Vans Authentic in Sterling Blue

Here is a pair of Vans Authentic I had a while ago and never wore. This was definitely an older pair as they were made in the Philippines, and we know Vans haven't been made there in quite some time. The color of these was "Sterling Blue." I love Vans Authentic but I prefer the more neutral colors such as grey, white & black though I'm not totally against blue, red and perhaps even yellow.

Vans Wylie in Mid Grey & Orange

I guess everyone knows that Vans has always been a skate shoe company even though nowadays you will see scores of people who have never put a board to their feet, including yours truly. Personally I don't care about that. My philosophy is if you like something wear it, notwithstanding its intended purpose. That means if you like skate shoes but you don't skate, wear them anyway. If you like running sneakers but you don't run, wear them. If you're a guy and you like women's skinny jeans, just freaking wear them. It doesn't really matter if people say you're a poser. Everyone's a poser in some sense. As I wrote before, most of my collection has been comprised of basketball, running, skate and casual sneakers, but all I ever wear any of them now is casually. I don't really care what anyone thinks. Sneakers is life, dude. That being said, here is another pair of Vans I once had. These are Vans Wylie and they probably weren't meant for hardcore skating but what do I know? This was actually the second pair of Wylies I had, the first being mainly black nubuck with some white and red highlights.

This one here was very nice as I am a big fan of grey kicks. However, I never wore these and ended up parting with them eventually. Why? I don't know but as I said before I can be pretty fickle when it comes to sneakers. I can spend hours and days looking for a place to buy a certain pair online only to barely wear them, if at all, and eventually lose interest and sell them. The Wylie is another simple and classic design which in my opinion should never go away. These are what I would call a perfect pair of "shorts shoes" as they go great with some nice shorts. I'd still take the Holder over the Wylie though....

NEXT UP: More Vans!!

Vans Holder in Black Nubuck & White

My very first pair of Vans was a model called the Vans Wally which I bought in 1998. It was an awesome, black suede low-top casual sneaker that I happened to find at Kohl's. I was very lucky to find a pair in my size as the one I bought was one of the few remaining in any size. And they only cost $25! There are two unfortunate things about this shoe: first, this was back in the late-1990's and I didn't have a camera at the time so I don't have any pics of them; second, after very little usage I ended up donating them to the Salvation Army or something. To this day I regret doing so. They were such a simple yet cool shoe and for the life of me I cannot understand why Vans would not reissue such a great pair of kicks.

Anyway, many years later in 2009 I found another pair of great Vans at Kohl's. This one was called Vans Holder and it was black nubuck with some white highlights. Again, a pretty simple design. Probably not meant for the real skater but more for casual skating and use. I probably don't even have to tell you what ended up happening with these. But yes, I ended up getting rid of them after very little use for reasons which I cannot remember. Another decision I completely regret. I never really got into these shoes until I saw another dude wearing them. His were really beat up and worn and they looked great. Of course, by that time I had already long sold mine and you couldn't find them anywhere anymore. I just looked online and on ebay to see if I could locate any. Not a chance. Not these black nubuck ones. But fortunately I have a few pics of them and here they are:

Nike 6.0 Air Zoom Oncore in Black / White / Metallic Silver

Nike made some pretty interesting skate shoes and this is one that I had at one time. It's the 6.0 Air Zoom Oncore. I never skated but these were pretty comfortable and they looked good with skinny jeans and shorts. A lot of skate shoes have the tendency to look very bulky and that's not a look I like. While these were by no means as streamlined as many Vans shoes, they were still nice and could even pass for casual sneakers. These were mostly suede.

This shoe came in several different colorways but this is the one I had and one in which I felt was the least wild looking:

Nike Air Assault Retro in White, Yellow & Black

Here is a shoe known as the Nike Air Assault. I had about 3 pairs of these in different colorways. At the present time I have only one of them and I feature a post on them in the future. But for now this is one of the other 2 I owned for a time. For the most part I like the design on these but they do tend to look like robot boots or perhaps even Frankenstein shoes. And for whatever reason it was just this colorway. The others looked fine. Don't get me wrong, overall the Air Assault still has a very bulky look to them and they do not look too good with skinny jeans. But this pair was over the top for me and I ended up not keeping them very long.

By the way, I should mention that these were retros, not originals.

Nike ID Dunk High

I'm a huge fan of Nike Dunks, both high tops and low, but I don't like some of the subtle changes they've been making to them recently. I never really got into the mids though I owned a few pairs here and there. This is a custom pair I had made from Nike ID. I don't know what I was thinking when I designed these because I was never really into them and didn't wear them much. Also, the leather was very vinyl-ish which means it was stiff and resisted creasing. As I wrote before, I like soft leather that creases on my sneakers. I have nothing against creased leather on kicks. It's just more natural looking. Anyway, a few years later I ordered another custom pair from Nike ID that I still have and wear to this day. I definitely intend to have at least another made because the stock versions available are just not my cup of tea. I like to keep it simple and classy, not gaudy and attention-seeking. The pair I currently have is the only pair of Dunks I have at the moment. Dunks are a classic design that will hopefully never go away. The only thing I would change on Dunks is the number of perforations on the toe box. I think there's way too many. In fact, I would also like to have the option at least on the ID pairs to not have any perforations at all.

These photos are of the custom pair I no longer own:

Converse CTS (Chuck Taylor Skate) Mid Leather in White / Red/ Denim

Now here's an interesting pair of sneakers I owned. I had 2 maybe 3 pairs of these. These were a white leather skate mid-top version of the classic Converse All Star Chuck Taylors. They were very comfortable and pretty cool looking. As you can see in the photos they had some padding around the collar, similar to Vans Era. These were great for colder weather and wet weather since they were leather. I ended up selling every pair I had of these and unfortunately they don't make 'em anymore. So my loss but this is a familiar story and I've learned to get used to it.