New Balance 204L: Low Suede Runners, the 327 Wedge and Their Court Cousins

In 1906, in the Boston area, an inventor named William J. Riley started New Balance with a three-point orthopedic insole that Vogue says was modeled after a chicken's gait. Then in 1972 Jim Davis bought the company, seeing the potential in leisure footwear. A brand that began with arch supports ended up making the shoes we wear to get coffee. I love that.

 

That history is why I trust the New Balance 204L. It is a low, slim runner with the soft suede and arced overlays of a '70s trainer, and it comes in unisex sizing, so I do not think about it as a women's or men's shoe at all. The brand has always been better at the quiet idea than the loud one, and this is the quiet idea.

 

Start with the colors, because that is where the fun is. The Mushroom pair is taupe suede with cream laces and an olive lugged sole, and it looks right with wide-leg khakis and a gray sweatshirt. Timberwolf is a warm off-white that I would wear with blue jeans and a white tee. Arid Stone has a gum-brown outsole, Silver Moss is a pale sage with a lilac-gray sole, and Quicksand is a sand yellow that works like a neutral once it is on your foot.

 

The newer 204L pairs in the first grid add a silver and black metallic, a grey metallic, a cream and soft pink pair, and a tan suede in Mushroom and Arid Stone.

 

For the dark end, Black is the one for work trousers, and Pumpernickel is a deep chocolate that I would pair with cream knitwear. The 125th Anniversary 204L in Quartz Gray and Neptune Gray is the softest of them all. Tip: pick the color by the pants you wear most, not the one you like in the photo.

Look at the sole before you look at the upper. The New Balance 327 is built around a wedge and an oversized N, so the shape reads from across a street, and I would choose the pair by how much of that you want to wear. Vogue says the 327 debuted in 2020 as a modern interpretation of the 1970s 320, designed by the UK-based Charlotte Lee. I find it funny: a brand-new shoe that feels like a hand-me-down.

 

The Pumpernickel 327 in cow print is the loud one, and it deserves a quiet outfit around it. The four Shopbop pairs keep the wedge and change the N: Linen and Sea Salt has a taupe N, Beige and Grey has a pale grey N, Grey and Brown has a gold N, and Beige and Black has a black N.

 

If you want tonal, the beige and grey pair is the easiest, with a clean look that goes with blue jeans. The 471 in Oregano Dark Olivine is the wedge idea in a retro runner, a hairy olive suede with a gum wedge sole, and I would wear it with brown cords. The 750 and the T500 round out the grid as retro runners.

 

Fit test: walk across the fitting room and check that the heel does not lift. The platform feels different from a flat runner, and the lugs grip a lot more than you expect on a smooth floor.

 

What I would skip: the cow print when your outfit already has a pattern. One loud thing is plenty.

Not every low runner has to be a 204L. The 204V in Turtledove, in the first grid, is a pale stone-gray suede and mesh pair with a gum sole, and it shares the slim 204 shape with a climbing-inspired twist, so it is the closest cousin. The 471 in Pink Chalk is the wedge idea in a retro runner, pink suede with a cream N, and I would wear it with gray sweatpants and a trench.

 

Then the court and skate shapes in this last grid. The 950 in Angora is a cream leather court sneaker with a puffed N and a wide toe box, and the NB Numeric 480 in Incense is a tan suede skate low-top. The Numeric 508, 440v2, 306, 306 Cup and 340 are more skate shoes, flatter and more casual, good with a straight skirt or a pair of chinos. The RC42 is the party one, a bright indoor-court low-top, and I would wear it with plain black.

 

Buying test: press the toe box. If you have a wider foot, the 950 gives the most room.

Here is what I would actually do. First, decide on the base color: cream, gray, or brown. Then pick the shape, a slim runner from the first group or a wedge from the second, and check how it looks with the pants you wear most.

 

Try them on with real socks, and walk. The 204L is the one I would reach for on a Monday, the 327 is for the weekend, and one of the court pairs is for when I want to look a bit more pulled together.

 

A shoe that began as an arch support has been in this conversation for over a century, so I figure it can handle my errands. If you want to keep browsing, I also put together New Balance Sneakers and Espadrilles Are the Only Wedge Worth Packing.