Sundowner

Name: Vasque Sundowner
Brand: Vasque
Availability: OutOfStock

Joe Turner in Three Days of the Condor, 1975 — as worn by Robert Redford

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MakerVasque

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Vasque Sundowner — Plate I — Three Days of the Condor, 1975BAMF Style · Image may be subject to copyright

The scene

The film opens in New York City with Joe Turner riding a Velosolex moped through crowded Manhattan streets on a winter morning toward the CIA front office operating as the American Literary Historical Society on East 77th Street. Bundled in a practical, layered outfit, he appears as a slightly rumpled, bookish analyst rather than a conventional espionage hero. The boots are visible as a functional part of this everyday commuting look, grounding his casual academic appearance while suggesting a sturdier, self-reliant streak beneath it.

In this opening stretch, Turner is still only a reader and analyst, not yet the fugitive the plot will force him to become. The heavy hiking boots work with the bicycle, scarf, tweed jacket, navy sweater, and denim shirt to place him in a transitional space between urban intellectual and someone equipped for harsher conditions. Their practical outdoors silhouette subtly foreshadows the physical ordeal ahead, even as the scene emphasizes routine and normalcy.

Pollack’s framing uses the ride as character shorthand, treating the boots as part of a lived-in utilitarian wardrobe rather than isolating them as a fashion statement. The brown leather, padded collar, and metal hiking-boot hardware read as classic 1970s trail footwear, anchoring Turner in weather, motion, and everyday New York texture before the office massacre shatters that ordinary world.

The object

Vasque

The full Three Days of the Condor file →

The Vasque Sundowner is a classic leather backpacking boot produced by Vasque, the outdoor-footwear division launched by Red Wing Shoe Company in 1964. Introduced in 1984, the Sundowner became one of the brand’s signature models and a benchmark American hiking boot, widely recognized for its all-leather construction, substantial hiking silhouette, metal D-ring eyelets with speed hooks, padded collar, and lugged Vibram outsole.

Modern and recent Sundowner specifications commonly cite a full-grain leather upper, Gore-Tex waterproof lining, and Vibram traction sole, while the model’s reputation has long centered on its durable one-piece leather build and supportive backpacking design. In visual terms, the key identifiers are the robust brown leather upper, hardware-heavy lacing system, padded ankle support, and traditional alpine hiking-boot profile.

For the film identification, the boot is best understood as a retrospective style match rather than a period-confirmed production fact. Three Days of the Condor was released in 1975, nearly a decade before the documented 1984 launch of the Sundowner line, so the screen-worn footwear cannot be verified as the commercial Sundowner itself despite the strong resemblance. The observed on-screen color reads as brown to reddish-brown, making Red Oak the closest modern colorway analogue rather than a confirmed period designation.

Production Notes

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