One of my favorite shoes is a Sears by Hanover. But even these Korean made ones are better than most stuff produced todayI found these NOS Sears "Wonderlite" on EBay for $15, so I decided to give them a try.
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From the listing photos, they appeared to be GYW with double leather soles; however, they are actually cemented with PU soles painted to look like leather.
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What looks like an outsole stitch at first glance actually seems to be a pattern built into the soles.
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They are still made in the USA, but probably at the time when better-made shoes were starting to phase out.
Here is one of the Wonderlite shoes next to the earlier Sears "Easy Flex" shoes. The Easy Flex have a supple leather upper, a full leather lining, and real GYW leather sole. The wonderlite have a pretty stiff upper, a quarter leather lining (fabric up front), and a cemented PU sole.
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So, they are a bit different from what I was expecting, but that's not to say they are a bad pair of shoes. As advertised, the shoes are light and comfortable. They have a nice underfoot feel without the soft/squishy feeling that a lot of modern comfort-oriented shoes have. I think they'll make a solid workhorse shoe for being on my feet all day in the classroom next school year.
Sears gave a warranty that the soles will last at least a year of use, or they'll provide a new pair. I have a feeling there will not be any replacement pair if these ones fail me, though 😁
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