What Even Is a Sneaker?

New York Times

02-06-2025

Wow. I could write a whole treatise on this subject but will try to be brief.
Officially a sneaker is 'a sports shoe with a pliable rubber sole,' at least according to the Merriam-Webster dictionary. That signifies a shoe meant to be worn while playing sports or otherwise engaging in athletic activity. For decades that made for a pretty straightforward distinction between sneakers and other shoes, especially leather lace-ups or loafers meant for wearing to work and more formal social occasions.
And it made dress codes easy. If an institution wanted to signal that it was serious or aspirational, it would create a dress code that drew a line between sneakers and shoes. It was considered a sign of respect to wear more polished attire. Ergo the dress code you encountered.
But that all changed in the 1990s, said Michael Mack, a professor of accessory design at the Savannah College of Art and Design who specializes in sneakers. At that time, Nike acknowledged that its footwear wasn't just about performance but culture, and sneakers evolved from being just about sports to being about identity.
From there it was just a hop, skip and a jump until fashion got hold of them and started introducing shoes that may have been sneakers in name but actually looked more like sculptures. Then Covid happened, and everyone became used to wearing soft-soled shoes that didn't constrict the foot. There was no going back.
Now there are dress sneakers, as modeled by the House minority leader, Hakeem Jeffries, and fashion sneakers, both of which often come with the explicit disclaimer that they should not be used for performance activities. But while there has been a clear evolution in sneaker style and sneaker etymology — and attitudes among generations about what is acceptable dress — there has not been a related evolution in many official dress codes.
When I called a classic private club in New York to ask about its approach, a spokesman told me he spent hours in the Bergdorf Goodman shoe department taking pictures of Ferragamo loafers with rubber soles, trying to clarify the distinctions.
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