i've been skating in state madisons (that really look like those hudsons) a fair bit lately and find them to be great shoes.
they feel a bit sturdy but not in a bad way - more like a proper skate shoe that actually protects your feet should, unlike most of the overly thin models the market has been flooded with ever since skating became hip & every company shifted their focus toward appealing to the aesthetic tastes of a general public of casual consumers, rather than the practical needs of the skateboarders.
really, strip most shoes that aren't big pro models nowadays off all the gimmicks they come with (fancy looks & names for trademarked insoles) and down to their mere practical features - just put them through the test of somewhat intense daily skateboarding use and more often than not, all theories aside, you'll most likely realize you're only so close to constantly being abusing your feet in the equivalent of mere slip-ons or chuck taylors.
maybe it's just me getting older, but as far as skate shoes go (and not talking about the soles) i can appreciate shit that isn't frail, as long as they don't take ages to break in, neutralize board feel, and have a ridiculous or unpractical form. the madisons i got i could skate right out of the box and they seem to withstand skating just right. in terms of feel they remind me of, say, the best sole tech models of the recent times (like the marana), just better and stronger, so far at least - i haven't been skating in them for too long either.
the market is so saturated with all kinds of different shit now, even among the output of one same brand, one should study the individual models now more than ever. even in state's catalog, despite their claim to be a core company (which i don't doubt they are), you can tell some of the shoes really aren't meant to be skated that much. i'm guessing the constant pressure of competing against the biggest non-skate industry giants right off the bat - literally as soon as entering the shoe market - nowadays only enhances one to try and please as much of a varied audience as possible within one same catalog, most often resulting in a seemingly inconsistent output when i guess it's really just impossible for a skate shoe company these days to stay afloat with literally nothing but proper skate shoes, quite the paradox.
it doesn't matter the brand, they all have models that are to shoes what cheap, accessible, popular cartoonish board graphics (the superficial kind with no particular depth or meaning) are to decks (side note, pizza skateboards has to be the epitome of such a cultural shift in the hard goods department).
Topic: Post the shoes you're wearing. (Read 5152969 times)