Love ‘em or hate ‘em, you can’t deny the iconic veldskoen is a durable, straight-out-of-the-box-comfy piece of footwear.
I’m firmly in the love category, and now even more so with this new range from Veldskoen Shoes. It takes the typical, unexciting, brown design (still great for bushwhacking as it doesn’t show up the dirt) and adds style and soul with colourful soles and laces. They come in seven South African-themed colours: J-Bay (blue), The Vilakazi (sunshine yellow, and my favourite!), The Farmer (grey), The Bloem (orange, pictured above), The Uhambo (pink), The Pinotage (red), and Lowveld (green).
The shoes have strong stitching, thick suede uppers and quality woven laces that fasten well (they didn’t come undone once). Surprisingly, they are slim for a unisex shoe, although I did have to order one size smaller than my regular shoe size. The reinforced heel has good support and the rubber soles are soft and provide good cushioning (although nothing compared to today’s fancy high-tech hiking boots) without being too floppy. Still, they’re perfect for undemanding walks on flatter terrain, easy strolls in the bush, and for driving in on long summer road trips.
R790, veldskoen.shoes
This review first appeared in the December 2017 issue of Getaway magazine.
The December issues features the Tok Tokkie Trail in Namibia, 50 things to boost your summer holiday and our ultimate gear guide with the best travel gear, and much more!
