Yeah, aside from the 'early looks' and the rumors I had heard from my source, it took me a few weeks to actually pinpoint how I was feeling about this shoe...and...in my desire to somewhat distance myself from the 'herd mentality' that pervades IG, I think I've got a pretty clear idea:
The shoe itself is @$$. but the rollout has been phenomenal.
So phenomenal, in fact, that I debated - on multiple occasions - trying to score a pair in person for myself. Yeah, I even though about driving 2 hours away to stand in line for this shoe that I really couldn't give a damn about.
Now, this mismatch isn't really unique to this shoe - I actually find this to be the case with A LOT of Dunk SBs - (they look INCREDIBLE on social and through the marketing) - but when push comes to shove and I've gone through the mental gymnastics of whether or not I should purchase a pair - I still end up like *never* wearing them.
Luckily, I didn't live next to one of the Costco stores that had these delivered, because if they did I'd probably be writing this more as a 'regerts' piece than a 'ah hah I've finally cracked the code!' piece...but...made me think...do any of y'all ever try to think about whether or not you even like a hype shoe before purchasing or are you caught in the marketing loop that says 'buy now ask questions later?'
(BTW, if you follow me on substack - this is what my latest essay is about - how my different sneaker collecting is or was BEFORE IG became the gathering place)...