Most of you know that LeBron James is my favorite NBA player. So much so that I flew to Cleveland for a night last year just to catch my favorite team (the Wizards) play LeBron and the Cavs. I got an email from my boy J this morning with a link to LeBron's new shoe (or at least, I assume it's new). It made me realize how I am either 1) not into tennis shoes (sneakers) like I used to be when I was young, or 2) shoes are just ugly now. Because the joints below don't look good to me. I dunno, but I just don't find myself enthralled by new shoes like I used to. Perhaps it's because I use words like "enthralled" and I post WebNerd Alerts on the InterWeb...Just a guess.
Naturally, I think I have enough style to buy these and pull off a good-looking outfit, but why? These joints cost $150!!! $150 for a shoe that looks like this? Man, I know there's inflation and a dollar isn't worth what it used to be, but jeez! This is definitely not a $150 shoe from what I can see. But then again, maybe it is just because LeBron's name is affiliated with it and his logo is tattooed on the shoe. I like the color scheme (red is my favorite color and black is always buy-able) but $150? I can't just come up off of that like it's nothing anymore. I guess I need a connect at a shoe store or something so I can get stuff like this for cheap.
UPDATE: In lieu of JAC's comment I had to update the post. She wonders why men are so obsessed with wearing the ugliest shoes we can find. I'll try and justify this a little fellas even though I sort of agree with her on the basis of the shoes being ugly.
Quick story to put this in perspective: Back when the Foamposite joints came out back in like 1998 or so I got a pair off the break. Me and two of my closest friends went to Howard Univ. one night to peruse the campus and check out the girls (geeking for a party was the norm back then). Anyway, as we were leaving to walk to our car, one dude ran up on us with a pistol telling us to "give it up" and we all ran like hell. I ended up getting caught by another guy who was "working" with this guy. So they robbed me. Put guns to my head, went in my pockets and took my wallet, missed my money in my front pocket (dummies), and took off my $150 pair of Foamposites. In retrospect, I was scared shytless and can't believe I didn't sh@t myself. But they didn't shoot me though so it was all good. Thank you Jesus! So I ran back to where our car was parked and met up with my friends who had gotten away. We all got in the car and they immediately bust out laughing at me. I was HEATED! But imagine me, with no socks on, running down Georgia Avenue cursing to high-Heaven! LMAO! We did some "riding around" but eventually ended up driving home and that was pretty much it. The next day...I bought the EXACT same pair of shoes from my man J-Rock for $100! THE NEXT DAY! That's how serious the shoes were to me at that point in time. So with that, I segue into 3 reasons why guys are sneaker-obsessed.
1. The shoes that are super-expensive give guys the feeling of exclusivity (even if a million other guys have them). Men feel like if they can afford the most expensive shoes that they're in the upper-echelon of coolness in comparison to other guys. EVEN IF most other guys have the same shoe. It makes no sense, I know.
2. A lot of guys have a loyalty to a brand of shoe or a specific athlete's shoes. This is like NY-ers obsession with Air Force Ones or some guys' obsession with Jordans. Everybody knows a guy who has every pair of Jordans since the first ones way back when.
3. Some guys just like shoes in general. This could be sneakers, dress shoes, boots, casual shoes, whatever type of guy. Some of us just like to have fresh-azz shoes even if they're ugly or costly.
Fellas, did I do a good job explaining this?
9 comments:
monstorous. i never understood men's love affair with what i always thought were the most ugly set of footwear a person could put on their feet. =/
Yo JAC, how do you think we feel about you guys shopping till you drop? Or obsessive over accessories? It's a guy thing...Just like those are girl things...For the most part.
Those foamposites were like that though! The silver ones that looked like space boots...yep, those!
Bone you should have put up the first foamposites, (the Penny joints in Black and Cobalt Blue) now those I were classics.
Man you bought shoes from Jon...you little foot phugger! LOL. That dude wears like a 9 or something. LOL.
I think you did a decent job with explaining but I think there is a catagory that I personally find myself falling into...when you couldn't afford those shoes when you were younger and now that you have come into a little money you want to have nicer things. Now that can be incorporated as a part of 1 and 3 but it's a twist on them.
I'm glad you reiterated that it makes no sense that "super-expensive give guys the feeling of exclusivity even if a million other guys have them", because that is straight... I don't know the word. I know the facial expression, but not the word.
I remember that ugly Foamposite craze while I was in H.S. I remember sitting in Union Station with my gfs thiking, "If I see another dude with them ugly moonshoes, I'm going to scream".
My bf at the time used to ask me to go with him to pick out tennis shoes, and I can remember staring at the wall of shoes in Foot Locker seriously dumbfounded. "What are these designers thinking?"
I just met a dude who wears NOTHING but Jordan's when he's not in a suit or in flip flops.
If I had to put any monstrosity of a basketball shoe on my foot, I would have to go with the Jordan's as well. BUT it has to be a simple, clean one without all the crazy contraptions, etchings, lines, and crap all over it. I'm thinking these.
http://www.kicks-r-us.com/preorder/Air_Jordan_4_Retro_LS_TOUR.htm
If all the alien looking shoes out there weren't such a fad, do you still think you would be attracted to them? I mean for real.
Yeah Dane, those Penny's were CLASSIC!
I dunno Dane, I think we can still afford them but we just don't place such a high priority on having them because we're older and our lifestyle. For example, someone might still want them joints but they work 9-5 everyday in a corporate environment. They'll only get to wear the shoes on weekends most likely. And if you aren't just casual everyday at your job, then the shoes will probably just sit in your closet until Friday, Sat., and Sunday.
Aside from that, the older you get, the more you appreciate a dollar because you have other more important responsibilities like bills, car notes, insurance, rent, mortgage, etc. And unless you have an extreme surplus of funds coming in, that $150 for some shoes could be spent on something like a bill, investing, an iPod, TV, etc.
JAC, I believe a word (or words) that would fit would be stupid/silly/vain/pressed. Though I purchased the foamposites, I was never really into fads. I specifically remember 3 pairs of shoes I had that everyone else had. The Pippens in 98, the old school Reebok pump (Blacktop addition), the Foamposites, and the Killer Crossover Tim Hardaway Nikes. That makes four actually. Aside from that, I was the guy ordering shyt out of Eastbay that I knew no one else would have. And I have never owned a pair of Jordans in my life.
And now that I am older I am still that way. I purposely don't have the PG Nike boots, a pair of New Balance, them Pradas that everybody has, etc. etc. Because I like to separate myself from everyone else.
My tastes have evolved from 50% keeping up with the Jones' and 50% being different in high school; to being unable to afford any high-priced shoe in college so I ordered cheap shoes from catalogs; to now buying shoes that are simply different and of solid quality, and aren't more than $100. I haven't paid more than $60 for a pair of shoes in like 5 years now and I have at least 30 pairs of shoes.
Bone, I think you confused what I was saying. I was giving a reason why people DO buy those shoes now. Meaning they couldn't afford them when they were younger so they buy the nice/expensive shoes now that they DO have money. Sorry if I worded it wrong the first time but I think that's what I have fallen into as I have gotten older. For example I never started buying $100+ priced sneakers until I got a job at a shoe store and could afford them with my discount. Same goes for college and now I have enough that I can afford them without the discount. When we were growing up I used to wish I could get all those shoes moms couldn't afford, now I buy anything I want. Now I am a picky shopper so some of the more uglier ones get passed by but not having makes you want to have more as you get older (it also makes you take better care of things too).
I got you now Dane.
E, I agree with you on the ice creams but there are some of those joints where the designs are more simplistic and less "creative".
And I think that our getting older and maturing in life has a lot to do with the shoes we buy, how we dress, and how we wear our hair. For example, when I am 30, I don't foresee myself with corn-rows, rocking Tims everyday, and wearing Jerseys (shot out to Jigga). But that could be because I am more of a white collar bruh than a blue collar bruh because of my occupation.
Hey that;s my favorite soccer shoes and he's my favorite guy.... I have a pair of Timberland Shoes and I would like to buy a brand new one for him this christmas....
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