An Ode to… Converse Sneakers
4 years ago by
I have a very clear memory of when I put a pair of Converse sneakers on for the first time. The shoes were my cousin’s, who is 5 years younger, and it was just that time when our shoe sizes finally evened out. She was so petit, and I, at the age of 16, on the contrary, developed a very womanly body, so borrowing clothes was out of the question. Shoes, however, I borrowed from her with the hostility of an IRS. This was her tax for living in a cool city and having access to things like Converse sneakers.
I put on her white Converse All Star high top to conclude my simple tee and blue jeans outfit. An ensemble so simple, so nondescript, secret agents should make it their uniforms, instead of those infamous camel trench coats with short brim hats, or even more extreme – a James-Bond-esque tux.
However, when I put it all together…I was ecstatic. I wanted to twirl and skip and moonwalk and no one could stop me. I was the shit.
If you are an avid fan of Garance, you probably have heard her own story of hope and heartbreak: when she was a kid growing up in Corsica, she wanted a pair of white Converse sneakers so bad, she asked her aunt to bring her one from Paris, and when her aunt did bring the sneakers back, they were blue, which, of course, left Garance in an absolute anguish.
A perfect pair of Converse is a staple. It’s simple, it is perfectly proportioned, it’s as effortless as Jane Birkin on any given day, it’s sporty but nobody expects you to prove YOU are sporty (to hell with that), it’s cool but doesn’t scream that you’re trying too hard.
I bought my own pair in America (what is more quintessentially American that this pair of shoes?), about three years ago. They are beat up and faded a fair amount, but I’m not planning on replacing them.
Converse sneakers are just a classic, a perfect pair of coolness. Send us your own Converse stories!
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I bought my first pair of purple Converse when I was 16. Now I’m 45 and own a pair a black Converse and this summer I want to buy a new pair. I could go to bed with my Converse on!
some things just never go out of style :)
You just inspired me to replace mine and start wearing them again! :)
ah, love it!
Olá Olá !!!
When i think of Converse kicks, two things comes to my mind:
NBA almost white players teams in the fifties and Snoop Dogg! Weird , humm ?
Anyway, when was in elementary school i used to dress like Zack from Saved by the Bell but a few years laters in junior high , you start to look at things, style, people with a different eye so…my first pair of Converse All Stars were Sick !!!
They were grey with a lighter grey pattern in chess! I remember my Mom gave me like 40 bucks ( in portuguese money before the Euro ) to buy them in sales so i when got them .
But , from them to look cool and , i think you all agree with me, they look even more cool when they’re a little beat up so…naturally, i started to play a little bit of soccer ( futebol, in my neck of the woods ), kicking some rocks , cans… and after four days ,they ripped in a way that couldn’t be fixed and my Mom was like :
«_ Are those the new sneakers you bought ???»
Kinda embarrassed ,trying to get an excuse :
« _Humm…Yeah… What a shitty material… !!!»
So, then she gave me the punchline, she was the Queeeeeeennnnn of the punchlines :
« You didn’t buy the sneakers , you rent those motherfuck***!!! 10 bucks a day!!!
Still today ,a laugh to myself at that joke when i put my all grey All Stars on !!!
True Sory !!!
Beijinhos !!!
HA! Amazing. Yeah, football will do that to ya! :)
I bought my first pair of black Converse All Star in 1989 when I was 13 by saving my weekly pocket money. Since then I’ve had a new pair in different colour almost every year until I finished school in 1994. Always by saving the weekly pocket maney. The one I have now, a black high top, was a birthday present in 2013 and I think is one of the best birthday presents I’ve had as an adult.
these comments are making me consider a purchase of high top Converse this time around :)
My 10 year old granddaughter wanted a pair of converse so bad last year. So I took her school shopping at converse and let her pick out a pair. She picked out a pair of high tops that were white with an orange tie dye pattern. Then we tie dyed matching T-shirt’s. She was over the moon.