Found this pair for 40 dollars at a table sale. They’re called the Skylon Triax and are a part of the Nike Triax line, the successor to the Air Max line for performance running sneakers.
My favorite part of the shoe would have to be the neon green hits. No one does neon green well anymore; it’s usually excessive or entirely misused as an accent. But the hits of neon on the toe area of the sole and the uppers of the shoe is about perfect.
Add comment | May 4th, 2008
I want to be careful not to romanticize sneakers on this blog. It is easy to forget that at their core, sneakers are just shoes with rubber soles. Sneakers are designed for performance.
These are my Air Terra Albis. They’re from Nike’s original A.C.G. line. A.C.G. stands for “all condition gear” and is targeted at hikers and campers. A.C.G. sneakers are made to be light and study for use in rough, non-urban locations.
The Albis are my most comfortable pair of sneakers. I bought them a half size too small, but the soft uppers wore in quickly. The cleated soles are comfortable to walk on, acting like car suspensions for my feet. The shoes are very light but have great support even without air bubbles.
The shoes have an organic shape. The valley from the top of the tongue to the gently uptilted toe cap hints at the human foot’s arch. The faux-suede and mesh webs are muscles and connective tissue. The rubber panels along the toe and sides are the rough skin of our soles. But this theme is gently disturbed by the speckled mid-sole and the gray swoosh. Quiet embellishments for the eyes and reminders that our own feet aren’t as dashing.
Function is what drives sneaker design and the source of its beauty. Good design is always beautiful. It serves its purpose completely but elegantly. Aesthetics aren’t ignored but flourish in the function instead.
Add comment | April 24th, 2008
These two Dunk Lows are from the women’s Liberty Fabric pack. There’s been an effort to revive the Dunk line this year with the “Be True” campaign. Color ways are becoming simpler and are returning to traditional color blocking patterns.
The Liberty Fabric pack is a great example of this revival. The first sneaker has the classic Dunk color blocking, with the yellow on the swoosh, the rear tab, the back and front panels and the eyelets. The second sneaker is understated with a restrained color way of red and white with a single hit of the floral print on the rear tab. I don’t know how I feel about the white mid-sole with the gum bottoms, but a bright yellow or red sole might be annoying.
The earlier release from this pack is pretty strong as well. I believe there’s a third sneaker, a Dunk low without an all-over print upper. Check out those Highs though. The all gum mid-sole and abstract floral pattern gives the shoe a lot of texture. The gray keeps all of it subtle, though. A very smart shoe.
Thanks to Sneakerfiles.
Add comment | April 23rd, 2008
I wonder if there’s a point to this blog when To Darrin Hudson does it better.
Add comment | April 22nd, 2008
This is my first pair of Fire Red Jordan 3’s, the sneaker that started my “collection.”
I don’t know why I bought them, I wasn’t into sneakers at the time. They were expensive ($110.00 retail). But a lot of sneaker buying, my sneaker buying at least, is impulsive. It’s necessary because rationalizing a $110.00 purchase for shoes is hard. There’s also a time aspect where you never know how long a shoe will be on the shelf. I’ve taken walks around the block and returned with two pairs of sneakers.
This is the oldest sneaker in my collection. It’s had the most wears out of all my sneakers except for one. It’s been to the Philippines and stomped around New York city. They are my most used pair of collected sneakers. They are the pair I love the most.
Their shape is iconic but strictly in a sneaker way. They’re not reminiscent of cars or bullets or skyscrapers or any of the things sneaker designers draw inspiration from . They look like basketball sneakers. The color way is a retro of an original Jordan 3 color way. The colors are vibrant but cohesive, working together and not in spite of each other. Then there are sensual details; the puffiness of the tongue and the redness of the stitched Jump Man hit.
There’s a sensation I get when I put on a nice pair of sneakers. Perhaps it’s like a sip of good wine for an oenophile or the warm crackle of needle on groove for record collectors. I slip my foot into an unlaced sneaker and the things I listed in the last paragraph come together. The weight on my feet, the colors. The way the leather feels at the toe cap, the floppy loops of the laces. I slip my foot into the sneaker and the object isn’t just an object. It’s an experience.
This is the first sneaker to give me that experience. I have two pairs.
Add comment | April 21st, 2008
This will probably be deleted/edited at some point, but hello. Welcome to SHOPtart. It is a blog. It’s a blog about sneakers and clothes and sneakers and other things that we (I) buy to make ourselves (myself) happy.
Consumption is a dirty and unpopular topic for some people. We like to deny that we buy things, especially things we don’t need. But consumption is the easiest form of self-expression. We buy “things,” but “things” can be meaningful and worthwhile. Some “things,” at least.
Welcome to SHOPtart.
Add comment | April 14th, 2008