Do you wear Converse?

As Nike is to jock-types/as Salomon is to outdoorsie-types...Seeing that your all amongst the hipster elite.. do you wear them?

Personally, no. I'm too tall and bulky to pull the look off, they look childish on me.

Welcome to five years ago, bub.

I AM A HIPSTER AND I WEAR HIKING SHOES

I wear Pumas, what does that make me?

a cougar

I am Ghostface and I am currently wearing Clarks Wallabees.

It's a good question. No.

air max, dunks, vandals, jordans. in that order.

I've got a pair.

i've had at least one pair in my possession at all times since I was 14. that was 1986. am i proud of this? undecided. they've been pretty much shit quality-wise since they stopped being amuricun made. when was that? early 90s? yet i keep falling back into the habit.

I'm 40. Too old for Chucks. Still wear Stan Smiths and Clarks and generic "nice" work shoes, which are all probably just as record store nerdy but at least don't make me feel like a middle-aged Ramone.

but some dudes can pull it off.

i have a pair of chucks... i mostly wear vans tho, and nike sbs and supras.

Have three pairs now (brown low-tops, black low-tops, and black high-tops, the latter of which I never wear.) And Converse are pretty much all I've worn, gym/tennis-shoe-wise, since the '70s, give or take a couple pairs of Converse knockoffs. Even had a pair of yellow Wiley Coyote/Roadrunner ones for several years, purchased new for $3 at a garage sale in Michigan, but I only wore them a couple times and sold them at my own garage sale last year. Honestly, it's hard for me to imagine wearing casual shoes that wouldn't at least look like Converse. But yeah, I'm obviously a creature of habit, too. And old. (Older than Brio, even.)

Too old, nah, it seems to me the only guys who wear chucks now are 40 and up and the only women/girls who wear them are between 13 and 30. I stopped wearing mine awhile ago.

Converse are pretty narrow and I have wide feet. Get ones wide enough and they'd be like clown shoes on me. I wear Vans and things like that. And Diadora for soccer/hurling/stuff, for the same reason.

Yes. I have always had at least one pair at all times since I was about 15. No matter what other kicks I buy I always go back to my converse. Right now I have grey ones with black laces that I've been wearing often even though I just got new Pumas that I <3. They seem to work with a lot and since I don't have to dress up for work anymore I am in sneakers most of the week.

I've owned a black pair of Chucks consistently since 1993, but my latest pair is falling apart. Not sure if I'm going to buy another pair or not, considering the quality decline as noted.

These are great if you like sneakers with no support whatsoever.

Also...Converse = Musics?

i currently alternate between two pairs of vans, both of which are ugly. one has a checkerboard pattern and the other has dinosaurs on a fluorescent blue background. but they were free and the heels haven't worn through yet.

A.D.I.D.A.S. only

tried vans, globes, cons, and volleys among others and was always found wanting.

but some dudes can pull it off.

― Brio, Wednesday, March 31, 2010 9:46 PM (Yesterday) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink

i haven't had any in a while, but yes i can totally pull them off

yes i do, and they're starting to smell so i think i'm gonna stop wearing them

when i did a thing w/ a mag that had converse sponsorship and they said they'd bring me a pair of shoes, i was kinda excited to have a pair of chucks for the first time in years -- but then they didn't have my size and i attempted to wear shoes 2 sizes too small for one terrible night before giving up on them, big disappointment :(

This is a crucial question. I'm sure you'll all be interested to know this :
I have worn them for a period but am considering moving on to other footwear. When my currnet ones run out will make a choice then. I will probably go shopping, maybe at a rather big mall for variety and choice and try many shoes on. After prancing around in front of the mirror for a bit I will then decide. Doesn't pay to take these things too lightly.

You are all correct in identifying age as a key factor in the decisive moment. In fact for me, I think about this every day. I am also losing my hair. What should I do?

Does losing your hair only make wearing the converse less good or better? Does it only mean I need them MORE?? Also. What colours are correct? Are some worse than others? When I was younger I really enjoyed a kind of green colour. Now as age wraps its weary and slightly bony hand around my throat I favour a kind of grey. Does this symbolise anything about me? Am I becoming lost in a kind of thick fog? Does colour really matter and if so what does it mean?

I've not worn converse since I was 15 (5 years ago). all about Vans or deck shoes like every other 20 year old in south east London.

I had some suede Converse one-stars 10 years ago which were maybe the most comfortable shoes I've ever had, but all the pairs I've tried since have been too narrow/shallow for my fat, weird-shaped feet. Got a pair under my bed awaiting ebaying, felt in the shop like they'd be OK after re-lacing but turned out not to be.

So I moved onto Vans, but recurring foot/leg problems have made me accept that I am old and buy some high-school-geography-teacher-on-field-trip-tastic hybrid between trainers and walking shoes, cz skate shoes are pretty flat and that's not good for foot problems. Man nobody told me I'd fall apart this fast before I even hit 30. The latter happens pretty soon now, stoked for the accelerated decline tbh

Stopped wearing them around the time I stopped band logo t-shirts, mid-90s. However, my main pair of Oxfords are cordovan and black, with the seams and shape exactly like the canvas and rubber on a pair of Chucks. Didn't even realize that until I pulled them out of the Zappos box.

Do Britishes still call them "baseball boots?"

i haven't had any in a while, but yes i can totally pull them off

― batwing rightshit cartoonist (some dude), Thursday, April 1, 2010 2:48 PM (3 hours ago) Bookmark

do you untie them first?

lol

So I moved onto Vans, but recurring foot/leg problems have made me accept that I am old and buy some high-school-geography-teacher-on-field-trip-tastic hybrid between trainers and walking shoes, cz skate shoes are pretty flat and that's not good for foot problems. Man nobody told me I'd fall apart this fast before I even hit 30. The latter happens pretty soon now, stoked for the accelerated decline tbh

Healthy feet are better than fashionable feet. I had serious problems with foot pain in my mid-20s that stemmed from working retail and restaurant jobs in substandard footwear. So for a few years I wore nothing but Asics running shoes. I'm still amazed that no one has released a line of running shoes that looks good. Just don't make them look like this!

http://www.wiggle.co.uk/images/asics-gel-nimbus-10-08.jpg

What's the point, even?

Anyway, I bought a couple pairs of converse and vans last year and I could feel the cracks in the sidewalk when I was walking. They are completely useless to me as footwear.

speaking as a hipster, i wear shoes made out of tied-together copies of joanna newsomes yes

when at formal functions where the ys-clogs are inappropriate, i cut out insoles from pages of lil b's book of inspirational texts to give me the reqd support. never converse.

Yeah, had to wear the Asics for a few years, too. Man they're stupid looking, but hoping for expensive running shoes to look like Converse is like hoping Lincoln brings out a Navigator styled after a burnt orange 1979 Civic.

To an extent, but at least Navigators are monochromatic.

(for the most part)

I used to live across the street from a halfway house, and crazy dude who spent the whole day smoking on the porch would come over and bum cigs off me when he was out. After about a year of this, he showed up one day holding a pair of those stripy-tubular-webbed-tritone running shoes, a gift of gratitude for my generosity. The heels lit up as you moved in them, presumably to mesmerize night drivers as they passed you. Should of held on to those for their value in the upcoming 90s revival. Perfect gear for neo-PostRock performance.

I haven't worn sneakers as normal daily wear since I was a teenager. I don't know what that makes me.

They still make light up shoes (for kids at least) and they are getting trippier.

Do Britishes still call them "baseball boots?"

I am Britishes and haven't heard this in ages, but then I may be the only person still calling Converse/Vans/Duffs and similar "skate shoes" like I did above.

Other half has Asics like in the photo and they're pretty obtrusive, it's true. Also I like my shoes to be mostly black, which rules out most running shoes. (As does hoping to find the correct fit without going into a running shop and getting on the treadmill in front of the staff - kind of daunting for a fattey like me)

Kinda feel I may be getting a bit old for daily sneaker wear myself, but it's a total pain to find non-sneakers which fit and support my super-wide flat feet.

Why don't you just mash your metatarsals with a hammer already?

Haven't worn Converse shoes in a few years (lol college). I run a lot so I pretty much wear my "retired" running shoes as sneakers, once they are too beat up to wear on longer runs. Currently wear these around a lot (they are not as bright because they are pretty dirty/worn/broken in):

http://www.nbwebexpress.com/products/MR902LW_lg.jpg

I've worn these a few times around town as well (though I still run in them plenty), and get a TON of funny looks, and quite a few questions:

http://www.sandalshed.com/client/images/full/Vibram_fivefingers_kso_black-orange300.jpg

those are great!

lot of footwear brand loyalty around here. I have no idea what make my trainers are. they're black.

those are hideous and are not Converse

I resent footwear less when it has toes.

tried vans, globes, cons, and volleys among others and was always found wanting.

been wearing globes for the past 10 years or so, most comfortable shoes i've found by far. will cry angry tears if they ever go out of business.

wore these for a year of my life. it was nice, i would do it again.

my feet are too wide for converse all-stars /:

My "brand loyalty" is probably laziness or inability to experiment more than anything else; they work, they've always worked, why change? Well, guess they haven't always been easy to find, but I've managed somehow. I'm the same way with beer or whatever. (See ILE thread from a few days ago.) Other kinds of sneakers would just look weird on my feet to me, and I totally don't get the "not enough support" or "they hurt my feet" claims. Chucks are totally comfortable! But then, I've got small feet, and I'm short. (Have had some knee pain in the past couple years, though, which might be attributable to Converse, but I doubt it.)

I've always managed to find them cheap, too, and I totally hate shoe shopping so it's not like I hunt all over the place. They just turn up.

Actually I used to fantasize about the paper insoles James Shin Hoo invented in The Westing Game;

Off topic: Oh Jesus. I have no memories of what happens in this book, but the name invokes a very positive feeling, despite not having even thought of it in 20 years. This hasn't happened to me in a while. Fuck. Olden days.

sure, I can totally understand the "why change" standby. probably developing one or two myself. but it'll probably take me a while to really give up on going and picking out Exciting New Shoes.

But shoes are not supposed to be exciting! They are just...shoes.

Says the man who had yellow Wiley Coyote chucks.

Yeah, well, it's not like I could pass those things up for $3. They were exactly my size! And they were pretty funny. But they looked better on a shelf than on my feet.

Dude, yeah. I mean, I'm not Mr. Fancy Shoes at all, but those sound awesome. although I can empathize with your not wanting to wear them.

I never want to live in a world where shoes are not supposed to be exciting.

No.

Yes.

I have never owned a pair of converse in my life - by the time I became aware of them they had already been irrevocably associated with nerdy high school drama club dweebs in my mind

i hate people who wear chuck taylors

never worn converse. i've been wearing onitsuka tiger asics for awhile and they're super comfy.

yes i do, and they're starting to smell so i think i'm gonna stop wearing them

find chucks really uncomfortable. if i walk a mile or so in them i get blisters. same with vans slip ons, which is a shame because i really like them aesthetically, chucks not so much, liked them when i was a teenager though.

last pair of kicks i bought were these bad boys for playing football in:

http://www.hi-tec.com/images/assets/2/50135_Silver%20Shadow_popup.jpeg

current pair is the first time I've ever owned them tho...I mostly bought them cause they were cheap, but I was pleasantly surprised that they don't hurt my feet on days when I'm walking very long distances (xp)

I'm wearing some today. The low cut ones.

Was pretty into chucks until I moved to NYC in 2003, when my feet and legs soon started killing me. All of those flat sneakers are just not tenable for me in this hard surface walking town (I'm short but i have big feet and maybe some gait oddness who knows).

Got a pair of brown corduroy chucks in 2002 which I loved to death-- if i saw those again I would have to buy and wear despite the pain. I think they may have been a limited edition thing.

The simple gray New Balance with white logo have been a good compromise between foot support and not looking insane for me. Even those are hard to find compared to the frickin' Macross servo-strut kinds though.

a sneaker thread needs socks

If you told me I could either listen to the same records for the rest of my life or wear the same shoes, I would probably cave on the shoe issue, but seriously, I would have to think about it for a while.

Used to wear Converse off and on. My footwear for the past few years has looked something like this:
http://www.pfiwestern.com/images/products/1500/34763%20BLK%20CHERRY.jpg
Only not so shiny new anymore.

considering ordering a pair of those zuriicks

jack purcells>chucks

Used to love Chucks and I still have a pair of bright red low-tops, but yeah, they hurt my feet when I wear them now so I don't do it very often. I've swapped out for a pair of Adidas with similar cut but much more support for my summer walking, at least for the time being. During the winter or for any serious walking I've switched over to Keen, which either makes me sporto or granola but at least my feet are thanking me.

zuriicks are great. i have 2 pairs of these a bright red pair of his that are p much destroyed but i have put off replacing bcuz i cant imagine wearing them that often & a pair of corduroy burgundy one star los that i wear v rarely but are still in great shape.

Converses were wicked back in the day, proper cultural signifier at my school: I was the first dude to wear them in my year/the onyl guy into 'indie'. Glorious days, being 11 and listening to the Evening Session/reading NME/pretending to like bands I'd never heard...kids have it easy these days.

i haven't worn converse since high school. after high school i just wore combat boots for, like, 15 years. which really did a number on my feet. and my feet got really smelly. glad i got out of that habit.

i also wore stan smiths in high school. and suede puma clydes before that cuz i was so fly.

wait, has alex in nyc posted yet? he has to wear converse, right?

i don't even know what i'm wearing now. lemme check.

Keen! keen sneakers. i bought them on marthas vineyard when i was still working at the hospital there. they cost too much. i really needed good work/walking sneakers that were durable and all-weather. they are pretty comfy. i was on my feet all day at that job. plus, that job would shred shoes in no time flat. my sneakers would last a year maybe.

oh and Fila! i was big on Fila in high school too. cuz, like i said, i was so fly. i had the dopest Filas you could buy in the 80's. those cost a bunch. i would totally buy vintage fila sneakers if i had the money.

(vintage cuz i don't like what filas look like now. blah.)

I don't wear vintagey sneakers anymore because, as others have said, I am too old and I did that Chucks thing in high school. I always preferred suede to canvas though. My father never let me wear canvas sneakers, he said they make kids look cheap. I hope I haven't offended.

I DO have really fond memories of my athletics obsessed Dad taking me to some mom and pop shoe store to buy me my first pair of one stars...in the seventies. They were white on white though.

Like a lot of old people I use an actual gym now so I need something more contemporary and aerobic. I hate black and white and prefer blues and pinks.

Anybody else wear Converse /band Tees Aged 40 plus?

lol filas
i never had clothes fly enough to think about wearing filas with them that was an investment. obv. blue/red filas back then = "i am on campus to jump someone". then the gangsters went to nike cortezes iirc
i only remember skaters wearing chucks to school in the 80's, and distant 2nd to vans for them and indiekroq kids. i wore mine the last two weekends actually but i go months w/o wearing them

I do..I'm UK size 14, they're the cheapest I can get pretty much.

This old fart is thinking of pulling the trigger on a pair of green Sauconys. Love the way they look and I gather they're not hard on the feet either.

Whatever. I'm (good lord) 42 and I still wear them. I wear a lot of other things too, but I still wear my Chucks. Sue me.

I love these shoes to death but sometimes taking the high tops on and off is just beyond the threshold of fucks I have to give.

time to buy some grownup shoes tom

I got some yellow high tops for the summer and yes I look like some sort of hipster dad clown but I love them and yes they take ages to take off and put on.
my friend's 6 year old even commented on it when I came to stay with them

I bought a pair of low top chucks a few years ago. They looked great on me, but I soon learned I couldn't walk half a mile in them without experiencing excruciating pain. I could probably correct this with a decent pair of insoles, but have never gotten around to this. I've never had this problem with Vans, but those dont look as good on me.

Vans definitely have better arch support than converse. OTOH I had a buddy who always wore jack purcells as his comfy shoes because they were really easy to fit his custom insoles into

they are not comfy

xxp - from experience I can attest that a decent $10 pair of orthotics in flat-sole sneakers makes a WORLD of difference.

Adidas has a bunch of their old school soccer style shoes they make now with this stuff called Cloudfoam and it is divine

^very lightweight but not good for any sort of athletic endeavor

i wear those cloudforms for when I row. I like that they are so light.
I like the way chucks look but otm about them being so uncomfortable. It's like having mdf attached to your feet.

xpost I just meant as an alternative to the Chuck Taylor as a dad shoe that's doesn't destroy your feet

i still wear these stupid shoes.

I LUV my Saucony Jazz disco era running shoes - black and silver like the pair I had in '79. Been wearing the same pair for three years, and they're black so they still look fab. I have also worn one-stars throughout my life, but chucks remind me of all of bad hardcore bands from the early 80's and I'm scarred for life from that era.