I recently watched Patagonia's documentary Worn Wear. It got me thinking that every item of clothing you own has a story to it, not just how it was made and what inspired it but what personal experiences you've had in that item of clothing. So I'm going to share with you 5 pairs of shoes and tell you what's happened whilst I've been wearing them.
Nike Cortez TB
When I was 18 me and 11 of my mates took a trip to Berlin, these were the trusty pair of trainers I took with me. They have seen many beers as well as many sights. The most memorable night of the trip was a trip to YAAM followed by a late night visit to Tresor. YAAM is a beach bar in the heart of Berlin, more of a bar on the riverbank with sand but the atmosphere was incredible. All 12 of us were in a great mood, the beers were flowing, we had met some other travellers and the reggae was blaring. This carried on for a few hours and some of us decided we were going to move on. We made our way across the city and rolled into Tresor. For those of you that don't know Tresor it's an underground techno club, in a renovated power plant. I've never enjoyed dancing to a repetitive beat continuously until 9am so much and I don't think I ever will again.
Nike ID Air 180
The story that comes with these is from New York, I was on a college trip and me and a mate went off by ourselves to go to the Supreme store. We left in awe and were walking down to visit a couple of other shops when we stumbled across the Kate Moss Supreme poster. My friend grabs his pen from his bag and starts tagging it up. The next thing I know sirens are blaring and a police car pulls up. They catch him in the act we're both stood up against the wall with our arms and legs out, starfished against the wall. Eventually he is taken away in the car and I'm given some vague directions to the police station he will be taken to. So here I am running around Chinatown looking for this police station, eventually I stumble across it, I can hear my friend having his mugshot taken on the other side of a wall. I then get the news he wont be coming back with me. The story end with him staying in a cell overnight, being processed through court in the morning with a $150 fine and a ban from the US for 6 months.
Clarks Originals Wallabees
These shoes have seen many sights from Copenhagen to Antwerp, from Amsterdam to London but the story I'm going to tell is of the markets in Marrakesh. Navigating the winding streets of the Medina is not a memory I will be forgetting any time soon. Whilst wondering around avoiding the typical "lookie lookie" shouters and people hounding you to buy fake beats headphones we managed to settle down and dig into a tradition tagine. We later get hounded by a lady with a death grip grabbing my girlfriends hand squirting henna on it with something that resembled a needle. She let go after she realised I wasn't going to pay the 300 Dirham (£20) fee she insisted. We did continue to visit the markets with a little more understanding of what to expect and although it was a strange experience I wouldn't say it was unpleasant, just a different culture.
New Balance 1600 Blue Tab Collection
These shoes have seen well over 50 miles. I trained and ran the Great South Run in these. From waking up early enough to run a few miles before work to the actual day I ran the full race raising £210 for The Big Issue. The inspiration for me to run this race was when I came out from work one day and noticed the amount of homeless people I could see, just in my short walk I couldn't count them on two hands. I decided to set myself a challenge but also do something to help out the community. I managed to complete the 10 miles in 1 hour 27 mins which was in the top 20% of the race which I was really proud of.
Nike Mayfly Woven QS
This is probably not a story many people would tell if it happened to them but I thought I should share my embarrassment as well as my glory. In these trainers me and a couple of my mates were beaten up by a group of lads. There seemed to be more and more of them coming out of nowhere and (for once) I could say that we hadn't done anything to aggravate them. I think it just was a case of in the wrong place at the wrong time. Whilst I was being punched in the face, flailing over a knee hight wall all I could think was how my trainers were going to look after the ordeal. Luckily they ended up alright but I did lose my Gasius Smokey the Cat pin badge whilst I was falling over that wall. RIP
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