The History of Skate Shoes

The Skate Shoe – perhaps the most essential part of any skaters apparel – is something that has become increasingly more important to persons, retailers and economies alike over the last 30 years, not only in the US but now in the UK, as skateboarding and the brands connected to it complete the transition from underground to mainstream. So much so, aspects of skating lifestyle now genuinely infiltrate our everyday lives; from Tony Hawk computer games, to popular TV shows and now there’s now even an I-phone app dedicated to skate shoes – iMADE FOR SKATE, which chronicles skate shoes from all over – based on the inaugural MADE FOR SKATE collection at the Skateboarding Museum in Stuttgart, Germany.

 

The point is, skating and skate shoes in particular are a long way from the early days when going ‘au natural’ was the most viable option for budding skaters, and Kileen Gonzalez of Yahoo Sports has penned a great little read on the history and evolution of the footwear. Luckily, going ‘au natural’ isn’t something we need worry about anymore.  There’s a huge selection of modern alternatives to choose from. I’m a loyal Chucks fan but there’s a great selection of Vans, Es, DC and more at Schuh if you wish…

 

Iron Man Nike Dunks

Sneaker designer J’field Yeo has took a normal every day Nike Dunk trainer and created these amazing Ironman Nike Dunk sneakers.

The trainer comes with a customised Ironman Suitcase very similar to the one featured in Ironman 2.

This doesn’t look like the kind of trainers you would wear to walk to the shops but I’m sure these will go down a storm come comic-con.

The trainer itself comes in Ironman colours with a gold and red exterior with Ironman’s helmet painted on the rear. It’s customised to have two LED eyes on the rear of the trainer and another Arc Reactor LED on the tongue.

Why not try your hand at customising some Nike Dunk trainers and let us know what you come up with in the comments.

Via http://www.morethanarttowear.com/p/blog.html

morethanshoes

Unusual Shoes Made from Food

It’s been a while since we found some really unusual shoes for you (sorry about that) but it’s been worth the wait as we’ve found some beltersfrom Robert Tabor.

Robert is clearly passionate about shoes and has a great imagination when it comes to design. How else could you conjure up the idea of making the “Spaghetti Stiletto”, the “Fierce Fish” and the “Hello Dolly”? He’s even been commissioned by the Ritz Carlton of West Palm Beach to make a collection of shoe artwork for their presidential suit!

Here are some of our favourites:

Have you got any requests for Robert? We’d quite like to see his take on Kate Middleton since he’s already done Princess Diana and Queen Elizabeth.

Summer in the Park – Portable Barbecues

Today we have decided to do one of our very rare, non shoe related posts! Since the weather has been so nice, it was decided that a portable barbecue would make a welcome addition to the summer cooking armoury, and so we needed to decide on which one to get.

The contenders:

The Plum Folding Barbecue

This looks like a great space saving bbq for those of us who don’t have much storage space at home. If you’re buying a portable then you either don’t have a big garden or you want to take it in your car on trips to the country. The Plum also has ventilation holes on all four sides so you should be able to get the fire going quickly and get a good amount of heat while you are cooking. Should cost about £30 if you shop around online.

Webber Smokey Joe Premium

The Smokey Joe is by far the best looking of the portable barbecues that we looked at and if space wasn’t an issue then we would have it in a second! At £50 it sit in the mid range of portables and would certainly the one you would want to show off at festivals. Being a Webber it will be engineered for cooking so there’s no need to worry about it taking too long to heat up or whether it will give an even heat.

Son of Hibachi

This has to be one of the best bits of barbecue technology ever invented and we instantly wanted it when we got sent the link! When you light the bbq you have it standing upwards so that the air goes right through the coals and heats them up fast. Once it’s up to heat you open it up and have a huge cooking area that will easy hold enough food for a group of friends. After enjoying your food you don’t even need to wait for the Son of Hibachi to cool down as it comes with a fire proof bag which you can put it in and head home right after cooking. As you’ve probably guessed this is not the cheapest barbecue here and comes in at about £80.

So, which one should be buy? At the moment we’re edging towards the Plum as it takes up the least amount of space and at £30 is pretty cheap. We’ll keep you posted on any purchase over the weekend…

It’s Summertime – Get The Birkenstock Out!

It’s been a long winter up here in Scotland so we’re jumping with joy now that the sun has finally come out to play. This means that we can hunt for the one pair of shorts we own, look out the 10 year old suntan lotion and wear sandals instead of boots!

Normally a pair of Havianas would do us but this year we decided to go a bit upmarket and buy Birkenstock. Birkenstock have been gone from unfashionable, to cool and back to unfashionable again but they’ve just updated their selection and look cool once again. Their standard Arizona sandal has been adorned with a simple blue and white stripe which makes it look much younger and more acceptable to wear:

You can get these Birkenstock over at Schuh or you can probably drive over to Germany and pick them up at the factory.

We’re looking forward to sporting them at this weekends barbecues and hopefully not trudging back in the rain with wet feet.

Ugg Trainers

We’re feeling a bit behind the times here at More Than Shoes as we’ve only just realised that Ugg now sell Converse lookalike trainers. We’ve not had a chance to play with a pair yet but we’re guessing that they are a lot higher quality that a pair of Converse and will last a lot longer! With Uggs trademark sheepskin lining then at least we know these will be comfy and warm!

What do you guys make of them? Cool or a step too far for Ugg? Have you spotted any on the street?

Ugg Trainers spotted at Schuh.

Millions of Custom Nike Trainers

Not quite millions but more than you can shake a stick at. 22 year old Brass Monki has created loads of really innovative designs like this one of Bob Marley

and the awesome Dr Robotnik

but then he goes all corporate and does this monstrosity

We’re not sure who would be seen dead in these but there’s always someone. Coming soon they also have Firefox and Twitter shoes. Just think how cool you would feel when sitting in Starbucks in your Twitter trainers….using Twitter! Everyone else would think you’re an idiot but don’t let that stop you.

Nike Air – Powered by Havana Club

It’s been a while since we spotted as innovative a use of a pair of shoes as this. As part of a challenge issued by rum maker Havana Club, people have been tasked with taking an everyday object and turning it into something new.  In response to this, sneaker customiser Nash has turned a pair of Nike Air Force 1 into a set of speakers!

I think you’ll all agree that these are awesome and have to be one of the best ways to show off your new Air Force 1 (other than rocking them through the city!)

The amount of work and detail that’s gone into these is amazing. We can’t even imagine where you would start but we are prepared to take a drill to an old of pair Caterpillar boots and have a go.

We’re not sure what the sound would be like but we want a set of these very badly!

If you want to enter the competition then head along to the Havana Club Facebook page

 

Converse Open Nightclub!?!

In a strange turn of events the trainer manufacturer Converse has stepped in to save a London nightclub from closing. Converse have offered to sponsor the venue to stop it closing after recent rent increases left it unable to continue trading. This is quite a sad step for the once proud 100Club but if it keeps the venue open then we can only assume that it’s a good thing.

From the point of view of Converse, this is a bold step and one that we were not expecting. They are clearly proud of their heritage of being worn by bands and fans for the past 50 years and want to show this off.

The 100Club have stated that there won’t be overt advertising and we hope they stick to this. We wouldn’t want this to go the way of o2 with their tacky advertising all over their venues.

This news will hopefully please fans including Paul Weller who were campaigning to save the club from closure.

Adidas Originals Teddy Bears by Jeremy Scott

When we first saw these we thought it was a April fools but no, they are a real pair of Adidas trainers by Jeremy Scott!

They aren’t quite suited to an afternoon out in Glasgow but if you’re going to Florida on holiday then these would great for traipsing around the amusement parks! Even Micky Mouse would be jealous to see you sporting a pair of these.

 

Anyway, you’ll be lucky to find a pair of these outside of the US so why not pick up a pair when you’re over there and take a picture of them when you get back to the UK? Pretty please!?!

Thanks to http://www.freshnessmag.com for the giving us Adidas envy!