(4/5) The (de)evolution of a sneakerhead. Full article will drop on substack next week.
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The good(?) news is, over the past couple of years I’ve noticed that I’ve really slowed down with the sneaker consumption machine. I’m not paying much attention to new releases. I’m not really engaging with the conversation on anything that I don’t care about…and those shoes that I actually DO find enough interest in to talk about…I can, because it’s not overwhelming.
I distinctly remember one Saturday morning, where I was trying to hit on the original Yeezy 350 v1 Pirate Blacks - a shoe I was only marginally interested in - I wasted A WHOLE MORNING ON MY COMPUTER. And it wasn’t the first. But when I realized what a waste of time it was, it became the last.
Instead, I noticed that I….
…I spend a great deal of time looking for steals. Like legitimate steals.
I don’t really care for the ‘major’ releases that everyone seems to be talking about at the moment I write this (the AJ3 reimagined or the Action Bronson New Balance or the AJ x SB 4), as I wouldn’t pay retail for any one of them. Nor have I really cared about more than a handful of any of the last 567 major releases BEFORE that.
BUT.
BUT.
BUT.
I can tell you that if I found any one of those shoes hyped shoes slightly used for $100 or less, which I often do, I’d be STOKED about it. ABSOLUTELY FRICKIN’ STOKED. And at that point I would allow myself to enjoy my purchase AND the shoe. And that’s NOT because any of them are shoes that I have any connection to, it’d because I FOUND A STEAL THAT NO ONE ELSE FOUND.
It seems….at this point of my sneaker enthusiasm, I really love nothing more than just scoring a good deal.
I don’t care about the hyped ‘rarities’ (that really aren’t rare),
I don’t care about the ‘hottest shoe of the year’ (that really is just a re-hash of something 30+ years old),
I don’t care enough about any *new* designs that I’m buying for retail (as I will most assuredly find these on sale in the near future)