Nike Air Flight 89 in Black / Zen Grey / Cool Grey

I imagine that most true fans of Air Jordan 4's are also fans of the Air Flight '89 which came out at the same time the 4's did. There were clear similarities between the two, particularly the sole & midsole design, the plastic lace tabs and the fact that both shoes were the mid-top variety. I don't know how much the Air Flight 89's cost when they came out, but they were surely considered the poor man's AJ4. Even to this day the AF89 is a relatively affordable high quality sneaker with timeless good looks. I have owned many pairs of these shoes and at the moment I am down just to one pair, which was a Nike ID shoe I had customized in white/grey. I really liked the original colorways and of course the original leather they used was very supple and would easily get creased. I don't know about you guys but I don't mind the creasing. Just give me the high quality leather they used back in the day. The leather they use nowadays--and I may be generous by calling it leather--is so stiff and vinyl-like that the shoes have fake look to them. And for whatever reason, Nike ID is no longer offering the AF89 as a customizable shoe.

But here is a pair I once had. These came out in the late 2000's or early 2010's. All black smooth leather with some grey highlights. I never wore these. I was saving them for a rainy day. Eventually they too ended up leaving my collection. Another decision I regret to this day. These are impossible to find now. I like black sneakers but not all black. The only sneaker I'll wear in 100% black is Vans Authentic. (I must admit I once had an all-black pair of AF89's that were not bad at all). Everything else I gotta have some highlights in other colors, preferably white. This was a kickass pair of shoes and I can only hope that Nike will make these again in this colorway. Air Flight 89 is definitely in my top 10 of all-time best sneakers.

DVS Drake Skate Shoes in Black & Grey

There was a time when I started getting into and buying skate shoes like crazy. I was buying skate shoes from brands I never heard of before. One of the brands was DVS and of the best skate shoes I have ever owned was their Drake model. This was a nearly perfect sneaker. Not bulky like many skate shoes typically are. A simple yet sleek design. Pretty comfortable. A thinner midsole layer which added to the sleekness of the shoe and made them compatible with different styles of pants. A cool ribbed sole. And made of black nubuck (and suede). Well, that's the case with the one I have pictured below, but they came in other colors and mostly smooth leather. I had two pairs of the ones in the photos but unfortunately they were both a half to a whole size too large for me and I could never find them in the size I needed. I guess I came upon them around the time of the end of their shelf life. What a shame because I think I would still be rockin' these today if I just had the right size. And I am pretty sure there is no chance of ever finding a pair of these nowadays. It's been around 5 years since I parted with this pair.

 

 

Nike Air Jordan V Retro in Black

Everyone loves Air Jordans, right? Or everyone has at least one pair they can't live without for sure. For me it's always been the 4's but I also like the 5's a lot. So much so that when they were retro'ed in 2011 in black I had to get 2 pairs. I got one in size 10.5 and one in 11 and my plan was to keep the better fitting pair and sell the other. Well, these sold out pretty quickly and I was lucky to have gotten 2 of them. I believe I ended up keeping the size 11 and sold the 10.5 for a little bit more than I paid for them.

I remember first seeing the 5's in 10th grade. There were white ones and black ones. They both looked great but were way out of my ability to get them. Thank goodness for retros, though I must admit as much as I still am passionate about sneakers, they were ultimately more meaningful when I was a teen.

For whatever reason I did not end up keeping these for long and I sold them after a few wearings. They were still like new and I sold them on ebay for just about what I paid for them new. In hindsight I do regret parting with these because I really like black nubuck and it's so hard finding any nice black sneakers made of nubuck these days. The good news is that these are coming out again this year and I fully hope to cop a pair.

Here are photos of the pair I kept and wore for a little bit.

NOTE: ALL PHOTOS ON THIS WEBSITE ARE THE PROPERTY OF THE AUTHOR OF THIS BLOG & ARE NOT ALLOWED FOR REPRODUCTION OR USE ON OTHER WEBSITES WITHOUT THE EXPRESSED CONSENT OF THE OWNER.