It's a shoe in
Just recently I was cruising Frontside Grind, an online bulletin board for old-school skateboarders.
It's a lively forum populated by guys who fondly remember a time when boards were wider and waistlines were narrower.
Anyway the one hot topic of discussion was the apparent slipping of standards by the manufacturers of Vans shoes.
Vans is one of the original skate shoe manufacturers and the company's name and logo go hand-in-hand with the sport.
According to one Frontside Grind correspondent the shoes aren't what they used to be.
At issue was Vans' basic shoe - that over the years has become less pointy and, according to some, also had a drop in the quality of canvas used in manufacture.
The ensuing discussion thread was lively to say the least, many skaters putting forward stories of shoes falling apart, others calling Vans wearers posers and that Converse sneakers were better.
Some people blame the fact that Vans is now owned by the same company that makes Lee and Wrangler jeans.
There you go, multinationals, profit-focus, falling standards.
However, before you take the moral high ground and lace up your Chuck Taylors it is important to note that Nike has owned Converse since 2003.
The unfortunate reality that is hitting my fellow skaters is that nothing is as it was.
Plastics have replaced metals on everything from cameras to cars.
Fruit and veges come shrink wrapped, stickered and uniformly sized with scant regard for how they taste Things used to be built to last, or in a way that meant they could be fixed up if they broke down.
Nowadays, it's easier to replace than repair.
Sadly the other side of the shoe argument is that the Vans I bought last year were cheaper than the ones I bought in the eighties.
We get what we're prepared to pay for.
It's a lively forum populated by guys who fondly remember a time when boards were wider and waistlines were narrower.
Anyway the one hot topic of discussion was the apparent slipping of standards by the manufacturers of Vans shoes.
Vans is one of the original skate shoe manufacturers and the company's name and logo go hand-in-hand with the sport.
According to one Frontside Grind correspondent the shoes aren't what they used to be.
At issue was Vans' basic shoe - that over the years has become less pointy and, according to some, also had a drop in the quality of canvas used in manufacture.
The ensuing discussion thread was lively to say the least, many skaters putting forward stories of shoes falling apart, others calling Vans wearers posers and that Converse sneakers were better.
Some people blame the fact that Vans is now owned by the same company that makes Lee and Wrangler jeans.
There you go, multinationals, profit-focus, falling standards.
However, before you take the moral high ground and lace up your Chuck Taylors it is important to note that Nike has owned Converse since 2003.
The unfortunate reality that is hitting my fellow skaters is that nothing is as it was.
Plastics have replaced metals on everything from cameras to cars.
Fruit and veges come shrink wrapped, stickered and uniformly sized with scant regard for how they taste Things used to be built to last, or in a way that meant they could be fixed up if they broke down.
Nowadays, it's easier to replace than repair.
Sadly the other side of the shoe argument is that the Vans I bought last year were cheaper than the ones I bought in the eighties.
We get what we're prepared to pay for.