Sneakers have their place, but they're not durable which makes them a poor choice for many things if you're feet will let you wear anything else which mine thankfully do.
Back in September I ordered a pair of " Vellies " chukka boots from the south African company Jim Green , they recently entered the US market and I have heard so many good things about them.
They have a few different options for the Vellies, a couple colors of rough out leather and some standard smooth grains, I chose the harder wearing rough out in their khaki color.
https://jimgreenfootwear.com/store/rough-out-vellie-khaki/Jim Green does things right sourcing all components locally and paying their workers a good wage, they have lower materials / production costs because of sourcing materials locally and exchange rates are favorable so you can get an excellent quality durable shoe / boot for the money.
I prefer American made footwear generally but Jim green isn't just a name slapped on cheap outsourced Chinese / vietnanese junk, and I was interested in a pair of their Vellies as a workshop shoe and everyday summer beater because of not only the price but because their made with a wide roomy toe box on a last ( the form it's built on which establishes the shape of a boot ) designed so they can have such a wide toe box without looking odd.
The first thing I did when I got them was replace the laces with a set of lock laces, if you're not familiar basically it's a piece of shock cord a snap on cord end and a flat cord cinch.
I used 550 paracord instead of the shock cord because I took them off an old pair of sneakers and didn't really think the sho cord would work out with these anyways.
The next thing I did after I got over how nice they looked when new was to heavily dub them with obenaufs heavy duty LP and beeswax.
They're affordable, comfortable, hard wearing, they can be resoled, and being a chukka especially with the lock laces I put on them they're quick & easy to put on / off.
They're like a sneaker but actually durable.
For other roles such as work or my late fall - winter everyday boots I wear Thorogoods, but these are awesome for the summer.
I've worked in the shop, around the house, explored / trail hopped on my minibike, shopping...etc and they even stay fairly presentable to go out to lunch with my Dad.
Eventually I'll probably get the soles replaced with some vibram wedges because these outsoles are a bit hard , they should last a long time but something a little bouncer would be great.
