I've had good luck with ecco brand shoes. I've gotten a few different pairs from Nordstrom Rack for cheap, the oldest one being 8 years old and still going strong.
I picked up this[1] pair in particular for about $35 3-4 years ago, and they've been my daily drivers ever since due to blending in well with pretty much anything short of formal business attire. And despite being pretty brutal with my shoes in general, these essentially look the same as they did a month or so after getting them.
Not OP but I got a pair of Clark's in 2010 that I still wear. Granted they are sandals, but of anything that is even more impressive, I used to go through sandals once a season.
And don't get me started on the poor state of common flipflop
oh excuse my french but fuck-an-a clarks are amazing. The pair I bought mine at (which actually still somehow work) was from a mall which is now demolished and has since turned into a condominium with a park.
Yes, the store left, the mall was abandoned, it got leveled, a new building was placed there and that was a few years ago. I still have the damn sandals. I wore them yesterday.
I tried moving on from them around 2012 using a pair of sandals from DSW and those went to tatters so I went into my closet and brought the old clarks back out and now years later they still work.
I should go and hunt out another pair.
There should be a review website with an incredibly high barrier to entry that is designed to make sure there's completely unsolicited reviews for products. Avoiding abuse and spam is definitely hand-waving here but that site would be great.
I picked up this[1] pair in particular for about $35 3-4 years ago, and they've been my daily drivers ever since due to blending in well with pretty much anything short of formal business attire. And despite being pretty brutal with my shoes in general, these essentially look the same as they did a month or so after getting them.
[1] https://www.amazon.com/ECCO-Mens-Soft-Fashion-Sneaker/dp/B00...