Middle age and brand loyalty to trainers

blokes talking about shoe acquisition is just wrong.

No it isn’t. On a forum where people talk about their bikes that cost the same as the GDP of a medium size African nation, mentioning the shoes you bought seems a pretty innocuous indulgence.

While women’s obsessions remain a mystery to most blokes, a lot ‘get’ the whole shoe thing. I come from a northern working class culture where as a kid, your trainers took on an almost mythical status (and at the time Adidas were king). I don’t think, rightly or wrongly, you ever really grow out of it. I think that chimes with the earlier statement about your taste being arrested at the age of 18

Oh… and anyone who has ever had a pair of crocs on their feet should be immediately disqualified from commenting on this thread. Your opinion is about as valid as a vegan commenting on how to cook the perfect steak, or who makes the best sausages.

Is it just me, or does any item of clothing with Nike or Adidas on it scream, “Chav” or, “no taste” anyway? 😉

Vans
Puma
Converse
Merrell
Mizuno

and a pair of Dunlop Green Flash that look older than me 🙂

Thats just snobbery really. Adidas and Nike have produced some absolutely timeless, classic designs. Anyone not taking part in a sporting activity, wearing tracky bottoms however….. 😉

Gore-tex lined Merrels for me.
Had a couple of pairs of Vans, but had to admit i didn’t like them

I do like my Adidas Kanadia trail running shoes though

For the last 20years, I’ve had a whole load of shoes that looked exactly like this:

Sometimes with a little more black, sometimes with a little less brown, just to keep things exciting.

i’ve got a stupid amount of trainers. it’s great.

4x vans
3x macbeth
1x DC
1x etnies
1x duffs
1x adidas
1x salomon
1x inov8
1x sheep
1x emerica
1x merrell

I might actually be Binners. 😳

Is it just me, or does any item of clothing with Nike or Adidas on it scream, “Chav” or, “no taste” anyway?

It’s not just you. I worked (past tense) in marketing and design for my sins – and big brands actually cater for perceived social exclusion and actively reinforce stereotypes (whether ‘valid’ or ‘invalid’, whatever side of the fence you’re on) if it’s profitable they will profit from it. We wouldn’t judge a child living literally off a dump for his choice in footwear, we might rightly consider that his real ‘self’, his passions, intellect, character etc are all nothing whatsoever to do with his choice of footwear.

On the other hand I should be banned from discussing the concept or practice of brand loyalty on account of being unfashionable, irregardless of whether or not I too was slavish at any time earlier in life. (I know it’s just banter, just being rhetorical here)

It’s just shooooz! I do find it all really interesting, sociologically/behaviorally – in group/out group, people can get really heated up defending brands etc…kids have been killed/committed suicide over shoes. Nowhere is shoe-craze so active as hip-hop/rap culture, even more than STW! For instance, was a fan of De La Soul but their FB feed is 90% shoe-fetishism, sort of put me off them! Sometimes i think we’re living in a re-imagined sportswear equivalent of post-pompadour Georgian society

Not really about brand loyalty more about not falling apart, other trainers I’ve worn self destruct in weeks. I’ve got Adidas trainers I’ve used for 20 years. That and run DMC etc…

Only brand I really liked were Simple and they have gone away 🙁

On the other hand I should be banned from discussing the concept or practice of brand loyalty on account of being unfashionable, irregardless of whether or not I too was slavish at any time earlier in life.

+1

42 and no brand loyalty, just try to buy what is comfortable and not too ‘shouty’, which seems difficult these days, I’m not keen on brash loud trainers with wacky style soles etc.

Did you do the whole Kick, Mamba, Bamba, Samba thing?

LOL I remember the older guys wearing Sambas when I was wearing my Kick. My dad told me that kick were better for football anyway. I thought I had made it to the big time when I got my mambas.

44 and forever in skate shoes.

Always used to be Vans but they went off the boil a few years back IMHO. On to DC now.

Also got a few pairs of Merrels for actual ‘outdoor’ use (though my next pair will more likely be Salomon or Keen), and some Nike for the rate occasion I play 5 a side.

Isn’t it a just an accepted fact that as a British male* your choice of trainers is frozen in time the moment you hit 18. Whatever you’re wearing then, you are pre-ordained to wear for the rest of your life. In most cases this is good. Not so if you had white Reebok Classics on though. All i wear, and have ever worn, is Adidas Gazelle or New Balance. Anything else would just be… well… a bit like wanton showy-offy extravagance

I heard it that the cut-off is whenever you leave full time education. That applies better for me than 18 does. On the other hand I was never very fashion or style conscious at all so it’s only the basic look (jeans, t-shirts, trainers) that’s been constant, I’ve never been too picky about the brands except for generally not buying expensive stuff.

I’m 45. I bought my last trainers 25 years ago. They were pink (and a bargain).

If anyone can find me a pair of adidas titan running shoes in brown, size 46 is get them a pint

Adidas, Puma, Nike, Converse, Vans, Five Ten…

Love Cortez, Stan Smith, Superstar, Ciero, All Star Suedes, Suedes, Baskets in particular. Also really love the Five Ten Tennie Guide shoes.

I will hit 40 in December…

failedengineer – Member
Is it just me, or does any item of clothing with Nike or Adidas on it scream, “Chav” or, “no taste” anyway?
POSTED 6 HOURS AGO # REPORT-POST

It’s not just you – but no matter how many of you there are you will all be wrong! 😆

Adidas all the way. If you are over 25 and still wear Vans you need to have a word with yourself.

I had a word. Turns out they’re extremely comfy, pretty understated, and longlived so I’m going to keep wearing them.

33 – only wear nikes

been though the dunk sb phase, pusheads got me started, Tiffanys i paid an arm and leg for, hawaii’s were good, lots of love for “hair highs” , golfs, stussys, avenger pack, reese forbes, still got most,

moved to AM1’s, then to Free Run 2’s – now on Flyknit Max

also have a deadstock pair of Swagger x Terminators that don’t even fit me, End Clothing stiched me up

I wear chinos, so I win.

frozen in time the moment you hit 18

This is true ^^^. For me it has been…

… despite looking like clown shoes on my size 12s.

at present I have about 10 pairs of Cons in different colours and states or wear, but occasionally can be seen in Nike 6.0 for skating and 5.10 for riding…

Oh and I’m 38, and have lost count of how many pairs of Cons I have had over the years

Is it just me, or does any item of clothing with Nike or Adidas on it scream, “Chav” or, “no taste” anyway?

No it’s not just you.
I don’t understand the adult male fascination with exercise pumps made out of cheap materials in sweatshops?
Fair enough if you partake in exercise and need some jogging shoes but buying gaudy plimsoles to wear to the pub just looks like you wish you were still 13 and kicking a football around the park.

Mainly Nike here. A few pairs of Adidas (fabric shell toes, zx9000) and I’d have more but they always feel a bit narrow for my feet.

Trainers, or sports shoes, are for doing sport in. Birkies are for 54 year olds, tho’ I have yet to wear them with socks.

I had a word with myself about vans too, turns out I’ve been wearing them for 25 years so I think I’m ok. I can only wear skate shoes, Nike SB at the moment. Had some nice Adidas skateboard ones too a while back. DC have been naff for a decade if not more!

I think going onto an Internet forum to give yourself an erection by telling strangers what shoes they should or shouldn’t wear makes you seem like a thirteen year old growing up in a darkened room not being taught any social skills.

I tend to only wear skate trainers. My ankles thank me for the support.

My missus has tried to get me into brown shoe/trainers from time o time but she generally knows she’s beat after 13 years of trying.

Emerica and Vans Half Cabs at the moment

Is it just me, or does any item of clothing with Nike or Adidas on it scream, “Chav” or, “no taste” anyway?

Wearing Lonsdale clothing definitely appears to be a marker for social deprivation.

Nike Cortez FTW. I used to wear them for work and they were great, until it became difficult to get sufficiently inconspicuously white ones.

I don’t understand the adult male fascination with exercise pumps made out of cheap materials in sweatshops?

‘Exercise pumps’?

You may as well call Paris Hilton’s accessory bag a ‘rucksack’

High profile branded training shoes tell us about someone’s core identity, their person – their achievements and aspirations – not to mention their social status/peer identity and peer group acceptance level. They may also denote the ‘playfulness’ or ‘seriousness’ of the wearer. Non-branded sends an adverse message to others – ie ‘I don’t care about my life, I chose to lose’. Think yellowing Hi-Tec-wearing sex pest or ginger combover-cadet in no-name wellingtons

In short – correct trainers say ‘winner’. Incorrect trainers say ‘loser’.

Choose carefully, your credibility is at stake.

‘Pumps’? wtf? Pumps are for kids. Fashion is a grownup thing.

High profile branded training shoes tell us about someone’s core identity, their person – their achievements and aspirations – not to mention their social status/peer identity and peer group acceptance level.

Do you by any chance work in sales or marketing?

Is that a Nathan Barley sketch?

Shoes ? Yes, many and varied

Trainers ? No, not in training for anything

Just checked and it seems Vans and Adidas in that order. One pair of G-Star because they look really good and were cheap and a pair of Reebok for the gym.

No it’s not just you.
I don’t understand the adult male fascination with exercise pumps made out of cheap materials in sweatshops?
Fair enough if you partake in exercise and need some jogging shoes but buying gaudy plimsoles to wear to the pub just looks like you wish you were still 13 and kicking a football around the park.

Problem is, what to wear with my shorts and polo tshirt? flip flops or retro trainers. Please Help!

High profile branded training shoes tell us about someone’s core identity, their person – their achievements and aspirations – not to mention their social status/peer identity and peer group acceptance level.

Bret Easton Ellis is reimagining Patrick Bateman as a chav and I claim my five pounds.