The Daily Maybe #20: Musings of a Wannabe Sneakerhead
Is an aesthetic without fresh kicks even an aesthetic?
He that is good for making excuses is seldom good for anything else.
— Benjamin Franklin
Alright fine, I’m not nearly North American enough to pull off saying “fresh kicks” out loud. I’m from London, “fresh creps” would’ve been better… But then you might’ve thought this post was about misspelled French pancakes.
Hello and welcome to The Daily Maybe! Today, we have a sort of double-post. Not that this post is going to be particularly beefy (as of this sentence, I have no idea how much I’m going to write for it). It’s just that while I am going to be talking about shoes, that’s really just a framework for me to segue into a life lesson of sorts.
It’ll make sense when we get there, I promise.
Now, you may be wondering what this post is all about. You see, for the longest time, I’ve wanted to become a sneakerhead. I’ve wanted to collect all sorts of shoes from all sorts of brands, and pair them with all manner of killer outfits I’ve planned out in my head.
Though it never really happened, my ongoing journey towards sneakerhead status has been a fun one, and actually has a lesson tucked into it.
I’ve titled this post as if it’s some kind of journal. “Musings of a Wannabe Sneakerhead.” To honour that title, I’m going to do what it says on the tin.
Now begins my almost-shoe diary.
Just Do It Eventually — The Nike Phase
You know that one kid? The one who rocks a pair of ostentatious black-and white Nikes with his school uniform? Who has Nike skateboard shoes despite not actually knowing how to skate? And is constantly going on about “these really awesome creps” he’s “fully about to cop”?
Yeah I was almost entirely that kid.
It’s 2015. The Nike Roshe Runs/Ones are some of the hottest shoes available. They’re sleek, colourful, and work for both sport and style. 17-going-on-18 year old me is fawning over these shoes online whenever I can. Sure, I can’t afford them yet, but Eid is coming up, and maybe by my birthday I might be able to. After looking at them in red for the thousandth time, I figure I’ll just double-check the price.
“$80USD.” Huh. That can’t be right. I could’ve sworn I’d seen a Canadian price somewhere. But no, only the black Roshes are available in Canada. I scour the internet, jumping from site to site, even venturing out to an actual store — my beloved red Roshes are nowhere to be found in the land of the maple leaf. The aesthetic — and the dream — are thwarted.
Hypebeast Heresy — The Adidas Phase
Stop me if you’ve heard this one before: extended back white tee, brightly coloured graphic hoodie, black jeans, and a pair of Adidas NMDs. Or the Originals x Pharrell Williams. Or the Superstars. Or the Canvases or Ultraboosts or any of Adidas’ lifestyle shoes that have a great chunk-to-swag ratio.
Seem feasible? Well, not for your 19 year-old Messy Artist. Though I’ve stepped my game up and now use Pinterest to help me plan and visualise outfits, I still cannot for the life of me figure out how to find the money to buy any of the clothes I want. Especially now that I’m dipping into some of the Hypebeast’s choices of wardrobe; it’s all just so expensive.
Sure, I can now legally work in Canada, but I still can’t drive. That really limits my job radius. Public transit within Oakville is damn near non-existent, and the only thing within walking distance is a Starbucks that’s already rejected me twice. Money obviously just can’t be made right now. We’ll try achieve the aesthetic again later, then.
Why Daily Blog When You Can Just Look Like A Writer? — The Boots N Hats Phase
I’m attaching an image here, but you know the look, dear Reader. This is the look of the artsy boi™ who roams around the city, bouncing from indie coffee shop to indie coffee shop, constantly in search of the ever-elusive muse… and a decent venti blonde latte.
It’s 2017, and I’m en route to my second year of university. Having just finished first year, I’ve rekindled my intense love of literature and am beyond ready to embrace a ~writer aesthetic~. I’m talking short-brim fedoras, long cardigans, brown boots with dark colour outfits, beanies, the whole nine yards.
There’s just one problem.
Most of the inspiration for this aesthetic has come from unbelievably perfect-for-me items of clothing found on random Pinterest posts. I’ve planned my entire look around all these specific pieces… Which I have no idea where to find. I can’t just Google “small fedora;” I’ll be given a million results, with the exact tan short-brim fedora I’m looking for nowhere to be found among them.
*sigh*. Guess we’ll try again in my next phase.
Generic Aesthetic — The Vans Phase
I mean, who doesn’t own a pair of classic black Old Skool Vans at this point? They’re the evergreen shoe, matching with damn near any and every outfit. Walk outside in any metropolitan city, guaranteed you’ll see the buggers on half the people you encounter.
So, my story here. It’s later in 2017, and I’m in Chicago for a week during the summer. While I actually have my sights set on a killer long-length Fairplay Brand hoodie, I’m unable to find it, so settle on finally getting a pair of Vans instead. The shoes are comfy, good-looking, and not the biggest drag on my wallet.
…so I finally came through on a pair of shoes I wanted! Yay, right?!
See, now that I’ve actually copped a pair of Vans, and have begun to explore their use with all sorts of different outfits… I want more. Like, a lot more. The red and yellow Old Skools, black Sk8-His, maybe even some of the Vans x Marvel collabs. I may have actually succeeded in getting a pair of shoes I wanted, but now I’ve unlocked a whole world of potential… And extended this aesthetic quest in doing so.
Shit.
And so end the musings of the wannabe sneakerhead.
Did you notice something dear Reader? Something peculiar about my wannabe journal? Allow me to explain: in every phase, from Nike to Vans, there has been one recurrent theme, one consistency within all my style failures.
I have done nothing but made excuses.
Instead of trying to find a way around each hurdle, I’ve complained, and given up. Instead of putting in the work to actually achieve these superficial goals I had, I shrugged them off as “just not being in the cards right now.”
And that’s some bullshit.
None of my excuses were even that good. I can literally pick apart each excuse I made in each phase, look:
Nike
No Canadian retailers ship the red Roshes? Import them. You can find a way to get things if you really want them. I got my American Fairplay Brand hoodie delivered to Canada by saving up and having my uncle in Chicago order it. Stop assuming things are immediately impossible at the first hurdle.
Adidas
Shoes too expensive? Jobs can be found if you bloody well look. Sure, I can’t drive, but I have a laptop. There are more feasible online jobs now than ever before. I currently work online, teaching English abroad. I’m making good money, alhamdulillah — money I could’ve been making years ago if I’d just made an effort to look around.
Boots n Hats
Missing that one specific piece you found online? Then stop being so bloody picky and specific in the first place. Developing your own aesthetic is like developing your own writing style; it comes from not just imitation of others, but experimentation with what already exists. A different hat won’t kill the vibe — it’ll evolve it.
Vans
Suddenly find yourself wanting more? Stop being so materialistic. You just got a killer pair of shoes, and there is still so much to explore with those alone. Work towards more, but don’t be ungrateful for what you already have.
This mild vitriol is not aimed at you, dear Reader; it’s aimed at myself. There’s a very simple lesson in all of this:
Stop making excuses.
If you want to be successful in any endeavour, you can be — just stop letting yourself off so easy. My sneakerhead diary is perfect proof that whatever excuse you have, it probably isn’t as big a deal as you’re making it.
All that said, I have had some major undertakings that have actually been successful. I finished my first poetry collection back in February, and I’m working on getting it traditionally published soon!…
…but that’s a story for another time.
🍉 I WAS GOING TO GET THIS POST OUT ON TIME I SWEAR… but I was sick.
I know, I know, I just got all self-righteous about not making excuses. Seriously though, I’ve been bed-ridden all day; as of right now (1:16am on the third day since my last post), I’m feeling a lot better, so I’m wrapping up this post.
I was kind of excited to write this post. One of my favourite bloggers, Jon Westenberg 🌈, recently wrote about mixing things up with your blog posts. I figured mixing the usual life lesson with some diary-esque storytelling would be a perfect way to do that. Hopefully you enjoyed reading this post as much as I did writing it, dear Reader.
I have more cool stuff planned for The Daily Maybe, and I’m excited to share it all with you!… Once it’s actually written.
Like I said, today was a sick day. I finally watched Coco and ugly-cried — it’s such a beautiful movie. I also started watching Netflix’s new Vox-produced documentary series, explained. The episodes on cryptocurrency and “designer” DNA were really entertaining and enlightening, and I’m excited to watch and learn more.
During the next post’s personal endnote, you’ll see me freaking out over a wedding I’ve been excited for months.
And that’s that.
Till next we meet,
Sarim
