15 Pairs of Shoes We Love for Spring and Summer-Comfortable and Lightweight

Organizing our spring and summer shoes by gender, I have 9 pairs and he has 6 pairs. My spring shoes in Beijing can typically be worn from March to October, while summer shoes (sandals and light flats) are limited to May through the end of the hot season in August. During the coldest winter, only boots will do. Eddy, being male with more body heat, wears these spring and summer shoes even in early winter, only putting them away during the deep winter months of December and January in Beijing.

First, let me talk about the shoes I bought when I first started exploring fashion, which I plan to get rid of in the coming year or two.

I'll single out New Balance first - they're very uncomfortable. I'm giving my pair to my mom this year, and he plans to use his pair as work shoes for dirty or strenuous tasks. The reason is that the soles are too hard, the mesh is all nylon synthetic fabric, and the comfort level is low, looking quite cheap. We bought them when we didn't know better, chasing popular styles. You certainly see them frequently on the streets, but the comfort is really poor - the soles are hard as a rock, like stepping on plastic. So these two matching 2002r pairs aren't included in the count mentioned in the title.

Another pair I'm considering wearing for one more year before discarding is the Onitsuka Tiger. They're already worn from extended use, the quality is poor, with ordinary pigskin uppers and synthetic fabric interiors. Now I only wear them for shoe-wearing activities like climbing Xiangshan Mountain or visiting the China National Botanical Garden, or when I'm in a bad mood. They are much more comfortable than New Balance though.

We both bought these two pairs two years ago in Shanghai, when we weren't as knowledgeable as we are now. After wearing better shoes, these seem very ordinary. For example: good shoes use lambskin or calfskin, even horsehide or deerskin, with leather for both the upper and lining, rather than ordinary fabric interiors. And they're Made in Italy.

I previously wrote about Italian cashmere being famous, but apart from cashmere, Italy's most famous products are leather goods, including The Row shoes, Toteme leather shoes and belts. American brands like Common Projects and FEIT are also made in Italy, and even Lane Crawford's in-house brand Equil knows that Made in Italy increases value, so they've begun shifting their production lines from Dongguan to Italy. Shoe and leather goods brands from all countries that focus on quality go to Italian leather workshops for production, and there are still many handmade shoes today.

Besides Italy, Spain has several niche leather brands that are quite good (England's Northampton also produces excellent leather shoes), such as men's handmade leather shoes Magnanni, and several leather bag makers. However, since neither of us has the habit of using leather bags, we haven't researched this area. As for leather shoes, since many people already write about them and they're somewhat tied to specific cultural circles, I've kept my distance from this topic. I only mention it briefly when sharing the shoes we wear each year.

Below, section 01 introduces my shoes, ranked by how much I like them, and section 02 introduces Eddy's shoes.

01

It was after experiencing Brunello Cucinelli's sneakers that I realized how poor the quality of my previous sneakers had been. When I bought them, I wrote a dedicated article detailing their various features Brunello Cucinelli Monili Sneakers. Even though the outer surface is mesh, the inner lining is made of calfskin, with attention to detail in all aspects. The height of the toe and heel conforms to ergonomic principles, and when walking, the arch of the forefoot provides cushioning, saving energy. Walking 15,000 steps is no problem.

These shoes are currently my favorites. The BC Monili sneakers have cowhide inside the mesh upper and a high heel that insulates against cold, so I can wear them with cashmere socks in early winter and early spring when temperatures are 0-5 degrees.

My second favorite is The Row Oxford Boots, which I've also written about specifically. Except for the laces, everything is made of calfskin. The insole is divided into two sections, conforming to the foot's feature of a low forefoot and high heel. The heel is also partly rubber to reduce impact.

Being leather shoes, I usually wear them to museums or small city parks, and about 8,000 steps is appropriate. The only issue is that when I first wore them, I didn't guide the creasing of the toe area properly, resulting in these somewhat ugly wrinkles.

The Row's leather shoes can be worn starting in April. The leather is thin and the laces are perforated, so they're too cold for early spring.

The Row's shoe styles tend to be more fashion-forward, with some styles running wide and others narrow, so it's essential to try them on to find the right fit for your instep and foot width before purchasing. The BC shoes mentioned above are generally basic casual styles or boots, and most are very comfortable.

Third is Pedro Garcia, a century-old Spanish shoemaking brand. These are their classic silk satin shoes - silk on the outside, cowhide on the inside. The heel is high enough for early spring and early winter wear. They offer the best value for money and can handle 15,000 steps with no problem, even hiking. I would repurchase in other colors when available.

Pedro Garcia for women, Common Projects for men, and Neiliansheng cloth shoes from Beijing - these brands focused solely on shoes for decades have earned my trust. They've maintained the same styles for decades, constantly refining them and proving their comfort through generations of consumers.

Fourth are Toteme's sneakers. For Toteme, I wouldn't consider any of their items again except for their Italian-made belts.

These shoes look good, with high-quality and sufficiently fine lambskin, elastic rubber soles, and leather used throughout for insoles and linings. They're made in Italy, but they fall short because the soles are too flat - a horizontal line that doesn't conform to the foot's weight distribution when walking. This makes them tiring after 8,000 steps, and they can't handle 15,000 steps.

Plus, the toe box is square, which causes pain at the outer sides of the toes after walking more than 10,000 steps.

Fifth is Onitsuka Tiger. For those who haven't worn sneakers made entirely of cow and lamb leather, these are actually quite good and comfortable, with very soft soles that can handle climbing trees, hiking, and 15,000 steps with no problem. However, because the soles are too flat and shallow, it's easy to catch the toe on slightly protruding ground. Being impatient, I frequently catch my toes, though I never actually fall.

I won't buy these shoes again because the material quality is poor. I'll just see how long this pair on my feet can last.

Of my four summer shoes, my favorite is the Neiliansheng cloth shoes, costing just a few hundred yuan. After wearing them for a summer, part of the fabric layer at the heel and forefoot has worn away, but they're very comfortable. I can hear the solid thud of the heel hitting the ground when climbing stairs.

In summer, I can wear them barefoot, and when it's a bit cold, I add a pair of hemp socks. Cloth shoes aren't ideal for hiking, so I use them in city parks, and 8,000 steps is no problem. Since cloth shoes aren't water-resistant, they're more suitable for China northern dry climate cities.

My second pair of summer sandals is Hoka, suitable for outdoor settings. Though I haven't waded through water in them, they look decent, in a chunky, ugly-cute way. They can handle 15,000 steps and hiking too. However, I recommend wearing socks in summer, otherwise your feet might smell, and they can feel a bit sticky when worn. Hoka uses outdoor nylon and rubber materials with little quality feel, focusing on durability. I won't buy more; one pair is enough.

Third for summer is UGG. I don't particularly like this pair either - the platform is too high, making it easy to suddenly twist an ankle when hiking or walking on slopes (though not seriously). Since I bought them just last year, I feel obliged to wear them for another year or two. Summer sandals are produced in limited quantities by most brands, so there aren't many choices.

Jumping is fine in these. UGG is similar to Onitsuka Tiger, belonging to the mass market segment of more comfortable shoes, but the quality feel is still lacking. They can handle 15,000 steps on flat ground, but aren't suitable for extended uphill walking or uneven terrain.

Fourth is Equil. I don't recommend buying women's shoes from this brand, despite the affordable price. Equil doesn't offer men's shoes, only shirts, tops, and pants, and for men's clothing, I only recommend buying the 1 or 2 most expensive items. The brand is positioned as lower-end overall, imitating popular styles from The Row, BC, and other Western luxury brands. If you don't buy their most expensive items, the quality and fit will likely be disappointing.

I only realized these shoes were mediocre after wearing them for a few weeks, and it took 3 weeks to stretch the elastic band to fit my foot size. Even though they have leather linings, I don't recommend them, but I've already bought mine. After putting a hole in my cashmere slippers from jumping rope, I started using these shoes for jumping, and they're acceptable - quite soft.

Besides Equil, there's also the Pedder Red shoe brand. Both are Lane Crawford's house brands, positioned as mid-to-low end, similar to Stuart Weitzman's level.

All of my lower-ranked shoes are comfortable, but now that I've seen prettier ones with better quality, there's a noticeable comparison and gap. They're worth considering if you have a limited budget.

02

Eddy's shoes are easy to write about. Apart from the Onitsuka Tiger and New Balance that we no longer like wearing, he currently has Common Projects and Hender Scheme.

He now has 3 pairs of Common Projects, all in the classic Achilles style. The blue one is the men's spring/summer style 2412 with textile uppers, while the other two are classic Achilles models with genuine leather inside and out. He got a bargain on size 40 women's shoes (Common Projects shoes are unisex), so the model number is the women's Achilles number 3701, not the men's 1528. This number is written on the far left of the gold foil, the middle number is the shoe size, and the rightmost number is the color code.

These sneakers are worn less commonly by women - I rarely see women wearing them, and the bestsellers are mainly men's styles. Try to purchase from the official website or authorized retailers, as there are many counterfeits of Common Projects on Taobao.

Like my The Row shoes, Eddy's white Common Projects Achilles initially didn't have good creasing. They looked a bit awkward until he specifically shaped the creases at the bent toe area at home, after which they looked right.

Common Projects and the women's Pedro Garcia mentioned above are high-value shoe brands where you can buy different colors of classic styles whenever you see them, and repurchase for decades.

His other shoes, Hender Scheme, are Japanese handmade vegetable-tanned leather shoes. These two pairs, being made entirely of leather despite their casual athletic style, are more suitable for city walking - 8,000 steps no problem. Two pairs are enough; the quality and feel are excellent, and they're comfortable enough, but the value for money isn't high, so we won't buy more. With that money, it's better to buy BC shoes when they're on sale.

Epilogue

These neat shoe photos were taken by detail-oriented Eddy, who huffed and puffed arranging them, then methodically put them back in the shoe cabinet, after which he huffed and puffed his way to the balcony to water the plants.

Going forward, we'll aim to update our shoe collection once a year to better show changes and maintain a more systematic organization, without random updates in between. We'll write less about specialized shoe and bag brands, as these categories have strong community aspects - clothing is more straightforward.

pamperherself