-The other day the NYT style section (I got it via skatedaily) had an examination of the function v. style of skate shoes. The article was pretty interesting considering that it came from a publication far outside the skate world, and included interviews pro skaters including Mike Vallely. There was also this sort of odd audio slideshow, so check those both out if you're interested. But really what this post made me think of is the post-skater epidemic. Let me explain, after the jump, of course.
-Post skater is a term I coined to describe the stylistic state of many of my peers. That is to say, that college aged males, who skated in high school, and still may skate, but can't move on from the skate aesthetics that shaped their adolescent wardrobes. I think you can probably envision someone who embodies what I'm talking about. This relates to the NYT article because the biggest trait of the post-skater is the inability to accept that skate shoes are not adult shoes. Skate shoes are cool, many of them are on the forefront of design. But they should be worn only while skating. I have Nike 6.0 Dunks and I love them, but they only get foot time when I'm actually skating. The reason is because skate shoes are designed with a ton of padding, fittingly. This makes them absurdly bulky. In the 90s when skating really boomed, tis bulk was okay because the pants worn by skaters were primarily baggy. As skinny jeans have pervaded skateboarding the huge fat shoes haven't (for the most park) gotten any slimmer, making skaters look a little clownish. I accept the clowniness at the skatepark, but please , if you're an adult, dress like an adult and keep the etnies on the concrete. That's my rant.
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