For the love of Sneakers
I've always loved sneakers. As a kid I seem to enjoy going to get new sneakers way more then going to the toy store. The shoe store guy even knew us by name. And once every 5 to 6 months he knew my brother and I were headed there for a new pair of shoes, to replace our slightly less then new current pair. But back then you had to settle with what he had. If he didn't have the new orange and white Bo Jackson shoes you just saw in the Bo Diddley commerical, you weren't going to get them. Now that's all changed.
You can get any pair of shoes you want. Ebay, Zappos, you name it you can find it. I could even find that pair of Bo Jackson's I wanted in 1991 never worn, brand new. But what's even more impressive to me, is that now you can make your own shoes. Literally. Just go to NikeID.com and pick a style you like. In a matter of minutes, or hours if you ponder over the details like I did. A pair of retro Nike Air Max's with metallic silver as the base color, a red swoosh, and red lining is what I decided upon. They look amazing, but I have to wait three to four weeks for some small child in Asia to make them. I'll call him Ngyen. Please little Ngyen make my shoe good. Love it long time.
So in honor of my rediscovery of the Air Max, and to celebrate my love of the sneaker I'm going to go ahead and list some of my favorites over the years. And in no particular order.
Chuck Taylor All Star (Converse)--Had a pair when I was 10 and have a pair now. Classic sneaker.
Off the Wall (Vans)--Classic skater sneaker. Be it the slip on checker board, or the lace up with the squiggly line, both are great.
Tennis Pump (Reebok)--Maybe my favorite shoe of 8th grade. The pump was actually a tennis ball. Like it was fuzzy like a tennis ball. Plus the pump actually worked pretty well.
Air 180, Mr. Robinson's neighborhood (Nike)--Nike's futile attempt at another pump. For some reason Nike couldn't get the pump right the first time so they tried again. This had a guage so you could pump around the ankle, or the arch. Pretty cool, but these were uncomfortable.
BK Knights (British Knights)--Who could forget BK Knights. The snake skin. These really said something about you. Like you wished you were black.
My Adidas (Adidas)-- Remember Run DMC jumping on stage with Aerosmith? Remember their shoes? Yep, no laces. Adidas rule, but they went into the dark ages during the 90's.
Andre Agassi Years (Nike)-- Nike made some of the coolest tennis shoes in the early 90s. It's too bad they can't repeat. It's been a while since Nike came out with a truely hot tennis shoe. Plus this was probably one of the best ad campaigns. Everyting seemed to line up for Nike in the 90's.
Cross Trainer Bo Jackson edition (Nike)--Not only did he invent a line of shoe, he also became perhaps the most important spokesperson about shoes besides Jordan. And now, no one even remembers him. Bo Jackson too bad he got hurt.
The Original (Reebok)--Remember when Reebok first came out? I feel like it was around 85 or so. I just remember how comfortable they were.
The Air Bubble (Nike)--The first shoe with an air bubble.
Converse React Juice (Converse)--I think they made a couple models, but who could forget Grand Ma Ma?
Those weird ass leg strength shoe's(Strength)--Swear to god I had a buddy, who was white, who could dunk like a maniac he said he got this ability by the these shoes.
Original Pump (Nike)--Reebok was not the first. It was Nike. Remember that banana bump and the huge peice of plastic molding on the back?
Zoom Air (Nike)--Around the time of the Atlanta Olympics Nike came out with a badass running shoe that had a metallic red swoosh.
Air Jordan (Nike)--Pick any pair, before 1998 of course, and you'll find an instant classic. Each shoe sets the bar for every other shoe to beat. No shoe has come close to the Jordan line from 1984-1998. No shoe.
You can get any pair of shoes you want. Ebay, Zappos, you name it you can find it. I could even find that pair of Bo Jackson's I wanted in 1991 never worn, brand new. But what's even more impressive to me, is that now you can make your own shoes. Literally. Just go to NikeID.com and pick a style you like. In a matter of minutes, or hours if you ponder over the details like I did. A pair of retro Nike Air Max's with metallic silver as the base color, a red swoosh, and red lining is what I decided upon. They look amazing, but I have to wait three to four weeks for some small child in Asia to make them. I'll call him Ngyen. Please little Ngyen make my shoe good. Love it long time.
So in honor of my rediscovery of the Air Max, and to celebrate my love of the sneaker I'm going to go ahead and list some of my favorites over the years. And in no particular order.
Chuck Taylor All Star (Converse)--Had a pair when I was 10 and have a pair now. Classic sneaker.
Off the Wall (Vans)--Classic skater sneaker. Be it the slip on checker board, or the lace up with the squiggly line, both are great.
Tennis Pump (Reebok)--Maybe my favorite shoe of 8th grade. The pump was actually a tennis ball. Like it was fuzzy like a tennis ball. Plus the pump actually worked pretty well.
Air 180, Mr. Robinson's neighborhood (Nike)--Nike's futile attempt at another pump. For some reason Nike couldn't get the pump right the first time so they tried again. This had a guage so you could pump around the ankle, or the arch. Pretty cool, but these were uncomfortable.
BK Knights (British Knights)--Who could forget BK Knights. The snake skin. These really said something about you. Like you wished you were black.
My Adidas (Adidas)-- Remember Run DMC jumping on stage with Aerosmith? Remember their shoes? Yep, no laces. Adidas rule, but they went into the dark ages during the 90's.
Andre Agassi Years (Nike)-- Nike made some of the coolest tennis shoes in the early 90s. It's too bad they can't repeat. It's been a while since Nike came out with a truely hot tennis shoe. Plus this was probably one of the best ad campaigns. Everyting seemed to line up for Nike in the 90's.
Cross Trainer Bo Jackson edition (Nike)--Not only did he invent a line of shoe, he also became perhaps the most important spokesperson about shoes besides Jordan. And now, no one even remembers him. Bo Jackson too bad he got hurt.
The Original (Reebok)--Remember when Reebok first came out? I feel like it was around 85 or so. I just remember how comfortable they were.
The Air Bubble (Nike)--The first shoe with an air bubble.
Converse React Juice (Converse)--I think they made a couple models, but who could forget Grand Ma Ma?
Those weird ass leg strength shoe's(Strength)--Swear to god I had a buddy, who was white, who could dunk like a maniac he said he got this ability by the these shoes.
Original Pump (Nike)--Reebok was not the first. It was Nike. Remember that banana bump and the huge peice of plastic molding on the back?
Zoom Air (Nike)--Around the time of the Atlanta Olympics Nike came out with a badass running shoe that had a metallic red swoosh.
Air Jordan (Nike)--Pick any pair, before 1998 of course, and you'll find an instant classic. Each shoe sets the bar for every other shoe to beat. No shoe has come close to the Jordan line from 1984-1998. No shoe.
posted by laughjon at 31.5.06
5 Comments:
You forgot one of my all-time favorites, the Jim Courier's. Those were fantastic tennis shoes.
no asics, no pumas, no airwalks, no roos.
i grew up a puma boy.
my ultimate friend (not-that) pat could jump higher than should have been possible. he also attributed it to the strength(?) shoes.
those are all great shoes, but in my childhood they didn't play a role. Airwalks, and Vision maybe. But there wasn't that pinnacle asic, or puma.
All I know about shows I have learned from Double Dare. BK's are the shoes you want to wear if you find yourself at the begining of a slimy, 8-step, flag-grabbing obstacle course.
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I think I was the person alive who never popped the React Juice out of my LJ's.
I never knew there was so much to know about shoes. Although I do get a lot of compliments on my Steve Madden's.
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