Hey Beauties! (still recovering from the weekend) There are some staples that just never leave the fashion scene, it’s just a matter of whether we decide to keep them in rotation or not. My favorite example to prove my point has to be the ADIDAS superstar and the Nike Air Force 1. To think about being in middle school rocking both styles and then seeing them come back full circle is something that keeps me excited and extremely interested in what else will make its way back around. I guess we can all say that we wished we didn’t get rid of half of our gear knowing we would one day have original pieces. Imagine all the dope a** vintage gear we’d have right now… (Insert Regret).
“Where’s The D?“
To this day I can remember being in elementary watching “Love & Basketball” and seeing “Monica” wearing a high top white and yellow colorway. I NEEDED them and FAST. I had no clue what they were called or how to find them besides relying on my local shoe store (my parents weren’t going to hop online and find these kicks for me) and hoping to just visually recognize them by the signature Nike check which was all I deemed familiar. It was that dreaded 3 weeks before school was starting where everyone in my small town would roll to the SAME mall and do our “back to school” shopping. My first stop was always “Foot Locker” … I’ve always been a shoe queen, and this is what I was always MOST excited to shop for. I scanned the shelves and felt my excitement slipping away as I made my way further to the end of the wall. They didn’t have them (waaahhh) and as a kid not knowing how the retail world worked, I couldn’t understand it. I didn’t get that they were a “retro shoe” and you couldn’t just roll into a store and purchase them especially for a “girl”.
For those who care, haha I went for the K-Swiss Classic (you know which one I’m talking about) and was secretly convincing myself that it was similar to the Air Force 1 (ya, its nowhere close hahaha). Like with anything else, I forgot about the Air Force’s and made my way to the opposite end of the spectrum with the ADIDAS Superstar. I’m kind of embarrassed to admit how long I rode that train and how many pairs I actually purchased. You can guess that my desire for these no name Nike’s I saw in a movie fizzled out and I was on to another obsession… UNTIL…
“Give Me 2 Pairs..I need 2 Pairs“
Now the moment you’ve all been waiting for the reason we’re all here… Enter Nelly with an entire song about Air Force 1’s. MTV was actually at one point a place for music videos (sarcasm) and there it was… Nelly rocking the all-white “Air Force 1’s” not only did I now know the name of the shoes that I saw 2 years before, but there were high tops, low tops, several colorways, my flame was relit. Celebrity fashion was really the only “influencing” we could rely on, so you knew if you saw one of the hottest rappers at the time with a whole song about a pair of shoes, it was over…. They would be everywhere. I was older and had better bargaining skills to exchange chores for gear, so I was off to the mall and on the hunt. Walking into Footlocker again on the same mission, I just felt different; I knew it would be a success. There they were, sitting in a display cabinet right in the center of the store.
Seeing them in person in their all white glory was everything I knew it would be. Something in my shopaholic mind knew that they wouldn’t be available for women but giving F.L. the benefit of the doubt, I walked over to the women’s wall and to no surprise… ya, they weren’t there. I can’t say I didn’t have a discouraging feeling wash over me at that point but with 98% faith still intact, I made my way to the boy’s department across the store. *Hint: For those that don’t know (depending on the women’s shoe size) you can fit into a boy’s shoe. I’m a 7.5 in women’s shoe sizing and can wear a boy’s 5 to 5 ½. I do highly recommend (IF POSSIBLE) to try them on first or consult a size chart before using my reference. THEY WERE EVERYTHING I HOPED FOR. Holding them in my hands was something I’ll always remember and surely, I was in good with Nelly at this point, right?
Classics Never Die
I was able to find the correct fit and they came home with me. I wore them to death and repurchased them several times. Different color ways and styles started to release and everything I liked had a home in my “shrine”. New shoe obsessions eventually took their place but I realized that the Air Force 1 never left shoe stores. They would always randomly pop up on shoe shelves every now and then. I was out Christmas shopping and went in to Finish Line for gifts *wink* we all know… your girl was in there for herself. I gasped when I saw a black suede Air Force with a gum bottom. I was right back to middle school when I saw them for the first time. I had to cop them and wear them immediately! I wore them a few times out and even had a close friend question them… he hit me with “Air Force 1’s? Really?” Low key, that comment made me want them EVEN more. (Your gurl will give you all the scoop in another post!) It showed me I was on to something and I searched high and low for the all-white low top. I knew with summer coming, I wanted an all-white classic shoe. I found them and when they arrived, I was in love!
Click to purchase on GOAT
Locked Down For Life
The best thing about the white color way is they can be worn with EVERYTHING. I’ve worn them with shorts and a bodysuit, a silk summer dress, and even with joggers. I noticed shortly after purchasing them that they started popping up all over blogs and social media. They were back and more popular than ever… for good reason. I’m back to my addiction and am building my collection again. Beauties, I just MUST know, What’s your favorite comeback product? What brands or trends do you want to see make a comeback? Fill me in!? OH..and… if you have no clue who Nelly is or what song I’m talking about… “she’s too young for you bro!”
