Quatre! Chucks are Not Footwear, They're a Lifestyle

I have this great book, 'Chucks! The Phenomenon of Converse Chuck Taylor All Stars' by Hal Peterson. I spend a lot of my time looking at the pretty pictures in this book, but what is has to say is just as interesting. For instance, I really didn't know that chucks we're originally basketball shoes, not the symbol for awesome people everywhere that they are now. Some shoes are just that, shoes, but some shoes are legends! Even Uggs, as popular and sheep-killing as they are, don't have the gritty and epic past that chucks do. And they were named after a real person! Her'es an example of chucks in history, in 1967, he was one of the first companies to higher African-American sport stars to represent their product. Three cheers for breaking the color barrier. Then in the swingin' 80's chucks kind of got screwed because they sucked at all that high tech running sneaker shenanigans. So instead they stuck with the good old stuff and skateboarders took them over! For great movie examples see, Thrashin' or Dazed and Confused. This is where chucks took the step closer to the culture they most currently represent. They also appeared to a certain 'sub-stream', because they were made in America, not in Chinese or Japanese sweatshops. Of course now they're made in China.... anyway! The main point of this blog was that some people see shoes as just things that cover your feet so you do not step on sharp objects. But I see shoes as a statement about you as a person. That's why I don't date people who wear crocs.