Thursday Sneakers Review: I Try Thursday’s Premiere Sneaker

A man can’t have too many white minimalist sneakers. 

Actually, I take that back. He can. 

And I do.

But I can’t stop myself, and recently, I just gave up trying to fight the urge to buy new minimalist sneakers. 

I love them through all their stages of life—from crisp, new, and clean, all the way until they’re creased, dirty, and faded. 

I’ve been a big fan of Thursday’s boots for many years, and recently I decided to pick up a few of their Premier low top sneakers to see how they compare with my KOIO, GREATS, Oliver Cabell, and Beckett Simonons. 

Thursday Sneakers Overview

Thursday started making boots back in 2014 and quickly became one of the most popular American boot brands on the market, and in 2020, they decided to launch a line of minimalist sneakers. 

They started with five different leather options and quickly expanded to 15 different leathers at the time of writing. 

I’ll dive into the details a little later, but Thursday uses Italian Napa leather from Carpanese tannery in their white and black sneakers, and Horween leather for their Heritage leather line. 

It’s insane to think you can get a Horween waxed roughout sneaker for a little over $100. To put that in perspective, I have two pairs of boots that use the same leather (Truman 79 and Nicks Americana) and they cost $400+ and $500+ respectively. 

So it’s true that Thursday really does offer fantastic quality for a relatively low price. There’s only one other sneaker—the Beckett Simonon Reid—that I think approaches this level of quality for the price. 

Things to Consider Before Buying

Of all the minimalist sneaker designs, the Thursday Premier is one of the most…minimalist. 

There’s no additional stitching along the sidewalls of the sneaker, no intricate shaping of the toe, and just a single channeled stitch around the outsole. They’re super clean looking, so if you’re after a true minimalist aesthetic, these sneakers are all about it. 

I have a lot of white sneakers, so I was actually a bit more interested in the other leather options and also picked up a pair of the Camel oil snuff suede Premier’s with the gum sole. 

A really important consideration is which leather option to get, because as I’ll discuss, there are actually significant construction and material differences depending on which leather choice you get. 

For instance, my white Premier’s have a foam and board insole, while my Camel suede sneakers have a veg-tanned leather insole that’s slightly less shock absorbent, but more durable, too. 

My Hands-On Review

First Impression

The unboxing experience for these sneakers is far beyond what any other brand at this price point offers. I know it’s a small thing, but I always appreciate opening a box of new Thursdays. 

My first thought when I saw these sneakers was: “oh that’s crispy.” 

The style is super clean—there’s no unnecessary stitching along the side wall like in my KOIOs, GREATS, Beckett Simonon, and Oliver Cabells. And that was something I didn’t realize I’d been wanting until I actually had my Thursday sneakers on my feet. 

I think there’s a desire for brand’s designers to add something unique to their sneakers to avoid their minimalist sneakers looking boring. But Thursday did the ol’ “zig when others zag” and just left the whole design clean and not add more into it. 

In my opinion, that was a great move. Because this sneaker looks tasty. 

I picked up the White Napa leather and the Camel oil snuff suede. As I’m writing this, it’s autumn, so I’ve been wearing the Camel suede sneakers just about every day and they’re an excellent complement for when the weather starts to cool down. 

Leather Quality and Care

The leather quality is the most attractive thing about these sneakers in my opinion. There’s no other brand that offers this type of quality at such a low price. It’s just true. 

You’re either getting leather from Horween (a legendary US tannery) or Carpanese (a well-regarded Italian tannery), and that’s hard to beat for a sneaker under $150. 

My white sneakers are made with Nappa leather from the Italian tannery, which is a full grain, chrome tanned leather. 

Nappa leather is generally softer and more pliable than other types of leather, and the uppers are at least 1.2mm thick, which is solid on a sneaker. 

As for my Camel Premier’s, because it’s an oil snuff suede, it has a natural color to it and has a decent amount of weather resistance so you don’t need to worry so much about keeping them completely dry.

They’re not weatherproof like some of Thursday’s suede boots, but the suede on the Camel is decently tough on its own, so I don’t worry about wearing them even when the weather might turn for the worst. 

The whole sneaker is lined with Vachetta leather, which is known to be so buttery soft that high end design-houses like Gucci and Prada use it on their hand-bags. So it’s nice to have that on your feet. 

The lining goes through the entire toe, so you don’t need to worry about a fabric lining around the toe wearing through and creating an uncomfortable mess a few months down the road. 

Sole

The sole is a custom cup sole design Thursday made in collaboration with Vibram, which is one of the major legendary sole designers in the world. Many of my favorite shoes and boots feature Vibram soles, and while Thursday’s sneakers don’t use a specific design from the brand, I’m confident the quality is on par with Vibrams more regular offerings. 

The outsole is sturdy and offers a lot of shock absorption—the white sneakers are extremely comfortable. 

Looking at the insole, too, it’s pretty clear that Thursday spent a lot of time and effort to get these sneakers as comfortable as possible. 

I do have some concerns for the longevity as synthetic materials like high density foam don’t have as much durability as leather (for an insole), but then again, sneakers are designed more for comfort. 

That’s not to say that I think these sneakers aren’t durable—one aspect I love is that the cup sole is stitched into the bottom of the upper and you can see that if you remove the insole insert. 

A lot of sneakers just use cement to glue the upper to the sole, which can be a problem if the compound fails. But this stitch just helps keep everything together and is something I’d expect from any $200+ sneaker (so it’s a bonus when a sub-$150 sneaker has one). 

Break-in Period

There was no break in period with these sneakers. They were immediately comfortable and I had no trouble with blisters or even sore feet after wearing them for several hours. 

The creasing is also very light considering how much I’ve worn my sneakers now. They’re not immune to creases, but the supple leather seems to be aging well. 

Thursday Sneakers Sizing

Thursday sneakers run true to Brannock device measurements, which is also what most sneakers and dress shoes go by. 

So if you’re normally a size 10 in most sneakers and dress shoes, you should get the size 10 for your Thursday sneakers. 

If you’ve bought some Thursday boots in the past, you’ll likely want to try a half size larger than your boots. 

Take me for example: I’m a 10.5D on the Brannock device. 

For my Thursday sneakers, I got the 10.5 and they fit perfectly. For Thursday boots, on the other hand, I get a size 10D and the fit is perfect there. 

It’s a small distinction, but worth noting if you’ve shopped with Thursday before. 

How to Clean Thursday Sneakers

Cleaning Thursday sneakers is an easy task, but depending on the type of leather you have, there are a few different ways to get them looking as good as new. 

Regardless of your leather, the first step is going to be to remove the laces and wipe off as much dirt as you can with a clean, dry rag. 

White, Black, and other Full Grain Leathers

All 15 Thursday sneaker options are full grain besides the Black Matte, Waxed Cacao, and Camel suede. 

So, if you’re wondering if this applies to your sneakers, it probably does. 

To clean your full grain Thursday sneakers, you’ll need:

• Horsehair brush
• A light leather conditioner like Cobbler’s Choice or Venetian Leather Balm
• Mr. Clean Magic Eraser (for the sole)

Once you’ve gotten as much dirt off the leather as you can with a dry clean rag, you can get the rag damp and rub away any dirt stains you’re finding.  

Make sure your sneakers are dry and apply a quarter-size amount of leather conditioner to your sneakers. You can do this with your bare hands if you don’t mind, or you can do it with a rag. 

View this post on Instagram

Let the leather conditioner sit for 10-15 minutes. 

Use the horsehair brush to go back and forth and even-out your new layer of conditioner. 

Grab your Mr. Clean Magic Eraser and start working out the scuffs in the sole. It’s not the end of the world if the Magic Eraser touches the leather, but try to avoid that as much as possible—you only want to be using the Magic Eraser on the rubber portion of the sole. 

After that, your sneakers should be looking as good as new. 

Suede and Matte Leathers

Thursday’s suede and their Rugged and Resilient (Black Matte) can be treated the same way. 

You’ll need:

• Suede brush (different than a horse hair brush)
• Suede eraser
• Saphir Renovateur spray (neutral color)

After you’ve gotten as much dirt off the leather as you can with a dry clean rag, use a suede brush and brush down your sneakers with swipes in a single direction. 

Brush both sneakers entirely. If you still see some dirt spots, use the suede eraser and use it on the dirty spot just like you would with a pencil eraser. Then re-brush the spot with your suede brush. 

View this post on Instagram

When you’ve removed all the dirt using the suede brush and eraser, you’re ready to recondition your sneakers. 

Use Saphir Renovateur spray—you can get a matching color if you’d like, but I prefer the neutral because I can use it on any other suede or Rugged and Resilient leathers I want. 

Keep about two inches away from the sneakers and condition in short bursts.

Once you’ve covered both sneakers, let them sit with a pair of cedar shoe trees for 24 hours and they’re ready to go. 

What do Other Reviewers Say?

View this post on Instagram

Thursday has over 4,000 reviews for their sneakers at the time of writing, which all average to a 4.9 out of 5-star rating. 

One common complaint I read in reviews was that the sneakers were too narrow. A lot of guys have wide feet and don’t realize it. If your feet are an E on the Brannock device, you may want to get a half size larger. If your feet are EE or EEE, you may have to bump up to KOIO’s sneakers as they offer special wide sizes. 

Thursday Premier Sneaker Alternatives

Beckett Simonon

View this post on Instagram

Beckett Simonon makes the most compelling alternative to the Thursday Premier sneaker. I’m a huge fan of both brands so it’s difficult to decide which I like better. 

I think the Beckett Simonon Reid is the best value minimalist sneaker overall. Plus I love that the eyelets are hidden to make for a slightly sleeker look overall. 

In quality terms, Beckett Simonon’s leather is a little softer, though not necessarily better. There is one huge drawback to the Beckett Simonon Reid, and that’s that it can take up to 3 months to arrive at your door. 

The brand makes all their shoes to order, which is how they keep their prices so low. 

If you have the patience to wait 3 months, I recommend the Beckett Simonon Reid. 

If you don’t have the patience, I think the Thursday Premier is still your best choice. But I’ll compare the Premier to the other big players anyway below.

GREATS

View this post on Instagram

GREATS used to be great, but they sold to Steve Madden and all their components dropped in quality. 

The GREATS Royale is a cool looking shoe, but there’s so much going on with the design that I hesitate to call it a minimalist sneaker. It’s more like if Common Projects and Air Jordan sneakers had a shoe-baby. 

The design is cool and the quality is ok for GREATS. But compared to the Thursday Premier, it’s no contest: get Thursdays. 

KOIO

View this post on Instagram

The KOIO Capri is an incredible sneaker. It demolishes the Common Projects Achilles in my opinion. 

That said, I don’t know if it’s worth the nearly $300 price tag. 

You may want to consider the KOIO Capri if budget isn’t a big determining factor for you and you just want the best possible quality. 

For sneakers, I always factor in the budget heavily into how much I like a sneaker because I don’t wear sneakers as often as I wear boots or other Goodyear welted shoes. 

If I had to choose between KOIO and Thursday to buy only one sneaker, I’d get the Thursday Premier for its excellent value-for-money. 

Oliver Cabell

View this post on Instagram

The Oliver Cabell Low 1 is also a solid option, though I see it more as an alternative to the KOIO Capri than anything else. 

Again, I don’t think you can beat the Thursday Premier in terms of value-for-money, but the Oliver Cabell Low 1 is your best choice if you want to go top-end on quality and they’re on sale. 

Further Reading

Oliver Cabell Sizing Guide: Don’t Make This Mistake

In this Oliver Cabell sizing guide, I’ll break down how Oliver Cabell’s sneakers fit and compare the sizing to other brands like KOIO and GREATS.

My Thoughts Overall

FAQs