Feels Like Heaven

I've always been a fan of men's fashion and more specifically, men's sneakers. I guess you can give my days at Y-3 the credit for sparking that love for me. As you all may have figured out by now, my love for accessories is huge; I truly believe that they can make or break an outfit -- and I would classify shoes in that category. Especially for men. Now, we can't expect men to walk around looking like Matt Bomer in White Collar all day, every day (though, most of us would love that) -- they need a break to be casual too (sometimes.) And that's where sneakers come in. And I don't mean just plain Nikes or Converse. As much as I love my Nike Frees, we know that they tend to fall apart after a while, without much of a way or getting them resoled or refinished. Which brings me to the higher-end sneakers, and more specifically, the Bally Heaven.

These sneakers are part of Bally's Autumn/Winter 2014 collection, and whichever designer named them definitely had the right idea. They're made of lamb skin, so they're buttery soft. If you know anything about lamb skin, then you're immediately cringing at your screen at the thought of putting such a delicate leather on your feet. But Bally is one step ahead of you -- they've treated the leather in a way that it's a little bit more durable than normal lamb skin, and it also won't pucker if it gets wet (which is great if you live in a place that may rain randomly, regardless of the season - HELLO NORTHEAST!)

The Heaven is part of the Heimberg Sport theme for Bally, and they'll be keeping this style around as a classic for seasons to come -- which means the possibility for beautiful seasonal colors! The high-top, low-top and slip on version all feature the Bally Trainspotting stripe in some way. The sneakers themselves have a cemented construction -- which is an alternative way of constructing the shoe. The upper of the shoe is cemented, rather than stitched to the sole; which makes for a more flexible and lightweight shoe. (You learn something new everyday!) 

This season, the high-tops come in three different color ways:

• Navy blue with red Trainspotting stripe

• White with red Trainspotting stripe, and

• Grey with black Trainspotting stripe.

I can't help but be a little jealous of men right now -- I personally wish that this collection had a female version as well. Maybe Bally will consider it for the next season? wink wink

While I won't be able to put these sneakers on my own feet and take them for a walk (I mean, I could but how silly would I look with a men's size 9 sneaker on?) I'm excited to say that I will be styling someone with these sneakers in the next while, so be on the lookout for that post! In the mean time, while I realize that men might not be the big demographic that read my blog, I'd love to hear your opinions on these.

Ladies: ask your boyfriends, husbands, fiancés for me. Gents: reply to me here in the comments, on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram. Would you wear these? Would you give them a shot? What do you like/dislike about them? How would you wear them? Let me know -- I want to hear from you!

> Disclosure: Although I am a current employee of Bally, and this post may be sponsored, any and all opinions are of my own. I was not paid or persuaded to sell, endorse or falsify my opinion or testimony on the product. This post is also a review and contains opinions of my own, as well as any factual information about the product that can be found elsewhere. As stated, any and all opinions stated are my own and in no way represent the company's views.