Although I am fortunate to have a robust stable of nice welted footwear, the shoes that I reach for most often tend to be cheap canvas sneakers. They’re comfortable, inexpensive, and rarely require any maintenance – great for everyday activities that don’t really need to get shoe trees involved. For years I have been making an annual purchase of a pair of white Superga 2750s – this year I decided to branch out and try something just a little bit different.
My hunt for a new go-to sneaker turned up many options, but it took a while to find the pair that fit my desired aesthetic and budget. There are some more “boutique” options like that Moonstar Gym Classic and Shoes Like Pottery 01JP that I love, but the $130-165 price tag – while not unattainable – sort of defeated the purpose of a beater shoe. Maybe next year.
There are plenty of options in the $50-100 range, but most of them feel a bit generic or ubiquitous given the level of mass production. I mean, do I really want to be wearing the same sneakers as Kate Middleton or Emily Ratajkowski? And over the years I’ve experimented with the likes of Tretorn Nylites, Seavees, and others, but those never really did much for me. So you can imagine my excitement when I found a little brand from Eastern Europe that was making some pretty interesting sneakers for a pretty approachable price.
About Novesta
Novesta is a small Slovakian shoe company that, despite being an unfamiliar name to many, has been around for over 80 years and is one of the small group European shoemakers to still produce their entire product locally. Novesta shoes are still produced in the original factory in the small town of Partizánske, and their portfolio of global retailers seems to be growing.
Novesta has a surprisingly robust footwear catalog, and there are actually quite a few styles that I could see myself wearing. The Star Master is their classic Plimsoll style, but I also dig the Marathon and German Trainer styles. Pricing varies by material and model, but I find them to be quite competitive across the board.
Star Master Design
The Star Master is a fairly basic Plimsoll sneaker that comes in a wide variety of colors and materials – I kept my pair pretty classic with the off-white canvas, but found a version with some contrast detailing that makes them a bit more interesting. Overall, the Star Master has a rather utilitarian look – which I suppose is in line with what I would expect from an Eastern European manufacturer.
While I wouldn’t exactly call it a refined style, I like the Star Master aesthetic and find that it is well suited to the things I use them for. They’re hearty, durable, and look good a bit dirty. The rubber sole is hearty but not stiff, and the metal-reinforced eyelets and laces make them feel durable. For $65, I think they’re quite handsome and a great alternative to the more ubiquitous brands.
Sizing & Fit
The Novesta Star Master is not particularly well-known, but there is one blog that I trust that has a thorough review – Typical Contents. Their whole article is excellent and I highly recommend it. With that said, their review has a somewhat ominous warning – sizing is way huge on these, and they recommend sizing down TWO (or even more!) EU sizes. This was rather alarming to me, as I had never heard of sizing down this much on any shoe. I almost always wear a 8.5-9US, and usually wear a 9 in most sneakers (brands like Superga, Tretorn, Seavees, Nike, etc). For brands like Common Projects and Sweyd, which are dressier and made on a Margom sole, half sizes often aren’t offered and I will sometimes go down to an 8.
When I first ordered a pair of Novestas, I went with a UK7/ US8/EU41 – this is basically sizing down 0.5-1 size, which is a far cry from what Typical Contents recommends but seemed a little more viable. When they arrived, I quickly concluded that they were too small and ordered my more standard UK8/US9/EU42. These fit great – so, long story short: order your standard size. If you are in between sizes you could maybe size down a half, but otherwise stick with your normal size. I am afraid to say that I think Typical Contents is incorrect here, or we are somehow wearing wildly different shoes.
As a final sizing note: Novesta has their own sizing rubric on the product page for each style, which is based on the length of the insole. Although this is not a sizing technique I have seen before, the results were the same – based on my other shoes, I should be a US9 (and that was correct).
Construction and Comfort
Although the Star Masters are priced very affordably, the quality is above other sneakers that I have had at this price. This isn’t a huge surprise, really – a sneaker like the Superga 2750 is produced at a quantity that I can only assume is several orders of magnitude above what Novesta does. In a sense, I think Novesta is combining small-batch quality with entry-level pricing, which is a great spot to be in.
There are some immediate differences you can see when comparing to my go-to Superga 2750 – these laces have metal tips, the shoes have a higher number of stitches per inch, and the interior is finished much more cleanly. The rubber sole also looks and feels much more robust. While they are not vastly different, it does feel like an upgrade at no extra charge.
Once I had my size figured out, I found these sneakers to be immediately comfortable. No break-in was required and after only a few days of wearing I was comfortable taking them on a trip to Mexico. I didn’t get any hot spots or blisters, which I know can be a side effect of stiff new sneakers.
Conclusion & Where to Purchase Novesta
Novesta is not widely distributed (at least not here in the US), but there are a couple large retailers that carry them (along with Novesta’s own website). I purchased mine from End, which has a great selection. Some sizes are starting to sell through but I’d wager that this is their Spring stock and will hopefully be replenished next season. There are other retailers like Stuarts London that also have a solid offering, though I think End’s is the best. Next I might try a more visually interesting pair of Marathon sneakers, to give people the impression that I sometimes go jogging. But until then, I’ll keep beating up my Star Masters as my primary shoe of transport across San Francisco. I’m sure that they will get plenty dirty along the way, but at $65 I know I can walk easy.
