's just less to think about. 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And if you're going to try things out, it might as well be right now at helixsleep.com slash frugal aesthetic. Thank you to Helix Sleep for sponsoring today's video. All right. So the first spread of shoes right here, we're going to cover this section right here. This type of shoe. I like to think of this genre of sneaker like a first car, right? Think of a Toyota Camry, a Honda Accord, just some reliable basic that gets the job done. I'm not going to sit here and talk about this too much. I don't have too much to say about this. I feel like you guys already get the gist, your Forces, your Jordans, your 550s, your Dunks even. And in this day and age, there are premium upgrades to all these shoes, as you can see from these examples I have right here. But honestly, I feel like you're doing the same job aesthetically as you would with just the base model. And now you're just paying an abhorrent amount of money for genuinely just a pair of Dunks. People don't have as good eyesight as you think. And also people don't care as much as you think. So the average person on the street seeing you wear a pair of off-white, whatever the hell these are, versus a pair of the same color, like no one is going to notice that. Like a big one right now that I've been seeing everywhere for whatever reason are the Amiri Skeleton versions of like regular shoes. It's the same exact shoe, but there's just bones on the side. Hey, I mean, do your thing. If that's your speed, if you're Halloween all year round, right? What does that even say about you? And whenever that walks by, it's like this type of music starts playing in my head just because like, what are we even trying to say right now, guys? Again, don't really think about this type of shoe too much. I feel like it gets easy to overthink and be like, oh, if I'm going to get Forces, I got to get the best Forces. They're Forces. If you're going to get the best they're Dunks. It's the same thing, right? And again, it's great to have in your wardrobe as a beater, but let's just, there are better things to think about. Personally, if I were to recommend one, it would just be a pair of Forces. Forces, they're just kind of like rice for your closet. Just throw some ---- on there and you'll be fine. So again, don't think about this too much. There are so many more exciting things out there for this type of shoe. The door is very big, but the ceiling is very low. Okay, the next type of sneaker, this section right here. Very, very popular, right? This is probably the hottest silhouette right now. Skinny, sleek, aerodynamic, very, very streamlined. I like to call these the roadsters of sneakers. They're fun and they're quick, but they're not intimidating. It's kind of a natural next step for a lot of people moving along in their sneaker style journey. I think these look very good in a minimal or classic wardrobe, which is a style that's seeing a massive resurgence over the past four years as people are starting to get into wardrobe functionality, which these silhouettes are very good for. As they bring enough flavor to spice up your fit without being too aesthetically dominant to where they're just kind of like standing out, hard to style. These are not that. And with how many variations we're seeing for stuff like the Sambas or just really anything that Adidas is doing right now, there's a lot of play here. Personally, my favorite of this type of sneaker is the Tigers. I think they strike the perfect balance between sporty and classic. And the Speed Cats right now are shaping up to be the next big focus as of late. I just got the June J collab of these. I love wearing these in the gym. I love wearing these out. They're easy to style up and down based on the color palette and the shape of the shoe. I think this sneaker has a really good pocket for you to experiment with the way that your sneaker works in your wardrobe, as opposed to just styling around the shoe. It's just a really good foundational piece. And some other personal recommendations for me are the Gats, obviously. The Gazelle is a really good switch up if you just don't want to be the guy wearing a pair of Sambas, even though they're kind of the same thing. It's just a different font. And also the Nike Blazer, if you just have the patience to put that ---- on. And if you have the energy at the end of the day to then take that shoe off, because this is the dude. But also for this, don't think about this too much. You know, you don't have to go crazy with this one either. Just pick something that you feel like you can style on top over. But again, go ahead and explore. There's a lot of colors, variants and stuff. This type of shoe, go to. Next is this situation right here. This section of the spread. Just brand specific ones. Okay. Like let's slow down for a second. I understand the vision here. You know, you're a unique guy. You're a special guy. You're built different. You see the world different. I understand the vision, but unless you're keeping your style in your wardrobe relatively in bounds with this specific brand's design language. If it's not this, I feel like the shoe just doesn't work too well out of that box. Like even for example, like the Ricks, this is about as simple as it's going to get for this genre of shoe. It's just too many times I've seen a pair of Ricks like this paired with a pair of Amiris and then a Balenciaga jacket. And it's like, I get it guys. I get the vision. I understand that you have a higher way of thinking and that you think bigger and grander than all these regular people buying regular clothes, right? Like there's levels to this. I want the penthouse. I want the Ferrari. And by all means, man, you know, ball out is your money. Like if you want to buy a pair of Amiri skeleton shoes, because you're just a spooky kind of guy. But at the end of the day, I feel like if you're not styling this kind of sneaker, right? It just kind of feels like this picture, like this type of picture. So you probably kind of want to stay away from the brand's specific sneakers, unless you have clear intentions to keep things within this style universe. Or unless you're just like goaded, you know, and you find a way to make it work. But again, if you're man, if you're watching a video on me explaining sneakers in whatever minutes or less, probably don't need to buy Balmain unicorns. You know, you probably don't need to buy the Balenciaga triple Xs to pair with your Shein cargo pants and like a vintage T you found on Grailed for 85 bucks, right? And then an Art Terex beanie. And then what else? Let's keep going. And then a Prada shoulder, and then a Prada cross body bag, right? You don't need that. And then what's the, a Rick Owens mountain zip up over the top of all of this? And then where are we going? Where are we going with this, right? Prada shades also. How many types of guys look like this in this type of setup? Like, dude, I understand, right? You want the penthouse, you want the Ferrari to cry. And next we're bringing things back to the classics again, right? The canvas sneaker, a forgotten classic staple. And I know the silhouettes in this type of shoe can really go anywhere, but there's just something about the canvas material specifically just has its own vibe. You know, it's oddly nostalgic. And as a result, I feel like this kind of shoe works really well with this kind of style right here. You know, vintage inspired 90s streetwear, like Japanese Americana, this vibe right here. Like, you know, like all of these guys have had a matcha flavored drink in the past 90 days. And I'm biased personally towards Vans Authentics for obvious reasons, but there are a lot of options out there. Converse has smothered the market with like a million different variants of their classic silhouettes. You know, a lot of which I don't like, but they're within this a lot that I don't like. There's probably at least one that's kind of, that's not bad, man, but it's 2025 guys. You know, there are so, man, I often like, what if I just one day wake up from a nap and it's 2016. I think about that a lot actually. Like, like, I don't know why 2016, but there's just this recurring thought in my head that I'm going to like have the best day of my life and I'm just going to blink. And I'm like, it's 2016. What's up ladies and broke boys. Today, I'm going to show you how to look like wearing a pair of Common Projects without dropping that steep ass price tag. The appeal of the Common Projects is that for the right wardrobe and style, the canvas sneaker is such a goaded foundation. Like I said, if you're fond of this kind of spread right here, and if you or a loved one have had a matcha drink in the past 30 days, think about it for a bit. You know, this might be your vibe. Like why are you, why are you getting Mary Skeleton shoes? You can just get a nice, calm, cute pair of like vans, or even if you want to step it up, you know, get one, dude, I hate these, but get them, you know, like it might work. Lastly, we got the latest addition to the modern sneaker era, the all-wheel drives right here. Salomons, New Balances, Air Maxes, got a pretty big spread right here. Arguably the most diverse spread of sneakers competing for a market share ever. And I just mean, look at this, man. Like what is going, how did this happen? When did this happen? And this is just the stuff that I pulled from Essence. Truly, where do you even begin when it comes to this type of stuff? Okay, so I think for this type of shoe, the first course of action, don't think about what is my favorite color. You know, don't think about that first. We're going to have to think about how this shoe even works in your wardrobe before you get into it, before you jump the gun. Like I think they are visually striking and they have a pretty unique shape compared to the rest of the sneakers in this video. So definitely start with something basic. You know, you want to learn the ropes first, like maybe a pair of black pair of Salomons or a white pair of New Balances, or try and figure out if you even like this because, you know, you've probably gotten wind of this by seeing it online first. Let's be honest, guys, you probably saw these on other people before you made up your mind for yourself. So get something calm before you get into the more pronounced colorways, which I'm sure it's very exciting to get into this first. And also these work really well with baggier pants as it plays into that chunky or more defined sculpted silhouette of the shoe. And even with how aggressive these are aesthetically, I feel like pairing these with fairly basic pieces makes them not that hard to style. You know, I think they come across very intimidating at first, but I get like once you figure out this pants situation, they actually become quite versatile. It's definitely a great change of pace if you ever get bored with the idea of sneakers. And it's definitely a nice window in discovering new parts of fashion and even figuring out what you might like style-wise. I've recently come around to the silhouette more often. Guys, we're bringing the shocks back, guys. I'm going to relive my glory days. It's been 15 years. Personally, my favorites right now are the New Balance 1906, the Salomon XT4, another classic, and obviously the Nike Shox. That's going to be me all year. And even though you might not traditionally rope this shoe into this kind of trail shoe category, dad shoe, whatever, the silhouette styling is the same. And yeah, guys, at the end of the day, it's 2025. Go buy those Miri skeleton shoes, man. Shout out to Eric at Amiri. Tell them to make more skeleton shoes, Eric. We need to keep and more bones too. I want to see more. How many bones are in the human foot, right? There's some crazy amount of bones in the human foot or something, right? Eric, we need all these bones, Eric. Everyone go comment, Eric, we need more Amiri bones, Eric.