New Shoe Review: Earth Spirit Bremen Rugged Casual Men's Shoe

The last few years have been tough. Budgets are tight. Raises are non-existent. Jobs are tenuous. But, you still need to look presentable at home and at work. If you want to look like you are wearing a classy, rugged, high quality shoe from a company like L.L. Bean while actually paying a lot less, the Earth Spirit Bremen Rugged Casual Men's Shoe may be the great shoe choice for you.

The Earth Spirit Bremen sells for an everyday low price of $35 at Walmart and a tad more at Planetshoes.com. However, this humbly priced shoe offers a lot of footwear for the money. The Earth Spirit Bremen is a rugged, business casual, leather shoe that looks a bit like a very refined low rise work boot or hiking shoe. It has a soft, brown, mesh-lined, leather upper and a rubber sole with an aggressive workboot tread pattern. The Earth Spirit Bremen has a man-made balance, an overpadded arch, and "Gelron 2000" gel in the heel. The result is a soft supportive footbed in a shoe that really does look like a classic.

I found the Earth Spirit Bremen Men's Leather shoe to be a nearly perfect business casual shoe for the office. The construction seems sturdy for a shoe in the Walmart price range and the footbed was nearly as comfortable as a pair of the venerable Clarks shoes. However, there were a few drawbacks to the Earth Spirit Bremen. At a size 12, I found that the Earth Spirit Bremen fit me a bit loosely and allowed just a little fore-and-aft movement of my foot on the footbed. While it looks like a hiking or workboot, I don't think the Earth Spirit Bremen is nearly as substantially constructed. The leather may be a little thinner and inside it is backed by a tennis shoe-like material. I doubt that I would be comfortable on a long hike with this shoe. However, this shoe might be great in a colder northern climate, where it would be worn with a thicker winter wool sock. Up north, the aggressive tread design of the Earth Spirit Bremen would provide solid footing and traction on snow and ice. The shoe is certainly comfortable enough and durable enough for your office.

Overall, Earth Spirit shoes are definitely worth trying on and checking out at Walmart or Planetshoes.com. At $35, they are a solid competitor to Clarks and other premium shoes at a Walmart price point that you can afford. If Earth Spirit shoes work for you, they'd be a raise you could wear to work.