Sneakers : the Ugly Duckling

DYS in Shoes — October 24th, 2008

Besides the pretty heels and sandals, I’m sure many of us can not live without sneakers. After posting about sky-high heels a while ago, it’s about time to put sneakers in the spotlight. They’re sometimes ignored, sitting on the very bottom of our shoe closet or maybe in the corner, under your bed, uncovered with fancy shoebag, dusty, simply forgotten, unlike their other ‘’spoiled sisters” (stilettos, pumps, sandals, flats, boots, etc.). Sneakers are often associated with ugly running shoes, boring trainers, or simply outdated sport footwear. In fact, sneakers come in attractive fun colors and prints. Today, most of them are not even made anymore for running, hiking, nor performing any sport activities. Although most of the time, I abuse and force them to jog and hike *I just can’t stand the look of my boring running shoes and would rather wear my tortured Adidas Melbourne sneakers instead ;p

Sneakers will always be my life saver from a bad blister, morning commute and standing on a concert venue. My first affair with sneakers started around my adolescent years with Converse All Stars. Converse Chuck Taylor, the name behind the legendary sneaker celebrated its 100th Anniversary early this year. I still have my very first Converses till today, they don’t fit me anymore but they’ve been traveling with me everywhere, through every journeys of my life. They were even used on one of my styling assignments in the past with H&M and worn by the kid models. During my junior and high school years, Converse All Stars were definitely the must-have items, besides the Nikes. It looked like we were divided by the Converse and the Nike kids.

Then, in my college years, Puma was all the rage. I put aside my Converse, trading them with the latest Pumas. I was totally into Puma accessories, from shoe, training jacket, to duffle bags. Later came the revival of Adidas original. I instantly felt in love with them and since then, I only go for sneakers who give a retro vibe and vintage feeling. And when I moved to the States and discovered Ebay, I kept on looking for retro Adidas items and found several great treasures from their jackets to their retro bowling bags from the late 70’s. If you’ve read about how Adidas and Puma were born. Then you’d be aware that it resulted from a rivalry between 2 brothers: Adolf (Adi) and Rudolf Dassler. They both started making sport shoes in 1920’s, then went their separate ways after World War II. Adolf founded Adidas (short for Adi Dassler) and Rudolf founded Puma in the late 1940’s. For complete story, click here.

Right after the movie Kill Bill came out, Asics Onitsuka Tigers were high in demand. I helped a friend of mine who was selling sneakers and actually made a living just by selling rare and limited edition sneakers to some kids in Jakarta. Through him, I learnt more about sneakers, from Nike high top, Gola, Le coq sportif, Royal Elastics, Retro Reeboks, Kowalski, Bape (Bathing Ape), Vans, Keds, and a long endless list. I also learnt that some people are willing to spend hundreds or even thousand of dollars for a pair of their favorite sneakers, the same amount (or even more) to get a pair of Manolos or Choos.

I also have a friend who is a total sneaker freak. She prefers sneakers over pumps or heels. Her vast collection of Vans and Keds are thrown inside her crowded tiny closet and on the floor around her apartment. While some of my friends also go for designer sneakers (Gucci, LV, etc.) which I found totally tacky! To me, Gucci sneakers with vecro are a total knock-off of Puma Mostro and I still can’t stand looking at COACH sneakerss.. yikesss ;((. Nevertheless, my favorite sneakers would always be Retro sneakers like Adidas original, Le coq sportif and Converse All Stars, what’s yours??

Sources & images courtesy of: sneakerblog.net, heraldtribune.com, ahodie.com, kaboodle.com, adidas, converse all stars, asics, gola, kowalski, nike, reeboks, keds, vans, le coq sportif, puma

Share: delicious, Facebook / Tags: Adidas, Converse, Puma, Sneakers

Add yours 13 comments for this entry.

candrakirana

Yes, I agree. Designer sneakers are tacky! I can’t stand patent leather sneakers anywhere as well!

My boyfriend is a Converse addict and he tried to convert me. He succeeded a little. I own a pink Converse look-alike sneakers. Why? Because even the smallest Converse are too big on my feet.

October 24th, 2008 at 12:34 pm
lovemybags

one thing i don’t really like about sneakers is they are always too wide for my skinny bone legs… and when they fit well, it’s a converse which not always comfortable to wear honestly
plus i HATE to wear shoes LOL
my choice is between sandals or straight to the boot area ha ha ha

October 24th, 2008 at 2:28 pm
vitsky

I used to be a sneaker freak! Terutama yg model retro. Soalnya sneakers itu nyaman sekali, apalagi buat yang suka dancing at a club! Heheh.. Kalo jalan2 trus liat sneakers, rasanya ga tahan untuk gak berenti dan megang2 dengan seksama.
Sampe pada akhirnya suka bingung sendiri kalo mau pergi ke acara yg rada resmi, musti pake apa…mulai deh beli sepatu2 yg rada feminin..
Anyways, merk2 sneakers favorit gue adalah dari: Puma, Adidas Original, Onitsuka Tiger, Converse (Chuck Taylor & Jack Purcell), Vans Classic Slip On

October 24th, 2008 at 5:56 pm
Belles de Jour

Love sneakers…on others mostly
But I do own a few of them that I wear a few times a year haha…My fave are Converse, got two pairs: white and BLACK of course!

October 24th, 2008 at 6:19 pm
yusticia

the ones from prada, gucci, dolce & gabbana are hot but i cant seem to picture myself wearing these kind of sneakers…i’ll look short as…

October 24th, 2008 at 10:11 pm
disti

demen2 aja sih gue ama sneakers, altho ga demen yg highfashionbrands gitu. too flashy imo.

i basically lived in my converse & flats while i was in uni. cman di jkt males banget makenya, kecuali yg berbahan canvas. apalagi yg hitop gitu puanashhhh (pdhl demen tu yg reebok!). cukup diliat aja sih klo skg..

October 25th, 2008 at 12:29 am
DYS

candrakirana: wahh you must hv a very tiny feet.. if im not mistaken, converse always comes in all sizes, from adults to kids.. they even hv for babies!!

lovemybags: wow i picture your legs looking like those skinny long models’ legs.. you should be able to get away with wearing anything incl shoe types.. and it’s a shame that you hate wearing shoess.. cuz you’re more a handbag fetish than shoe? heueh but if you love wearing boots you should be comfy enough to wear converse hi-top or any asics/adidas wrestling boots, they’re pretty tall too imho

but it’s true it’s not really comfy to wear converse esp the hi-top version in a humid country like indonesia or even in the summer, i used to wear them all year long in high-school, and really hate when my foot sweat on my socks then my converse would also smell yikesssss ;p maybe you should try adidas sneakers, i hv a pair of adidas melbourne, the leather is soooo soft, *is it maybe lambskin leather?? i dunno* i always feel like im walking in the clouds :)) they’re my fave sneakers till today

lovemybags, i saw a photo of a girl from the sartorialist wearing converse with a pair of skinny black pants and she looks like she has the same type of skinny legs as you describe.. i think she looks great, i’ve uploaded the photo on the thumbnail above

vitsky: wah vitsky, i totally can picture you wearing sneakers.. pasti cocok bgt dengan style elo yah :)) benar bgt yg retro2 tuh gemesin yah bentuk2nya.. kebetulan suami gw punya buku sneakers2 gt, duh gw suka bgtt liatin sneakers2 jaman dulu.. bentuknya unik dan ga terlalu hi-tech kaya skrg

belles de jour: hehe true, im always amazed and filled with envy to those who can pull off wearing sneakers really really well.. i remember seing a girl wearing a pair of black converse with black jeans and a black quilted chanel bag.. she lookss awesome … and your choice of colors def reflect big cities woman even here in nyc, everyone loves wearing black

yusticia: woww.. you love designers sneakers..i don’t blame you tho’ the gucci hi-top like the ones on the thumbnail above, look great.. but still they’re not my cup of tea

disti: bener spt yg gw bilang td di atas ke lovemybags, kalo di jkt/indo make converse hi top pasti panas bgt.. tp yg lain spt pendek2 ada yg dr leather gitu kaya retro adidas sneakers nyaman bangets lhoo

October 25th, 2008 at 9:33 pm
danil

salam kenal
http://www.khamamah.blogspot.com

October 26th, 2008 at 8:44 am
tari

DYS, I love Adidas & Le coq sportif.. Nyaman di pake. Le coq sportif yg Fashion Retro cakep.

October 27th, 2008 at 4:50 am
DYS

Tari: wahhh Tari, sama selera kitaa.. emang nyaman yahh dipakenya.. le coq sportif emang kece beratss..di sini suka dpt murmer gt di toko2 buangan brg2 dept store.. td senin pagi gw jg make sneakers ngantor, kakinya sakit krn sabtu seharian make heels ke kawinan :((

October 28th, 2008 at 10:36 am
Hanzky

Sneakers memang keren sebenernya yaa, gue seneng liat cewe (biasanya tinggi langsing), trus cuma pake jeans dan sneakers tapi kok keren aja yaa.

Tapi gue udah nggak pake sneakers lagi sih sekarang, terakhir pake pas SMA aja bangsanya Adidas Gazelle, Sambas, trus Puma juga. Dalam 10 taun terakhir, gue cuma punya 1 sneakers..itu juga Nine West..hahahaha..modelnya kaya Puma gitu, dipakenya cuma untuk lari aja. Trus paling pas sebelum pulang kemaren beli Diesel yang tentu aja sampe sekarang belom dipake..:D, belom olah tubuh sih…:D

October 28th, 2008 at 10:59 pm
Leony

Setuju sama Candrakirana ttg designer sneaker, tuh Gucci tacky bgt. Tapi ada juga designer sneaker yg lumayan oke kalau menurut ge, kaya Adidas by Stella MccCartney.

Kalu ge demen ama Puma dan Adidas, kayanya musti beli baru, soalnya yg puma digigit doxie ge, apes

October 30th, 2008 at 8:38 pm
happineesh

hmmm kaporit gw tuh converse all star dari jaman smp sampe kuliah. Soalnya paling nyaman kalo ngejar bis!semakin sering dipake semakin asik…. tapi kalo sekarang jarang banget pake :p

November 3rd, 2008 at 1:15 pm

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Sneakers : the Ugly Duckling

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