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:

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.