Whats your skate shoe history?

[johnes]

I think my first were Vans from JC penny in 1999, they were labeled as “casual shoes”
I remember having some willy santos vans and I did my first kickflip in a pair of black Vans cab 6. Then eS became m favorite shoe brand and I had accels and schemes.
I had those Nike zoom air e cue and zoom URL.
I had some adidas gonz shoes in maybe 2005ish that were very uncomfortable for me.
Also had rock Howard/girl black and yellow Lakias.
Couple pair of the Adio Kenny 1, loved this shoes, I have a picture of my in my Highschool graduation gown standing on my board and I’m wearing white gum KA1.
I stopped skating from age 19-22 and when I started again I got 3 pair of Antwuan Dixon Supra shoes.

For a while I was really into Gravis and I still have Dylan’s and artos in my closet.
Last shoes I bought were leather Accel OGs.
I didn’t buy or skate a pair of DCs until 2019

[Glurmpz]

Knock off Vans from Zellers
Airwalk Vics
Airwalk Cloud Nines
Airwalk Prototype Fires(?)
Airwalk NTS
Airwalk Enigma
Airwalk One
Airwalk Jim Shoe
Airwalk Sorry (x 2)
Vans Half Cabs (tied for most uncomfortable shoes I've ever owned with Crocketts)
Etnies Innercity.
Etnies Lo Rap (x 2)
I think some Adidas Gazelles in there somewhere. Junk.
Duffs Strombolis
Etnies (or es?) Sal 23
DC Danny Way 1
Es Accels in the classic black with gum bottom.

Fuck, it honestly gets hazy at this point cause I moved to Vancouver in 1995 and got a shop sponsor in 1996 so I started getting shoes more often.
 
I know I had a few pairs of Emericas around 1997.

White KCK's.

Had the second Danny Way DC in two different colors. Some DC Clockers. When I started working at the DC dist in 98 I started getting lots of Lynx's and Carrolls.

Then I got on Globe and had too many different shoes to remember.

Then I quit Globe for Osiris cause my friend was the TM and the packages were huge, plus he put me on Elenex too so that doubled the amount of clothing every month. But anyway - I don't think I liked any of the Osiris shoes except for the mellow HSU one and Louie's shoe. They were free.

After Osiris I got Ipath's for a bit. Maybe like a year. Can't tell you what the models were. Not Cats or Grasshoppers though.

Then I switched to Circa cause a friend was the TM. Even just as bro flow that was lots of shoes and clothing - Circa was the best selling shoe brand for a minute. I don't remember the shoes too well but I had Cero's and Tre's for sure.

Then I got shoes from the Sole Tech dist up here until I stopped bothering to ask for shoes about 2 years ago. It was es' for a couple years and then Emerica, then just whatever. Lol. The Herman G6 was one of the best skate shoes ever. Had at least 6 - 8 pairs.

Now I'm back on Accels (slims) and I love em'. Have to go up to 11's but it works with the thick insole. Might try these Supra Elevates I have next.

As mentioned, I've only had two pairs of Vans in my life and they were the most uncomfortable, clunky shoes I've owned and I never liked the look of Vans anyway so Vans in banned in my world. So is Nike, Adidas, Converse and especially NB#. Had some Cons several years ago and they were way too soft and blown out right away. Got some Nike Check's for cheap and they're also too floppy. Had some Supra Ellingtons which were great so I saved a new pair for who knows when. Cream/gum... oooooohhhheeee! Skated some Reebok Royal Techque T's (basically a Club C with a different sole) and they were ok but needed lots of glue and the sole wore out quick.

I'm sure there's lots I'm forgetting, but 30+ years of shoes is a lot of shoes. I'm just grateful for all the years I got them for free.

[Madam, I'm Adam]

First pair of shoes was the DC Substance. I gravitated to the popular shoes, so I wore a lot of eS, Emerica, and DC - lots of the Koston 1s, DC Avatars, etc. I can't remember them all. I'd also try random shoes like Nadia footwear, Henry Sanchez's model. Also found a random Axion shoe in a sporting goods store in like '05 that skated really well, have no idea what it was though. Not one of the popular shoes.

Never bought DVS, Duffs, Osiris, or Globe. Had one pair of Circas - the infamous CX201 - but returned them because they were too puffy even by my 2001 15-year-old tastes. Later on I wore Lakais and then exclusively Vans for a few years, especially Sk8-His. That was a bad move in retrospect because I didn't find Sk8-His that good for flip tricks. Also continued experimenting with random shoes like Reebok Workout his.

Some great shoes I had were the Savier Rattray, Emerica MJ 1 and 2, DC Kalis, eS Vancouver, Emerica Herman G6 had a great flick, Lakai Staple reissue, and more recently the Nike Gato, and Supra Elevate. The Ave Pros are also great.

I'd say the Half-Cab has always worked the best for me.

[Solid bowlcut]

For a while I was really into Gravis and I still have Dylan’s and artos in my closet.

Those Artos were such a great shoe, wish i would have saved pair.

[rukes]

First set was a pair of grey Marc Johnson Emericas

[Seventyfrigginseven]

Oh dear.. the only person I should have this conversation with is a psychiatrist.

To keep it quick..  first core skate shoe Airwalk Velocity . First signature skate shoe red vans Caballero (high top)
Which after watching love child my 11 yr old self cut down and duct taped...

Latest purchases DC lynx zero and Nike sb gts return

I have a skate shoe addiction that is sad and sick. I can see an intervention in my future.. Even the woman at my PO now says "looks like some more shoes" when she hands me my mail.
Anyhow, I started with Jordan 1's about a million years ago and am currently skating Rowan pros.

[Hyliannightmare]

Osiris/Globes early to model 2000s

After that whatever I find at the thrift or the outlets/Ross for cheap

[chris.]

My first shoe was Chad Knight's Osiris pro model. Some other memorable ones were DC Williams, Lakai Soty, and Nike URL.

My favorite shoe from my teenage years were hands my brown suede Cats and black leather Grasshoppers. I always loved skating in Dunks as well.

Most recently I've been on some Legacy Slims, which I like a lot but I need something a bit more substantial in the forefoot.

[sharkin]

rock Howard

Add it to the list

[Sila]

After skating whatever cheap basketball shoes I already had, my first real pair of skate shoes were èS Koston 2's.

At the time they felt weird to me but it's probably the only shoe I would now pay too much for. Just to have a pair for nostalgic purposes.

[Lukabrazi]

Off the top

Airwalks probably first pair in late 90s

eS accel , koston 1 had multiple pairs when I was younger, also tried out Mccranks , artos , some Circa JT / Appleyard and also DC Manteca / lynx

Remember grabbing some DVS From nocturnal on a trip to love .

Thrifted some SB dunk hi’s in 2006 that got me on Nike, poached some blazers from a roomate and went hard on Nike blazers and dunk mid from 06-2012.

Shop I worked for got Habitat shoes at that time and I was able to try out a bunch of different styles they made between 12-15, then went back to Blazers .

Been on GT blazers / dunk mids again (when I could find) tried some Tyshawns and now I’m skating some Rowans for my first real dive into vans

[vhsfisheye]

Cool thread idea!

Started in 2006, so I'll list the notable ones:
2006: some DC manteca looking  shoes. Spark I think? Some etnies that looked like a puffy dunk with the "m" looking "E" where the swoosh would be (just to paint the picture)
2007: Es Cassette Mid, Es Anti Social (all time favorite shoe) AV Era (amazing shoes)
2008: Van's AV Era again (AWS collab) can't remember much else from 2008, Circa 205 vulcs, Es Koston 7
2009: Lakai MJ3 (loved them even though I broke my foot in them) Es Square Ones, Fallen Chiefs, Circa Ramondetta Real mid tops (in green!), Etnies Arto 2 (beautiful shoes)
2010:  Globe Encore (amazing shoes), Converse: Star Player S [midtop] (a puffy chuck, it's the best version of a skateable chuck, in my view) Emerica Hsu mid (one of the best I've skated), some iPaths made out of canvas/hemp that skated great but the sole detached from the shoe.
2011: Etnies Jameson 2 (when they were cupsole and not vulc), Es Accel TT, Emerica Hsu Mid (again!)
2012: Fallen Slash (1st model) I know there's more but I can't remember or find photos
2013: DVS Munition CT, Nike 6.0 Mavrk, Etnies RVM, Classic Vans Half Cabs (one of the best)
2014: Circa Talon, Emerica Jinx, Herman G6 (easily the best shoe ever made, no questions asked) Etnies Marana (started my love for my favorite current shoe available)
2015: Osiris Sleak, some leather Converse Cons that were amazing! Nothing like their chuck, looked more like other skate shoes, actually.
2016: Etnies lo cut (remaster version) and Pro Leather Cons (still miss these shoes), Adidas Seely (non skate), Lakai Riley Hawk 1, Fallen Chief XI
2017: Es Accel Slims, Cons KA-One, Etnies Marana, State Mercer/Madison, Nike SB Blazer Mids, Nike SB Check, Lakai Staple (reissue)
2018: Nike SB Blazer Mids, Etnies Joslin/Marana, Van's Kwalks, Gilbert Crockett 2, Evan Smith Hi Zero, Etnies Jameson Vulc MT (at least a couple pairs)
Too many shoes I've dabbled with from 2018-2020 so what I'm listing isnt exhaustive. I tried more shoes than my wallet/time should have allowed me to, so a lot of my experimental ones aren't listed.
2019: Reynolds G6, Maranas/Joslin, Van's KWalks, DC Maswell
2020: Maranas/Joslins, DC Maswell, Nike SB Dunks, Lakai Proto/Atlantic, Etnies Veer, Es Accel Slim Plus, Half Cab Pro
I plan on skating Kalis S, NB# 440, AVE Pro, Romero Americana, and Joslin 2 in the near future.

I generally skated cupsoles more than vulcs but there were some exceptions when vulcs were actually good and supportive (most are shit nowadays) so I skate padded cups more regularly now.

I applaud you if you read all this! Hahah

i applaud your memory and break down by year!

[Firebert]

Picked out my fav. shoes I skated out of each year going back.

'20 - AVE Pro
'19 - Figgy Dose
'18 - Reynolds G6
'17 - Crockett 2
'16 - Lucas Pro ADV
'15 - Figueroa
'14 - Reynolds Mid
13 - Project BA
'12 - Lucas Pro
'11 - Koston 1
'10 - Busenitz Pro
2000 - 2010 - All Emericas - Reynolds 1s, 2s, Erik Ellingtons and R3s

[Heywoodfloyd]

My first skate shoes were Es Accels, i had a couple pairs in a row because my local sporting goods store sold them.

In my early to mid teens i had a bunch of random shoes i mostly bought on clearence: Dvs revivals, Globe mojo, Emerica Templeton 3, 88 Bombers, Vox Troopers, Emerica Heretics, DC Lynx HE, are a few that i remember.

From mid teens to early twenties i was all about Vans, i only skated Sk8 highs, old schools and half cabs, sometimes in goofy colourways because i could get them cheap.

In my early twenties i only skated Campus Vulcs, then i stoped skating for a couple of years.

When i got back into it i wore mostly Half cab Pro's, nowdays my favorite shoes are Busenitz pro's, Converse Fastbreaks and DC Legacy 98's.

[TheBoognish]

Late '99-2003

Duffs with Jason Maxwell's name on the insole. I had no idea who he was and I don't even think this was a pro shoe. Didn't like these, but they were my first legit pair.
DC Lynx (got 'em stolen at school), so my parents got me Emerica Reynolds 1
Circa CM902 + CM802
Circa MA402
éS Koston 3 + éS Penny 1
Lakai Staple in all white leather 'cause I had to be like Welsh.
iPath Mystic (destroyed them so fast)
Lynx 2/Lynx HE (might be a bit off on the year)
Emerica ellington 1

2003-2006:
iPath Grasshoppers and Crickets mostly.
Savier Anderson 1
Savier Trainer
Savier Story (still have 'em)
DC Kalis 6
Lakai Scott Johnston 3's I believe, the one with the strap.
3 pairs of Reynolds 3's (might be off on the year again)

2007-2019 DC phase, seriously pretty much only rode DC shoes during that time period. Whatever Kalis designed and Wes Kremers when they came along. I had a few Hufs and Nikes along the way but it was mostly DC's.


2020- New Balance phase, my beat up feet need comfort.


I know there's more, but my memory has its limits.

[Esquivel]

Mid-late 80's: whatever my mom would buy
Early to mid 90's: lots of airwalk, etnies, duffs, simple, adidas, puma and converse (the ones that looked like pumas)
Late 90's-mid 00's: globe, es, dc, ipath and some converse
Late 00's-recently: dvs, lakai, dc
Now: i am starting to appreciate new balance.

First pro model shoe that i cared to go and buy were the dc kakis.

[LordManHammer]

87’ I had the Airwalk prototype lacesaver and all, during that time I used either adidas or cons high tops, when skate shoes became a resurgence 94’ to 96’ in Tennessee I either had airwalk one’s or Vans Hi’s.

Recently I’ve been snooping around my storage space I have found a box of halfcabs still fit too, have a shitload so I am good.

I do like cupsoles for durability vulcanized shoes are garbage even though I have a lot and continue to skate them if I do get a new set of shoes maybe I’ll try Vans Ave.

Least favorite shoes I’ll just simplify it this way Vans have had my back since 87’ and I tried different shoes but ultimately Vans are my go to the rest are garbage.

[rocklobster]

Early to mid 2000s
Vans Willy Santos 2
Globe GMOS 4 - first shoe I skated hard in and ripped to shreds
2 x Emerica Kirchart (1 white, 1 grey)
eS Accels
Emerica Ellingtons
2 x Vans Rowley Classics (leather, olive)
Lakai Soca
Lakai Rob Welsh's shoe?
Lakai Mariano
Etnies Arto
Vans Half Cabs
Fallen Chiefs
(countless tubes of shoe goo)

Modern times 2019 - present:
Habitat (not sure the model)
Nike Solarsoft
Emerica Hsu
eS Square Three

[Crap]

First shoe I ever skated in was Adidas Gazelles.

First real skate shoe was either the Evol Casuals Airforce 2 (navy suede) or the Vans Salman Agah 2 (white leather) - I can't remember which came first.

Some faves over the years:
- eS Muska (first skate shoe I really wanted and saved up for instead of just getting whatever was on clearance)
- Etnies Rap
- Vans Half Cab (non-pro version)
- Adidas Samba (non-skate version)
- Vans Old Skool Pro from a few years ago, when the upper was still all suede (no canvas) and the insole still had the gel in the heel
- Vans Slip On Pro (with the gel insole, before they ruined the fit)
- Cons One Star Mid (Lunarlon insole era)
- Huf Hupper 2 Low
- Nike SB Dunk Mid
- Adidas Liberty Cup

Most recent pickup: just got a pair of NB# Tiagos

Would like to try in the future: Vans AVE Pro, Nike SB Adversary, Reebok Workout Low Clean

[johnes]

I remembered some more
Daewon 4 DVS black red, I bought these half a size higher than my normal because my size was out of stock, my kickflips at the time greatly suffered.

https://www.pinterest.com/pin/295830269257759318/

 I got the Tim O’Connor savior shoes while on a trip to LasVegas. This color
https://www.reddit.com/r/Sneakers/comments/5tkh90/savier_trainer_tim_oconner_blast_from_the_past/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=ios_app&utm_name=iossmf
These Gonz Ronan’s
https://images-complex-com.cdn.ampproject.org/ii/w820/s/images.complex.com/complex/image/upload/c_fill,dpr_auto,f_auto,fl_lossy,g_face,q_auto,w_1280/uwd3a4obenloovizqjpj.jpg

Also had a couple pair of Accel Plus when they first came out.
I also skated 2 pair of Nike dunks that were not NikeSB in 2005 or 6 and loved them.
The last Lakai’s I bought were the Vincent 2s
I bought and skated a lot of hufs too, at least 7-10 pair

[jay_nev]

Kirchart 2



reynolds



herman 2


forgot what shoes i had around es menikmati

dunk hi bo knows



think i had these dvs getz


not that old but reynolds cruiser

[jakeumms]

So in a weird coincidence, last night my first skate homie hit me up on FB messenger to tell me that he just bought a pair of Nike Air Trainer 3s because we had both liked them so much back in the day and they reissued it in the same exact color way we were psyched on. So turns out I did not start skating in Air Max 1s. I feel maybe 30% less kooky.

He also remembered more about them then I did. I guess one of the other guys in the crew poked out the air units in them. I was bummed so I insisted my first homie take them, for what reason I couldn't tell you. I was probably over them. They were too small for him but he thought they were sick so he wore them to a few shows and told me he remembered them getting squishy in the pit.



I still think they look kinda skateable. Now I wish I tried harder to get those Polar Air Trainer 1s that came out last year. I only ever saw those in person once, on an older Japanese Hypebeast girl getting of the subway in DTLA. Her drip was impressive.

[ohnowisee]

I started with some poo green airwalks, then some tan vans both bought at the Kenosha outlets.
First actual skate shoe was Osiris Adam McNatt's all white. Got stolen on a beach in Hawaii.
Then the DC Apex that were awful.
After that I lost track but my favorite was the Rowley XLTs and the Hensley Duffs.

[DarkPools]

Expand Quote

Cool thread idea!

Started in 2006, so I'll list the notable ones:
2006: some DC manteca looking  shoes. Spark I think? Some etnies that looked like a puffy dunk with the "m" looking "E" where the swoosh would be (just to paint the picture)
2007: Es Cassette Mid, Es Anti Social (all time favorite shoe) AV Era (amazing shoes)
2008: Van's AV Era again (AWS collab) can't remember much else from 2008, Circa 205 vulcs, Es Koston 7
2009: Lakai MJ3 (loved them even though I broke my foot in them) Es Square Ones, Fallen Chiefs, Circa Ramondetta Real mid tops (in green!), Etnies Arto 2 (beautiful shoes)
2010:  Globe Encore (amazing shoes), Converse: Star Player S [midtop] (a puffy chuck, it's the best version of a skateable chuck, in my view) Emerica Hsu mid (one of the best I've skated), some iPaths made out of canvas/hemp that skated great but the sole detached from the shoe.
2011: Etnies Jameson 2 (when they were cupsole and not vulc), Es Accel TT, Emerica Hsu Mid (again!)
2012: Fallen Slash (1st model) I know there's more but I can't remember or find photos
2013: DVS Munition CT, Nike 6.0 Mavrk, Etnies RVM, Classic Vans Half Cabs (one of the best)
2014: Circa Talon, Emerica Jinx, Herman G6 (easily the best shoe ever made, no questions asked) Etnies Marana (started my love for my favorite current shoe available)
2015: Osiris Sleak, some leather Converse Cons that were amazing! Nothing like their chuck, looked more like other skate shoes, actually.
2016: Etnies lo cut (remaster version) and Pro Leather Cons (still miss these shoes), Adidas Seely (non skate), Lakai Riley Hawk 1, Fallen Chief XI
2017: Es Accel Slims, Cons KA-One, Etnies Marana, State Mercer/Madison, Nike SB Blazer Mids, Nike SB Check, Lakai Staple (reissue)
2018: Nike SB Blazer Mids, Etnies Joslin/Marana, Van's Kwalks, Gilbert Crockett 2, Evan Smith Hi Zero, Etnies Jameson Vulc MT (at least a couple pairs)
Too many shoes I've dabbled with from 2018-2020 so what I'm listing isnt exhaustive. I tried more shoes than my wallet/time should have allowed me to, so a lot of my experimental ones aren't listed.
2019: Reynolds G6, Maranas/Joslin, Van's KWalks, DC Maswell
2020: Maranas/Joslins, DC Maswell, Nike SB Dunks, Lakai Proto/Atlantic, Etnies Veer, Es Accel Slim Plus, Half Cab Pro
I plan on skating Kalis S, NB# 440, AVE Pro, Romero Americana, and Joslin 2 in the near future.

I generally skated cupsoles more than vulcs but there were some exceptions when vulcs were actually good and supportive (most are shit nowadays) so I skate padded cups more regularly now.

I applaud you if you read all this! Hahah

[close]

i applaud your memory and break down by year!

Thank you! i tried haha! A combination of memory and some photos that helped piece it together.  I guess I like skate shoes!

[Solid bowlcut]

Found old photo from 2014-2015 with pretty much every shoe i had skated at that time. Some fucking disgusting little kid colorways there, but kinda still wish i had saved them tho. Those Nike SB Kostons were so good.

[chris.]

dunk hi bo knows

Damn this colorway reminds me of the Air Trainer 1 Chlorophyll's I had back in the day. One of my favorite shoes I skated that I totally forgot about.



I think I remember there being an SB version of these, and there as an ad with Tim O'Connor maybe?  Or am I totally making that up and was I just skating some non-SB version?

[xandeo]

[/quote]
Man, you really know how to follow some trends
[/quote]

+1

[xandeo]

First shoes I skated in: Pumas (mid-90's)
First years of skateboard shoes: Globe, Osiris
Mid-teens: DC, éS, Etnies
Late teens: Savier
Early 20's: Nike - Janoski and Salazar (favorite shoe!)
Mid 20's: Fallens - good price, loved the vulc on the Ripper + occasional Adidas
Late 20's: Adidas adi-ease, occasional Janoski/Bruin
30+s: Vans, especially Chima 1's, occasional Janoski

[LordManHammer]

Expand Quote

dunk hi bo knows

[close]

Damn this colorway reminds me of the Air Trainer 1 Chlorophyll's I had back in the day. One of my favorite shoes I skated that I totally forgot about.



I think I remember there being an SB version of these, and there as an ad with Tim O'Connor maybe?  Or am I totally making that up and was I just skating some non-SB version?

I had the Bo Jackson 91's all black them were my jams....

[FirstBlood82]

1994-2013 alot of random shoe brands
2013-2020 only reynolds mids, 12 pairs left </3