A decade ago, a handful of gritty arthouse roles transformed Ryan Gosling—a capital-M, Oscar-nominated Movie Star—into the poster boy for a certain kind of brooding silver screen archetype. Like Alain Delon and Steve McQueen before him, Gosling’s on-screen personas became larger than life, as did the signature looks that defined them. (For Delon it was a trench coat, for McQueen it was a Harrington jacket, for Gosling it was a certain scorpion-adorned souvenir jacket that’s become meme canon as a symbol of “sigma male” aspirations.)
Off screen, however, Gosling often seems less interested in appearing overtly rebellious, instead favoring just-swervy-enough style choices that regular guys can emulate. Sure, he might wear a teal and purple Gucci suit on a red carpet, but on the day-to-day he’s more likely to show up in a sweater vest, trucker jacket, slim jeans, and his favorite pair of Red Wing Moc Toe boots.
For a boot that’s made to such high standards right here in the States, Red Wings are an incredible value straight out of the gate. But if you’re a professional deal hunter who just won’t take full price for an answer, finding a pair of these bombproof boots on sale is an exercise in wasting time. Elite shoppers like us, however, will have you know that there are always exceptions to the rule.
Right now, you can snag a pair of Red Wing’s gorp’d-up moc toe boots in a waterproof Gore-tex edition for more than fifty bucks off. Workwear purists might scoff at the addition of Gore-tex, but we think they’re only mad that Red Wing managed to make a perfect boot even better. So unless you’re averse to rare discounts, waterproof materials, or like, high-quality footwear with classic style, we wouldn’t sit on this deal for much longer.
