At Stridewise, we’re committed to offering genuine, independent reviews for quality casual boots, apparel, and accessories designed to stand the test of time. We might earn a commission whenever you purchase through our links, which helps us keep our mission alive. Discover more about our approach and values below.
Our Philosophy
Stridewise is about helping guys buy everyday boots and clothes that will last as long as possible.
Nick English
Stridewise is dedicated to guiding you toward the best in casual and durable boots, apparel, and accessories for men.
Each year, we independently evaluate and scrutinize an extensive range of products to ensure you find exactly what you need, seamlessly blending durability with style and heritage.
We aim to simplify your shopping experience and remove any hassle, whether you’re searching for daily essentials or special gifts for loved ones.
We pride ourselves on being the most reliable source for menswear recommendations, operating with complete editorial freedom.
Our team only endorses items we believe are the top choice after thorough research and evaluation. This integrity forms the foundation of our trust in our readers.
Founded by journalist Nick English and now staffed by a variety of full-time and freelance writers, Stridewise generates revenue through advertisements on the site and YouTube channel, affiliate marketing, and the occasional visibly and explicitly sponsored content. This means we may receive commissions for products bought via our links.
However, our recommendations are always based on unbiased research, extensive analysis, interviews, and rigorous testing.
We’re not influenced by external pressures to favor certain products; if you purchase something through our site and you don’t like it and you return it, then we don’t earn any commission. So it’s in our best interest to only recommend stuff you’ll like and to give you a clear picture of what you might consider a product’s drawbacks in case you don’t evaluate products the exact same way we do.
Add all that to the fact that people just won’t come to the site if we get a reputation for promoting shoddy stuff, and we think it’s clear that it would just be bad business from every angle if we were sellout affiliate ghouls. We’re in this for the long haul, and so are the products we like!
Our Review Process
Our reviews result from weeks to months of research, drawing on years of expertise in menswear, boots, fabrics, and manufacturing processes. The longer we stay in business, the more experience and expertise we gather, and the better the content gets. (This is why we also try hard to update old content to reflect the lessons we’ve learned.)
We consult with a broad range of professionals from bootmakers and medical doctors to specialized experts in various fields, while delving into customer and community feedback we receive through e-mails and social media, to gauge what truly matters to those who use these products.
Some examples of experts we’ve featured in articles:
- How Boots Should Fit (Featuring Dr. Neal Blitz, a NewYork-based reconstructive foot and ankle surgeon)
- The Complete Guide to Deck Jackets | History, Variations, and Why It’s the Best Winter Jacket (Featuring Historian Charles Disipio of History Preservation)
- How the Leather Working Group Works | What Tanneries Do and Don’t Like About the LWG (Featuring career leather tanners Nick Horween and Ed Gallun)
- Sustainability, Slavery, and Jeans: Why This Artist Only Works With Blue Denim (Featuring Ian Berry, Denim Artist)
- And many more…
We aim to highlight high-quality items that justify their price without unnecessary extras.
Our review process is thorough and engaging, often leading us to explore unique testing scenarios to ensure we recommend only the best.
Stridewise covers many products, applying meticulous research techniques to offer clear, straightforward advice on what to buy and what to skip.
We admit that we do tend to buy products we have reason to believe we’ll like and we shy away from products we think we don’t, so we rarely post super negative reviews — unless there’s significant public demand to investigate something potentially shoddy.
We recommend products we would choose for ourselves and suggest to our friends and family, treating your investment with the utmost seriousness.
- The 1-year Department Store Belt Versus My Father
- Grant Stone Traveler Penny Loafer (A gift for my Dad)
- My Father-In-Law’s Bag, Reincarnated | Linden Leather Company’s Leather Messenger Bag Review
Building Trust
Our top priority is maintaining your trust. Recommending a product due to bias or laziness would compromise the integrity of our work, and again, it would just not be good business for our company. If people think we make bad recommendations, we wouldn’t make any revenue. That we’ve consistently growing since we were founded in 2018 is a testament to our editorial quality.
We encourage our readers to scrutinize our guides, which transparently document the exhaustive research, expert consultations, and testing that inform our recommendations.
We invest countless hours into this process to ensure our advice is reliable and trustworthy.
We’re here to assist with any shopping dilemmas you might encounter. Our team, passionate about exploring and answering reader inquiries, is always ready to provide personalized advice.
Learn More About Us
Discover the principles behind our meticulous selection process and our commitment to editorial excellence.
From the in-depth strategies we employ to unearth the best deals to the rigorous vetting of our sources and the thoughtful consideration behind our product picks, our process is designed to prioritize quality and value for our readers.
Get to know the experts behind Stridewise and join our YouTube community.
Explore career opportunities with us.
Follow our journey on YouTube and social media for the highest quality menswear built to last.
Stridewise Editorial and Custom Content Guidelines on Generative AI Use
At Stridewise, we don’t just prioritize the authenticity of our content, we have actual journalism training and believe in the importance of preserving humanity and creativity in media.
As part of this commitment, Stridewise has never and will never use generative AI tools, including but not limited to ChatGPT, for creating or editing our content. This applies across all formats, including articles, reviews, opinion pieces, multimedia content produced by our staff, and contributions from freelance writers and industry experts.
We don’t just have this policy because we want writers and researchers to be able to earn a living wage, or because we believe there’s something about human imagination and innovation that can’t (or at least shouldn’t) be replicated by machines. It’s also a selfish financial decision: our ad network and Google itself have said they’ll penalize websites that are caught using AI in their writing.
Right now, the only time we use AI is to generate transcripts of videos so that we can edit them into articles. The words in our content have always been written (or first spoken) by a human.
This policy was instituted in December 2023 and has been regularly updated.
