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.

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.

Q&A

I wanted to take the time to answer some of the questions I get from the readers of this blog. Of course they pertain to my sneaker collection past and present and my wearing habits. So here are a few Q&A's:

1. What are your favorite brands of sneakers?

I have several but #1 on my list is Nike because over the years Nike has consistently made shoes that I love. Since I first started observing sneakers in the mid 1980's, Nike has constantly kept a flow of awesome shoes coming. That's not to say Nike has not made some real eyesores and stuff that I would NEVER EVER wear--I remember a co-worker and I talking about sneakers once and he said 'they're making some shoes now that are so ugly I wouldn't wish them on my worst enemy"--but so have all the other brands. The difference is that Nike has made a lot more that I WOULD wear and were nothing short of awesome. But some of the other brands have made sneakers that have been just as meaningful and special to me as anything Nike has ever put out. These other brands include:

-Reebok
-New Balance
-Saucony
-Converse
-Vans

That is pretty much it. That is all I wear nowadays. Most days you will find me wearing either Nike, Converse or New Balance. There have been other brands that made shoes I really liked and was into, such as K-Swiss, DVS & Adio, but that was several years ago and I haven't seen anything I really liked from them since.

2. Do you wear the same sneakers all year round?

No I don't actually. Since I'm in an area that has brutally cold winters and really hot summers I keep some of my sneakers dedicated to certain times of the year. In the summer when it's really hot I wear my Nike Nylon Cortez or Converse All Star low or Nike Free 5.0 or Saucony Jazz or New Balance 996 or Vans Authentic or Vans Era. When it's hot and wet though, I'll wear the New Balance or the Cortez. Definitely no canvas shoes when it's pouring out. When fall comes around it allows for more variety so I'll wear any of those I already mentioned or my AJ4, Reebok 4600, Air Flight 89, Air Max 90 or Nike Dunk high. If there's some autumn rain going on I'll choose the AF89, NB996 or Nike Dunk High. Now when winter comes around I'll mainly wear any of my sneaks that are leather as long as it's dry out. All the canvas and nylon sneakers get to hibernate for several months. But whenever there is snow on the ground I pull out my waterproof Nike Air Assault and wear those or the AF89 since I'm not all that crazy about those.. Yeah, I don't like salt stains on my kicks. And whenever spring rolls around I keep the Assaults still nearby along with all the other leather sneakers. If it gets warm enough and dry I start wearing the canvas and nylon ones again.

3. Do you only wear sneakers?

For the most part, yes! I mean, what else is there? Boat shoes? Loafers? Crocs? God forbid! No thanks. Those are old men's shoes and I'm not an old man nor will I ever be one! Crocs are just for people who have absolutely no sense of fashion or style. I'm sorry but that's just the truth. So yes, I mainly wear sneakers the whole year round, with the exception of the few times I wear my Dr. Martens boots and my tall sheepskin boots in the winter. All the jobs I've ever had didn't have a formal dress code so it was always sneakers. At church it's sneakers. Pretty much everywhere I go. If for whatever reason I do need to dress up just a little I will wear either my Dr. Martens or my all-black Vans Authentics. I don't wear flip flops or sandals in public. I just like the security of having my feet covered and protected from being stepped on and also in the event that I should have to run for my life in an emergency. Ever try running in flip flops or sandals? Or barefoot for that matter? Ultimately I just like looking down and seeing my sneakers and feeling at one with them. Thank goodness for sneakers, one of the greatest creations of all time!

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.