Look at these two amazing specimens of beautiful sneaker craftmanship. The Chuck Taylor Allstar and the Adidas Superstar. Both of them are basketball shoes with history that is counted in decades!
The Adidas Superstar debuted in 1969. They are the classic hip hop casual shoe. But when they were first unveiled, they were widely used in the NBA as pro basketball shoes. The shoe is also immortalized by Run DMC in their song "My Adidas" and is now a mainstay in hip hop fashion. Chucks were first produced much earlier -- 1917 to be exact. Apparently they weren't popular until Chuck Taylor (NBA basketball player at the time) gave the shoe its namesake in the 50's and 60's. He preferred white high-tops, as did James Dean. Like the Adidas Shelltoes, Chucks became popular throughout the 70's and 80's among musicians, this time punk and new-wave. The Sex Pistols rocked them in their US debut, and Kurt Cobain preferred them too. To me, there are no other sneakers. For just kicking around town and being comfortable, all other shoes can only aspire to be someday as recognizable, original, and iconic as these two sneaks. They're reliable, cheap, and a clean pair will always be appropriate -- be it with jeans and a t-shirt (classing it up with your choice of legendary footwear) or with more formal attire (flashing your break-the-rules sense of style). Chucks can be bought online for ~$25, and original Adidas Superstar I's retail for about ~$50. They really just plain can't be beat. If these shoes are good enough for Johnny Rotten, James Dean, Kurt Cobain, Jam Master Jay, Jay-Z... shoot, they're good enough for me.
