The following post isn’t exactly cohesive, but there was an IRL through-line. Meaning I sat down one day and wrote all of these out one after the other.
Do you ever look at your collection and just want to not?
Do you ever think: ’man…I need a whole new style. I'm over it.’?
The other day I found these @satorisan.brand shoes at my local and was immediately drawn to it. Not necessarily because of the aesthetics or the colors or whatever, but moreso because I was just so interested in seeing something NEW. Obviously, the color is…nothing special. Materials are good. And the silhouette looks a bit like a Tom Sachs Mars Yard shoe. And there’s ‘Off-White’ vibes with these little nubs on the soles. But, really...I'm drawn to it because it’s something new. And…I dunno…fresh…TO ME. Namely: IT’S NOT SOMETHING I’VE SEEN ON SEVEN MILLION INSTAGRAM POSTS.
So a couple of days later, the family and I are gearing up for a day trip to the ‘big city’. And instead of going for one of my trusty favorites (anything Nike)…I opted for these Sartorisans. And as I’m wearing them I’m wondering if this is the end of my Nike era. Because…how dare I go out to be seen in anything OTHER than the shoes I’ve used to define myself?
We get to the big city, and we’re doing what we’re there to do…and I noticed one dude wearing Olive Travis Lows. In my head - immediately - I think - 'cornball. Sh*t’s probably fake.’ And then I see this other dude wearing some Union 1’s. And again - instinctively - it's ‘cornball. Why is this dude dropping $1.3k on a pair of 1’s?’
And as I’m typing this out, I’m wondering…if these dudes noticed me (which I’m sure they didn’t), they’d probably see me in my fancy European shoes and think ‘look at this wanker he probably doesn’t know how much I spent on these shoes’.
So then I’m thinking…I know that confidence at almost any age can get your classified as ‘fashionable’…so why are we all relying on what the internet tells us is fashionable? Have we all be so thoroughly brainwashed to think that the only fashionable shoes are the ones we spend a G on? And then I think of how to tell y’all about this. And how to hook it. And I think: What does ‘Post-Nike Sneaker Syndrome' sound like?
Have ya’ll ever felt like this? Y'all every wonder if you can be a 'sneakerhead' by choosing an independent brand?
I started wondering…man…I’ve probably spent Hundreds of Thousands of dollars on Nike’s products over the years. I wear Nike clothing nearly every day of my life. I have represented the ‘swoosh’ for a good 35 years of my life. And what has it gotten me, exactly? Does Nike even know my name? (If Dot.swoosh is any indication, they don’t - for some reason my account has someone else’s name in the profile when I login lol)
I know we all like to think we’re clever and we all like to think we know what we’re doing, but…we’re really no match for marketers. The stories and the ideas and the nostalgia and the feelings that we get from pledging allegiance to a brand CAN and ARE formative…but…is it cheap?
There’s this woman I grew up with…and I follow her on social media. And she follows me. And…I don’t know if she’s like a therapist or a healer or something…but…her posts pop up on my account all of the time and the level of depth she posts with makes me feel like such a wanker. Like, while she’s posting about love and acceptance and friendship and parenthood and these sacred things, I’m posting about consumer products, likely exacerbating the corporate power structure that I despise…
I see a lot of posts from (bigger) sneaker influencers, where they talk about the way these consumer products make them feel, and the emotional and figurative feelings they derive from these consumer products and I think…’yeah…I was delusional once, too.’ And it makes me think about the message. What is the message we are getting? What is the message we are internalizing? What is the message we are spreading? Is it that products are the sole focus of our existence? Is this really what we are using to feel things? Is that what we are using to justify our lives? It’s…weird. I dunno. I’ve read the Bible multiple times and have read a million books about love and life and to think that our purpose is supposed to be wrapped up in shoes…it’s…weird. Isn’t it?
Or is it more that this is just how life is? My wife is wrapped up in gardening. My kid is wrapped up in Pokemon. My other kid is wrapped up in Spider Man. I’m wrapped up in sneakers. Or are we somehow getting played?
A few months ago, some random dude in my comments posted something like ‘this account is super mid’ and I took it kinda personal. Not that I should, but I asked the person to expand. He basically said something along the lines of ‘your content has changed, you sound more bitter, it’s not as good as it used to be.’ And I admitted, yeah, it’s true. I don’t fully have the energy for it any more. The energy to put all of this time and effort into building an audience on a platform that couldn’t give a damn as to who I am or what I do or what I want and it can literally silence me if it wants to - what am I willingly putting all of my time and effort and thought into if I’m not getting back what I’m putting in?
Truth be told, that comment and that interaction kinda had me thinking…’yeah, might as well just give up’.
And so I’ve kinda taken a backseat to the whole IG journey. Trying to figure out what to put effort into, what to let slide, what to discuss, what to talk about. It’s been kinda all over the place. Sometimes I pull a lot into a post just to see it flop. And sometimes I’ll put nothing into a post and it’ll fly. It’s maddening.
I think…a big part of me scrolling IG is for me to find inspiration. Almost like inspiration to create or inspiration to write or inspiration to connect. And the greatest multiplier I’ve found in that such case is by creating these thoughtful posts trying to generate discussion…they don’t always work but I get an idea of who you are when you share with me…so…I’m looking for inspiration…I’m poking around my IG ‘explore page’ and I see this absolutely gnarled foot. Just…disgusting. Misshapen, miscolored, full of bumps and hair and bunions and scratches and my curiosity gets the best of me. I click on it, assuming it’s going to be a doctor or podiatrist or someone talking about how modern footwear is destroying our feet but it’s not. It’s not that at all. It’s just a picture of a nasty foot. And so I zoom out to the profile to understand the context of this foot, and I notice this profile has 6000 followers so I’m kinda shocked to see that it’s nothing but pics of the same set of feet on every single post from every single angle…there’s side views, top views, bottom views…just…an account of one persons nasty ass feet. I know I’m hard on feet, but these feet are BEAT.
And then I’m reminded of something: If there is an audience for these nasty ass feet - there is an audience for whatever I want to post about. If I want to create a receptive audience to discuss sneaker topics that I think are more interesting than the majors, I can continue doing it…I’m just not entirely sure that THIS is this place. And so. I suppose. I shed a layer of skin. I realized…I need to just keep posting.
At the risk of death - if I told you to pick one pair of shoes to wear for the rest of your life - no deviation - what would you choose? Would it be more a choice of fashion or would it be more a choice over function? It’d probably be a pair of shoes you’ve owned before. If it’s function, I think, maybe, you’re not in as deep as you could be. Or maybe you’re not using sneakers as a crutch. If it’s fashion…I’d argue…you’re probably still stuck on the year that you first got ‘em.
Heard this Seinfeld quote the other day that had me cracking up…he said something along the lines of ‘You dress as your last great year’ and I felt that. Although I try to update with the times, there is a part of me that has no interest whatsoever in trying new brands. Thankfully, that part doesn’t come out much, because, even though I love my ‘tried and trues’ I also, do love a newcomer every once in a while. If you asked me what my all time favorite shoe is…I’d give you a short list of shoes that give me some great memories but they’re shoes I no longer have any interest in wearing: Jordan 6’s, Air Raids, Penny II’s, Jordan 12’s. This wasn’t always the case - I used to fiend for these shoes until I got them. And then when I had them, I thought…’why do I need these again?’ So for that, I’m kinda happy to recognize that the past is the past, but I can move on.
But that thought - ‘your last great year’ - It had me thinking more and more about the psychological aspect of our sneaker fandom. It’s certainly introspective, tho, an interesting thought. And I get what he’s saying. But so for me: either Jerry’s wrong or I still dress like my best years are ahead of me…
Do you ever consider how you dress and what you choose to wear? Does it go deeper than comfort or aesthetics and more to what you choose to identify with?