Late 70s/Early 80s Preppy Sneakers

The Late 70s Prep Checklist post generated a lot of question about one of my favorite topics which is sneakers. I’ve been into sneakers since as long as I can remember. Actually I can remember. It was 1989, I was in the 5th grade, and the Jordan IV came out. It has been a wrap since then, but back to the topic of at hand. Here are my top 5 picks for late 70s/early 80s vibed sneakers that are currently available.


1. Nike LD-1000 – $100

Nike LD-1000

2. Adidas Country – $120

Adidas Cross Country

3. Nike Cortez – $90

Nike Cortez

4. Onitsuka Mexico 66 – $185


5. Adidas Samba Long Tongue – $90



I tried to keep the list short, but solid and most importantly available. However if you don’t love the above there are lots of other sneakers out there that can match the vibe. Adidas’s line up in particular has a ton of options that would work such as the Gazelle Indoor, SL72, and Handball Spezial to name a few. The same is true with Nike. They currently have the Blazer, Field General 82, and the Mac Attack plus a plethora of others. Whatever your favorite brand I am sure you can find a sneaker to fit the mold.

For those that find this topic interesting I suggest picking up the Lightning Nike Chronicle (1971-1980) book. It has a ton of great images of 70s-80s Nikes as well as running shirts. I dropped some images below. I’ve seen it available a few places in the past, but there are a few currently up on Ebay and Amazon Japan. Another cool resource for sneakers and how to rock sneakers that I recommend is the Trainer Spotting Instagram page.

I am going to leave you with one piece of advice before I head out. It’s actually the same advice I find myself giving about clothes. That advice is to wear your sneakers. As with clothes well worn sneakers almost always look better than clean sneakers. I am off to break in my new Nike LD-1000s!


Images from the Nike Chronicle 1971-1980











oxford cloth button down
Jerrod Swanton is a simple man interested in simple, classic, and traditional style.

7 Comments on "Late 70s/Early 80s Preppy Sneakers"

  1. Michael Powell says:

    I don’t know just how “Prep” (or Ivy) sneakers are supposed to be, I do know that when I started to follow OCBD.com (and some other sites), I up-footed my casual shoe game to Clarks Desert boots and Wallabees. And boat shoes. I like boat shoes.

    I wear my 25-year-old Nike 574s when I’m cutting the grass.

  2. Don Flamenco says:

    I’m partial to Nike. However, I always thought of Stan Smith’s or Tretorn Nylites as prep sneaker staples.

    • oxford cloth button down says:

      You are correct. They both made the list of the 70s prep checklist. I wanted to add in some alternatives in this post.

  3. rpv says:

    I love this! You seem to have perfectly hit your stride with a little bit of funky swagger infused in the baseline trad stuff. Totally opposite direction, but do you have any thoughts/plans on suit content? I know suits are less and less applicable, but an official ocbd memo on which sorts are acceptable (across seasons?) with some choice pics would be fun and a service to the internet.

  4. Joel Skog says:

    I picked up the green Cortez’s, but strangely enough they were too small. I’ve got four pairs of Cortez in the basement, all in sz 12 and they all fit me great so I wonder why these didn’t. Anyway, today i exchanged them for a pair of NB Rainiers which I hope will take me through the sometimes harsh winter of southern Sweden so things could have been worse I guess.

    • oxford cloth button down says:

      That’s weird. My issue is that my feet have grown a 1/2 size or more likely just got flatter over the last 1-2 years. I love my Rainier. Hope you do too!

  5. Thomas says:

    The toe box on the Onitsukas is unfortunately not the same as the vintage ones…and imo not as interesting!

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