Check Out This Years Best Mens Retro Sneakers!
Retro sneakers are making a comeback and have been for the last few years. Many of the major brands manufacturers, citing nostalgia and the popularity of the booming sneaker market of the mid to late 70s, are bringing back some of their original models.
While the original running boom of the early 70’s was at it’s peak, many of the then major brands manufacturers engaged in sneaker wars releasing new and stylish footwear models for the masses. This running frenzy coincided with the 1972 Summer Olympics which showcased the latest sneaker inventions for that sport (see Bowerman, Bill, Nike Inc. and his moon or waffle shoes as they were called).
Sneaker companies began aligning with and sponsoring great athletes in their sports at the time, such as tennis and track & field. This led to many of the now widely released models that soon saturated the market and brought sneaker branding to the forefront.
Prior to this there were basically a handful of popular brands like Keds and Converse. This massive 70’s sneaker revolution introduced us to new and exciting International Sneaker companies such as Adidas, Puma and Tiger (at the time, now Asics sneaker).
Check out these offerings! And enjoy a trip down memory lane.
| Image | Name | Price | Buy |
 | Puma Suede Classic Plus Sneakers Shamrock77’s – Fan Favorite Pick | $$$ | CURRENT ♣ PRICE |
 | Aidas Gazelle Classic Sneakers | $$ | CURRENT ♣ PRICE |
 | Nike Cortez Classic Shoes | $$$$ | CURRENT ♣ PRICE |
 | Adidas Stan Smith Classic Shoes | $$ | CURRENT ♣ PRICE |
 | PF Flyers Sandlot Hi-Top Classic Shoes Shamrock77’s – Nostalgia Pick | $$ | CURRENT ♣ PRICE |
 | Adidas Samba Classic Shoe Shamrock77’s – Amazon Best Seller Pick | $$$ | CURRENT ♣ PRICE |
Oldies But Goodies For Sure!
Retro is everywhere these days. Ford Motor Company has brought back the Bronco, teams in all of the 4 major sports are wearing throwback uniforms, and retro/classic sneakers are all the rage these days.
I remember having quite the sneaker collection many moons ago as I transitioned from high school to college when that stuff seemed to be important. The inventory was full with all of the major brands: Puma, Adidas, Reebok, Converse and of course Nike.
Today’s retro sneakers offerings are widely available in the same brands, colors, materials, and design as they were back in the late 70’s and early 80’s. If you can remember ’em, you can find ’em somewhere for sale.
We here at Shamrock77 Runners have assembled the following list of favorites for you. We’ve also marked our Fan Favorite, Nostalgia, Amazon’s #1 Best Seller Choice picks for you and have labelled those appropriately.
Find something you like? Click on the “CURRENT ♣ PRICING” under each product to see latest pricing on-line.
Puma Select Men’s Suede Classic Plus Sneakers
♣ ♣ ♣ “Shamrock77’s – Fan Favorite Pick” ♣ ♣ ♣
The Puma Men’s Suede Classic has been an icon in the industry for almost 50 years. Back in the 60’s most athletic and casual sneakers were made of canvas uppers. Puma released its classic Suede model in 1968. It was a popular choice among many of the track and field athletes at that time.
This model increased greatly in it’s popularity during the 1968 Summer Olympic Games which were held in Mexico City. American track and field star Tommy Smith wore these shoes, with his teammates, when he broke the World Record in the 200M dash at those Mexico City games.
Following the lead of some of their competitors, Puma searched out professional sports spokesmen to help advertise their products. Walter “Clyde” Frazier, who played for the New York Knicks basketball organization, was a main promoter of the Puma Suede. With much input from Frasier, Puma added customizations accommodating his requests.
They also switched to enhanced suede uppers, allowing them to introduce many new colors. The shoe really took off while being showcased during the Knicks NBA games. This model evolved into the Puma “Clyde” version, named after Frazier.
The Puma Suede/Clyde went through a revival of its own in the 80s as part of the music industry’s emergence of Hip Hop music, as well as the emerging skateboard culture in major cities. Many hip hop artists, most of them based out of New York City, brought this model back to life in their music videos.
Today’s models are sharp looking suede top sneakers with a heavy and solid rubber base. The color combinations are striking from simple matching colors such as Blue, Black, Gray or Red with a simple white Puma wing, to more eye-catching combinations such as Green and Yellow, Red and Black, Yellow and Blue, and so on. You can pretty much find any color combination desired.
The shoe offers some comfort in it’s soles and it does have a heel box for support. However, this is not very stable space for some people. This is and always has been one of the most popular styles of shoes and has been a staple in my collection.
Adidas Originals Men’s Gazelle Sneakers
The Adidas Original Gazelle’s back story is very similar to another competing suede shoe on our list. Adidas brand sneakers were already a market favorite amongst many of the track and field athletes in Europe during the mid 60’s. The Adidas Gazelle model specifically was released somewhere in the the area of 1966.
Shortly after their release they were quickly upgraded in manufacturing to use suede uppers. The introduction of suede made these sneakers lighter and also provided better aesthetics allowing multiple different color patterns to be created.
The Gazelle model also was present and an industry leader in Track & Field during the 1968 Summer Olympics held in Mexico City. A number of the top European sprinters were wearing and advertising this shoe.
The Gazelles have never really gone out of style, however, they did make a big retro appearance in the late 90’s to early 2000s. During this time Adidas attempted to capitalize on the retro sneaker market craze like everyone else. Adidas had some success with another model, the Adidas Original Stan Smith which was also re-released previously. They successfully followed up that success with a new release of these Gazelles.
The Adidas Gazelles boast a very simple design with colored suede uppers and distinct white stripe, three of them, the Adidas Brand. Most models also have a white tongue to match that striping and they come with a solid rubber based soul which wraps around toe box. The gazelle has a fairly comfortable heel box and does offer some stability in it’s low-cut versions.
These shoes are easily Adidas’ most iconic shoe release ever. Since the original release in the mid 60’s their very simple, clean design has made them a fan favorite for generations.
Nike Cortez Classic Men’s Shoes
The Nike Cortez could possibly be the most popular shoe ever created, by the most popular sneaker company of the past 50 years.
Phil Knight began his infamous rise to sneaker dynasty as an employee partner of Onitsuka Tiger brand shoes in Japan. Shortly thereafter, partnering with University of Oregon Track & Field Coach Bill Bowerman, they started Blue Ribbon Sports and later kicking on thier own with Nike Shoes.
This model was Nike’s first bonafide creation of a durable and lightweight track shoe. It’s release coincided with the beginning of and popularity of the 1972 Summer Olympics in Munich. Upon starting Nike and releasing the Nike Cortez model, an interesting story has evolved about the naming of this shoe.
When Phil Knight left Onitsuka Tiger and Blue Ribbon Sports, he brought the design of the Cortez back with him. The name Cortez was actually inspired due to the competition that existed between Adidas, the established international sneaker company of the time, and the new Nike upstart sneaker company.
Adidas had named one of their top track & field models the Azteca Gold in reference to their confidence in winning multiple Gold Medals at the 1972 Summer Olympics which were being held in their home country of Munich Germany. Cortez was the name of the conqueror who defeated the Aztecs Empire in the early 1500’s.
Nike Cortez boasts a white leather design that’s covered on both the inside and outside upper with Nike’s iconic red ‘swoosh’ logo. Keeping with the marketing plug, the Nike swoosh also exists in red leather label on the top of the heel box and again on top of the thin nylon to tongue of the shoe.
Leather uppers cover what was a newer and denser hard rubber sole. These soles consisted of hard rubber which was combined with matted foam layers which were much lighter than the standard rubber on most other models. This breakthrough design was Nike’s next big step in their revolutionary advancements of sneaker bottoms.
Adidas Originals Men’s Stan Smith Shoes
The Adidas Stan Smith was launched back in 1965 by the German sneaker company as a tennis shoe. Obviously they also aligned with another great professional sports spokesman, the famous American tennis star Stan Smith. Smith at the time was once ranked as the World’s #1 tennis player and very popular at that time. A perfect spokesman for their new shoe.
This shoe was a very basic style and design of shoe, all white in keeping with the usual tennis ‘attire’ uniform of the time. The only hint of color is the Kelly Green tag at the top of the heel box. The shoe is made of leather uppers and heavy duty rubber soles made specifically to grip on either clay or grass courts.
Because of the leather material used in making the uppers, this is a fairly heavy shoe. The leather form also helps with the shoe’s stability to help with the many stops, starts and pivots needed on a tennis court.
There is one major difference between this model and the rest of Adidas brands. As mentioned, the shoe was to adhere to tennis attire guidelines and was to be all white.
Because of this, it does not have the trademark three white strips on the inner and outer sides of the uppers. Instead, it was designed with three “lines” of ventilation holes which were a very subtle way of providing some breathability to the shoe while also serving as a variant of their trademark stripes.
To this day, the shoe is still a very comfortable shoe. It’s stylishly simple design and elegance have never allowed it to go out of style. Not a bad addition or certainly a good place to start your collection.
PF Flyers Men’s Sandlot Hi-Top Classic Shoes
♣ ♣ ♣ “Shamrock77’s – Nostalgia Pick” ♣ ♣ ♣
The PF Flyer Sandlot Hi-Top Classic is PF Flyers most popular retro offering. It is the same style, material and design as it was when it was introduced originally back in the 1930’s.
BF Goodrich was a canvas sneaker manufacturer who released the iconic black high-top with rubber under sole shoe back in 1944. On the back of the heel was the green PF Flyers brand logo so there was no question what you were wearing. This shoe has long since been PF Flyers’ high top classic.
In 1957 PF Flyers scored their first major Superstar athlete when Bob Cousy of the Boston Celtics began wearing this model of black high tops during his seasons at The Garden.
The shoe received a brief revival when it was a wardrobe staple in the youthful baseball movie classic “The Sandlot” which was released in 1993. This movie release also offered a little retro boost for this shoe as people loved the nostalgic flashback that it provided.
These days the same black high top model is available for purchase. This is a very comfortable shoe for such an old technology. The sole while not providing much support does have quite a bit of cushioning.
These high tops are a great addition for your winter wardrobe needs. They go great with a pair of jeans or even sweatpants throughout the cold fall & winter months.
Adidas Men’s Samba Classic Indoor Soccer Shoe
♣ ♣ ♣ “Shamrock77’s – Amazon #1 Best Seller Pick” ♣ ♣ ♣
The Adidas Samba sneaker was popularized by the soccer crowd in the United States – footballers to the rest of the world. These were released and branded as indoor/outdoor soccer shoes and trainers. If you played soccer you had a pair of these shoes and most liekly had multiple pairs at a time.
As soccer, or football as it is known, is so popular in Europe this shoe is the German manufacturer Adidas’ most popular and highest selling shoe after their Stan Smith tennis shoe model. Adidas has sold over 30 million pairs of these shoes.
The design is simply stated Adidas at it’s best and although there are colorful options available this shoe is largely sold as black only with white stripes and black tongue and laces.
The Samba was released about 1950 for soccer players to wear mainly outside in the cold months of training. The sneakers sneaker’s rubber sole consist of circular suction patterns on the bottom of the shoe which provided self-control while running on cold, hard surfaces or even in icy and snowy conditions. Obviously this was a great help in training during the cold European football seasons.
This shoe has been constantly on the Retro Market as it has been a key piece of wardrobe for many of Hollywood’s famous movie characters along the way. Throughout the early 2000s and even more recently there have been many viewings of this shoe by characters of all types across the Silver Screen.
This shoe has a sleek leather upper with it’s straight black design attached to a rubber gum sole which wraps around the shoe’s toe box. The iconic three three white stripe pattern leaves no doubt in your mind that this is an Adidas product. They also have a sharp-looking border around the heel box which amplifies this simple color pattern. Like most soccer shoes the shoes tongue extends up over the front of the ankle.
This shoe provides obvious support as it was used by primarily by athletes but also has a sleek design and is a great addition to any retro collection.
4 Things To Know About Your Retro Sneakers
Let’s be honest, if you’re a fan of these retro sneakers from your ‘experience’, then you’re probably at least over 45 years of age! Take no offense to that, Congrats to us! However, we may be able to flash back to the past with a smile on our face, but the shoe technology that we’re going back to wasn’t the greatest then and it’s not now either.
As we know from experience, any topic can lead to a mountain of learning and information out there. There is no shortage of data to help you do your homework and research the best pair of retro sneakers for you. Here are just a couple more tid-bits for your search for answers.
Enjoy,
“Carpe Viam”!!! – (Seize the Road!!!)
You Say You Want A Revolution…?
No we’re not talking about John, Paul, George, and Ringo, we’re referring to Phil and Bill. Fresh off the heels (pun Intended!) of the running boom Phil Knight was putting Nike Shoes on the global map and was using his recent successes in the Running World to his advantage.
Bill Bowerman had successfully used his wife’s waffle iron to create Nike’s revolutionary soles for their running shoes and the University of Oregon Track & Field team.
Bowerman and Knight first joined together creating a sneaker company called Blue Ribbon Sports, where they bought the distribution rights from a Japanese company named Onitsuka Tiger – of Tiger shoes fame. They brought the design for a special shoe back from Japan with them and Bowerman created the Nike Cortez model in 1968.
They were eventually released in 1972 at the height of the excitement and energy of the 1972 Summer Olympics – where track & field and distance running were king. The rest, as they say, is history and the beginning of what we now know as the massive advertising revolution of the Nike empire.
Who’s Your Soul(Sole) Support?
Alright let’s get to the sole of the matter. These retro shoes are awesome and, ironically, many of them are eye catching because they’re something ‘new’. The materials and bold colors in some cases are eye catching and easy to identify.
However, they are what they are, or were twenty, thirty or more years ago. While these were cutting edge sneakers in their day, they are certainly antiquated when it comes to sneaker technology, design and comfort set forth by today’s standards.
Please keep this in mind when purchasing and wearing them. They might not offer the support or stability that we’re used to with our current sneakers of choice. As always YMMV(Your Mileage May Vary) so please see what works best for your individual purchase.
Where Are The Cons?
As a youngster growing up, sneaker choices were pretty limited. My parents sneaker of choice for my siblings and I were PF Flyers, white, lo-cut, no frills for sure. Any you got a new pair every year!! – at the end of the summer before you started school in the fall. Didn’t like, ’em? Don’t worry you get a new pair again next year.
Obviously not THAT bad, but for a kid who wanted the cream-of-the-crop it was a big deal. Converse. All-Stars. Now that’s where it was at. Everyone had the Cons thanks in part (in the Northeast USA anyways) to Boston Celtics stars like Bill Russell and John Havlicek who raced up and down the floor of the Boston Garden with them for years.
“Cons” were canvas uppers and rubber bottoms, short and sweet. And they came in hi-top or low-cut models. And colors! Man did they have choices! You could get them in Black or White. Satisfied customers galore.
Why aren’t these on our list? Because they’ve never gone OUT of style, never BEEN retro. They’ve been around forever and withstood the test of time and rightfully so, they’ve continued to deliver the iconic shoe to the masses for years and years.
Converse has done a great job of re-releasing but never changing the original style or design of the shoe. To this day you can still get low-cut or high tops as always, but now they truly do have colors galore. There must be thousands of color combinations including such designs as the American flag, rainbows, cartoon characters, athletes and on and on. Gotta love the Cons!
Don’t Be Afraid To Dig Up Your Past!!!
Still have some oldies that you’ve been hanging on to buried in your closet, basement, or attic? Maybe you should check them out. You never can tell. Check out this young fella below. Watch his video to see how much his nostalgic goodies fetched him…
Thanks for Joining Us Today!
Hey there again. We hope this info was helpful for you. We hope we’ve provided you with some useful and motivating information here in the pages above. Running is such a fun and healthy activity in our daily or weekly routines. But don’t forget, it’s important to look good away from the races too :). Happy Browsing.
We hope your visit here to Shamrock77 Sports leads to success in finding the right retro sneakers weather it’s your first pair for nostalgia’s sake or you’re trying to round out your primo collection of stylish retros.
Best of Luck and please come back to visit us again for more insightful and informative articles from our team to yours!
Wow! What a comprehensive info!
I have to say I’m not over 45, but remember nearly all of these – especially because they kind of never died!
I’m a huge fan of Puma Suede Classics, but a massive hater of Gazelles 😀 Don’t ask me why, I really can’t answer.
I have, however never heard of PF Flyers – they look like a Converse style to me and I really like them! Do you know if they are unisex?
Thanks for visiting Silvie, I could never choose between Puma Suede or Adidas Gazelle so I had to get both. You’ve got great taste if the PF Flyers are on your list. Many of their models are unisex in design, but to answer your question they do have a dedicated line of sneakers for Women as well. Check ’em out and enjoy!