Hiking boots and hiking shoes do tend to be big and clunky. Even I as a guy hate big clunky footwear. I find even most men's street shoes look big and clunky these days. I had a pair of lightweight Asolo hiking boots for years that if worn with long pants you would hardly notice them at all. With the pant cuff covering the tops of them, they just blended in. I'm not describing it very well, they just didn't catch your eye at all. They fit very close to the foot all round and had no distracting bright yellow splashes or black rubber toe pieces etc. Something like these but imagine them in all one colour (grey roughout leather and matching grey mesh) with no yellow or black toe cap.
http://www.asolo-usa.com/catalog/product/view/id/4703/s/fulton-men-s-grey/category/55/
Sadly, I had to retire them after about 6 or 7 years of great use. They finally bit the dust in Sedona, Arizona and I have been looking for an as good replacement ever since.
My grey Asolo's replaced my previous lightweight hiking boots specifically because they 'stood out' less and looked much better for in city wear as well as being great for hiking. Before my Asolo's I went through 3 pair of what is arguably one of the best ever lightweight hiking boots on the market and was also pretty much the first real lightweight hiking boot. I can clearly recall how the arguments in hiking/backpacking circles back in the mid 1980s went around about lightweight vs. old reliable all leather and 5lbs. a pair traditional boots. On the lightweight side, there was only the one example. They took boot weight from 5-6 lbs. down to 2 lbs.
Now for those who are not fanatic hiking/backpacking people, let me explain a little something about footwear weight vs. energy useage. For nearly 50 years now the saying in wilderness backpacking circles has been, 'a pound on your feet equals 5 lbs. on your back.' Meaning that it takes as much energy to lift up 1 lb. of footwear as it takes to hump another 5 lbs. in your backpack. If you doubt me or just like to see the evidence, it isn't hard to find. You can start here if you want to bother.
http://adventure.howstuffworks.com/...g/one-pound-off-feet-five-pounds-off-back.htm Otherwise, just take my word for it.
That means that for someone who is say backpacking in the Sonora Desert with 40-50lbs. in their backpack, if you change their footwear from 5 lbs. down to 2 lbs. all of a sudden, it is as if you took 15 lbs. off their back! It's like walking on air almost. That's what happened to hiking boots back in 1982.
Funnily enough, that revolutionary boot came from a running shoe company, New Balance. While much water has gone under the bridge since then, that first model is still one of the best and thanks to looking for a link to post in this thread, have just discovered has been re-issued as of last November. Did I mention, they were good enough to make it up to the North Col on Mount Everest? Uh huh. Here they are and in the original colours.
https://hypebeast.com/2016/10/new-balance-rainier-remastered
Orangy brown and blue, hardly blending in to the background. The black doesn't look so bad and like my old Asolos, they are relatively close fitting at least. I just may have to find a place to try a pair on.
For those who do hike, I will suggest this. There is never a time when you need heavier leather hiking boots unless you are doing real mountaineering. Forget the old stories about not enough ankle support. Unless you actually have had an ankle injury or something, what you need is stronger ankles which come from exercise, not heavier boots. I'm always amazed at how many people I see day hiking in places like the Swiss Alps and still wearing big clunky and heavy leather hiking boots. I feel sorry for their backs.
Since it seems it is mostly women reading this thread, my wife's current choice for hiking shoes is the Lowa Renegade Low. She chose them for 2 reasons. First was fit. Some shoes just seem to fit an individual better than others and these fit her like a glove from day one. Second, orthotics. My wife has foot arch issues and uses custom orthotics in all her shoes. A lot of shoes are not as well suited to orthotics fit wise, these are no problem. She also finds the Reiker and Remonte street shoes I mentioned above are usually good for orthotics as well and that's one big reason why she buys so many pairs of them. I won't say anything about the other reason why she buys so many pairs of shoes. I'm a man, I'm not intended to understand it.
