September 28, 2007

Vintage Tennis Fridays - Stan Smiths

These are arguably the best know, more revered tennis shoes of all time. Why? Like I've said before, because they have a classic look. When people think about tennis, they don't think about guys in sleeveless shirts and clam-diggers with spaceships on their feet. They don't think about girls in denim skirts and body suits (although who among us doesn't like this?). They think of white clothes and white shoes, clean looks and clean lines.

Which gives us the Stan Smith shoe from adidas. One of the great American players, someone who has done a ton for the game. And one heck of a doubles player.

Like other classic products, adidas has made variations on the Stan Smith design. Some of these are OK, but I have a problem with some others. Specifically, they've made some of them with a vulcanized outsole, but the originals have a cupsole (I used to work for a shoe company, so I notice these things). And the product below right is a slip on, and not with green/white colors. Not a big deal, but my opinion is that if you evolve a classic design, there needs to be some remnants of the original in the design. I don't see those remnants in some of the styles.

We've also picked up from
Down The Line Tennis some new pics of other fashionable Stans.

According to them, these Stan Smiths are now part of adidas' City Series - showcasing iconic imagery for the cities they represent including Las Vegas, NV; Brussels, Belgium; Rio de Janeiro, Brazil; and Seville, Spain. While they're not my cup of tea, I think they're pretty cool. But...I wouldn't have known that cities were being represented, or which ones. To me...if you have to spend time explaining to people the "art" behind your sneakers...you're trying too hard. But that's just me.