This is the second pair of almost the exactly same pair of DC shoes. The previous version faded from white near the toes to black near the heel. I wanted the exact same pair again but when I saw these it made sense to try the fade the other way because my previous pair got dirty near the front because I do a lot of walking. The shoes did hold up great though and I still wear them when I am working in my garage or when I don't want to worry about getting my shoes dirty. While many companies only sell athletic shoes that are similar to Nike, etc. I really like the older style shoes that has thick soles without all the glitz and glamour. Hopefully DC will continue to make skate shoes similar to this style. I would have given the shoes five stars but didn't because I prefer fat laces which did not come with this pair of shoes. I wish DC would include a pair of fat laces as well as thinner laces with the shoes that they sell so I didn't have to buy extra laces every time I bought a pair of DCs.