We’ve been down with a staggering case of Equine Polysaccharide Storage Myopathy for so f.ing long that we almost high-(and silken)-tailed it to that great carrot orgy in the sky, but then Clip Clop wrote in and saved the day!

He writes:

I bought these a long time ago at Ross for like $20, more of a basketball shoe, but slightly “fresh.”
(Read on …)

Another slip-on review? Lame.

Slip-ons are real nice to skate in. It’s almost like skating with seal flippers for feet. Sleek, hyper-articulate appendages that can wrangle the ol’ 7-ply like it’s saltwater. Unfortunately, flippers are delicate and prone to injury, and skating in slip-ons is like doing it wild with one of Henry Miller’s throwaways through a sheepskin. Both are dangerous activities that can lead to open sores. (Read on …)

A continuation of our Slip-on Roundup…

I bought these shoes for my dashing return to the service industry. I’ve worked service jobs off and on since I was about 15, and after a few years of mind-numbing office work, I figured I’d give it a go again. When I went to orientation for the new job (it’s a restaurant/brewery; I’m a barback) they told us we’d need to wear black shoes. Black shoes, dark jeans, and a t-shirt. “You mean, we basically get to dress like rockstars?!”

(Read on …)

Part of our Slip-On Roundup; more soon…

I found these preppy canvas numbers by an intervention of, shall we say, fate? I’ll let you decide:

I was visiting a friend in the Printers Row section of Chicago. While smoking menthol cigarettes outside, we got to talking with a fellow selling Streetwise magazines on the sidewalk. A fashion maven who spends a good deal of time shopping at thrift stores and bargain shops. Pointing to the hat on his head, he said, “Looks good, huh?”

I nodded. It did. A blue wicker beanie with horizontal white stripes. It fit his head like skin. (Read on …)

I met a musician once named Ahab Rex who worked with athletic shoes. I can‘t remember in what capacity exactly he worked with footwear, but I do clearly remember one bit of our conversation: he explained to me the reasoning behind hip-hop stars wearing gleaming white shoes.

(Read on …)

For a while it seemed like skateboard fashion-no matter how progressive-was possessed by an unshakeable silliness. When ravers and rollerbladers appropriated the fat pants style, skateboarding was primed for an era of clean simple attire. Pants could be worn without a belt, t-shirts had dropped from XXXL to L and floor-grazing wallet chains had all but disappeared. Then came props.

(Read on …)

When I sent my e-plea for free footwear to Duffs, they sent me not one but TWO pair of shoes. I kept the green Gamblers for myself and gave the Sevilles to one our operatives, Clip Clop.

(Read on …)

My first stab at getting free footwear was a direct hit. I sent a rather gushy email to Dekline, a young skate-shoe company which is part of the Tum Yeto empire, and they agreed to trade a pair of shoes for some press. (Read on …)